Leicester overpower Newcastle Falcons at Welford Rd.

Leicester Tigers overpowered a resilient Newcastle Falcons team 22-10 at Welford Road in the Aviva Premiership on Saturday.

Leicester had tries disallowed but they still outscored Newcastle Falcons by three tries to one.

In the first half Leicester had two tries in the first half disallowed but they finished the half with one try from Telusa Veaniu which Freddie Burns converted and added a penalty.

Newcastle also scored a solitary try through Nili Latu, with Craig Willis mirroring Burns’ five points so the teams went in for half time level on 10-all.

Leicester sealed the win in the second half with two tries from Peter Betham and Laurence Pearce; with Burns kicking two points. The first action of the game came when Leicester tighthead Fraser Balmain was shown a yellow for a dangerous tackle, with Willis kicking the resulting penalty for Newcastle.

That sin binning looked costly when Falcons scored the first try of the game a few minutes later through Latu after a powerful driving maul.

After some rugged try line defence from Newcastle, Leicester asserted themselves on the game. The pressure told when Falcons centre was binned for a tip tackle.

Leicester looked to have taken advantage shortly after, but Veaniu’s score was chalked off for a knock-on. But, in the build up to the disallowed score, Newcastle were reduced to thirteen men when Wilson was sinbinned.

Veaniu eventually got his try a few minutes later, crossing the line against a very stretched Newcastle defence. Matthew Tait also fell victim to the TMO when his try was disallowed for a knock on.

Leicester failed to add to their score to take the teams level 10-10 at the break. Leicester grabbed the first try of the second half with a try from Betham, with Burns adding the extras.

The day got worse for Newcastle when Pearce crossed the line after running a fantastic support line, giving the scoreline a flattering look for the Tigers.

The loss, coupled with a dramatic win for London Irish, sees Newcastle fall to the bottom of the Aviva Premiership table. On the other end of the scale, a tenth straight win for Leicester Tigers domestically and in Europe sees them continue to climb the table and challenge for a top four spot.

Final Score Leicester Tigers (10) 22 Newcastle Falcons (10) 10

Scorers

Leicester Tigers
Tries: Veainu, Betham, Pearce
Cons: Burns 2
Pen: Burns
Yellow Card: Balmain

Newcastle Falcons
Try: Latu
Con: Willis
Pen: Willis
Yellow Card: Wilson

Match Officials
Referee : Tim Wigglesworth (99th Premiership game).
Assistant Referees: Darren Gamage & Kelvin Stewart.
TMO: Rowan Kitt

Teams

Leicester Tigers

15 Mathew Tait , 14 Telusa Veainu , 13 Peter Betham , 12 Matt Smith, 11 Vereniki Goneva , 10 Freddie Burns , 9 Jono Kitto, 1 Logovi’i Mulipola , 2 Harry Thacker, 3 Fraser Balmain, 4 Dom Barrow, 5 Ed Slater (c), 6 Tom Croft , 7 Lachlan McCaffrey, 8 Laurence Pearce

Replacements : 16 Tom Youngs , 17 Matias Aguero , 18 Dan Cole , 19 Sebastian De Chaves, 20 Opeti Fonua , 21 Ben Youngs , 22 Tommy Bell, 23 Seremaia Bai

Newcastle Falcons

15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Alex Tait, 13 Belisario Agulla, 12 Chris Harris, 11 Marcus Watson, 10 Craig Willis, 9 Michael Young, 1 Rob Vickers, 2 George McGuigan, 3 Jon Welsh, 4 Mark Wilson, 5 Sean Robinson, 6 Ally Hogg, 7 Will Welch (C), 8 Nili Latu

Replacements : 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Alex Rogers, 18 Taione Vea, 19 Mouritz Botha, 20 Todd Clever, 21 Sonatane Takulua, 22 Tom Catterick, 23 Juan Pablo Socino