LEICESTER TIGERS 34 – 3 BENETTON TREVISO
Leicester Tigers earned maximum points with the first win of their Heineken Cup campaign on Friday night, overwhelming Italian outfit Benetton Treviso in a generally scrappy fixture at Welford Road.
The Tigers struggled to break the deadlock early on, but Thomas Waldrom’s drive-over try on the stroke of half time opened the floodgates for a dominant second-half, which produced further tries for Tom Youngs, Blaine Scully and Adam Thompstone.
It was not the most impressive game of rugby from the reigning Aviva Premiership champions, who were admittedly not at full strength due to several first-team injuries, exacerbated further when Fijian centre Vereniki Goneva departed soon after kick-off. However, they were a class above their opponents and showed good character in earning a comfortable victory despite not playing at their best.
In the opening 15 minutes, Leicester made many of the same faults that saw them lose out at Ulster last week, with numerous handling errors and some poor decision making in open play bringing an end to decent phases in the Treviso half.
Their best opportunity came when American winger Blaine Scully chased and collected Ben Youngs’ box kick clearance, only to be tackled into touch just short of the try line. Shortly afterwards, captain Toby Flood opened the scoring for the Tigers with a simple penalty kick.
As the rain began to fall, Leicester continued to struggle for a breakthrough. They appeared to have gotten their first try when Niall Morris cut the Treviso defence following a quick tap penalty, but the referee determined that the hosts had not taken it from the correct spot and they were called back. Flood then added another three points from the spot after Treviso scrum-half Tobias Botes was sin-binned for obstruction.
Very late on in the first half, the Tigers finally made good on their chances, as the ball was circulated through the forwards, ending with Thomas Waldrom bundling over. Flood converted and the home side went in at half-time leading 13-0.
Leicester almost extended their lead immediately as the second half commenced, with Graham Kitchener stole the ball from a lineout deep in the Treviso 22, but the subsequent drive over the line was ruled out as a try by the TMO.
Tobias Botes then kicked Treviso’s first and only points of the match with a penalty, but the visitors were soon made to pay for their ill-discipline. First, Antonio Pavanello was sent to the sin bin for infringing at the breakdown, then just one minute later, Japan international Christian Loamanu was shown yellow after a dangerous high tackle.
Suddenly with a two man advantage, the Tigers capitalised expediently, as Tom Youngs touched down from the back of a powerful maul. Flood slotted another conversion, and from then on, the hosts ran rampant.
Having narrowly missed out earlier on, Blaine Scully scored Leicester’s third try in the right hand corner from a quick penalty, which followed a well-executed team manoeuvre involving some deft offloads. Flood converted again, putting the game well out of sight.
Treviso valiantly fought for a consolation score in the closing 10 minutes, with promising breaks from Christian Loamanu and replacement James Ambrosini, but their attacks ultimately fizzled out.
Leicester, meanwhile, were not content to rest on their laurels and sought that vital try bonus point. They got their rewards right before the final whistle when the ball was worked out left to Adam Thompstone on the overlap.
Still with a lot to do, Thompstone sidestepped one defender and angled his run past another to score on the left hand side. With Flood’s conversion, the match ended 34-3 – a great result for the Tigers, in spite of the need for improvement in several areas.
