Bristol give their all but Tigers race away

Only 6 points
By Duncan Wood
February 8 2003

It was always going to be tough but you couldn't fault the Shoguns for effort. Sadly, we never looked likely to threaten the Tigers' defence and they ran in 3 late tries to give the scoreline a one sided look.

It was a spirited effort from the Shoguns but we were given a lesson in taking chances and we never seemed to have the cutting edge required to break a superb Tigers' defence.

We actually made a spirited start and applied some concerted pressure to the Tigers line but it all ended when Paul Johnstone tried to take Freddie Tuilagi on the outside and the Samoan put him into touch.

Leicester weathered the storm and struck with virtually their first excursion into Bristol territory. They attacked the outside centre channel and Geordan Murphy came back on the angle to go over behind the posts. He converted his own try to make it 7-0.

Bristol competed really well for the next half hour with Pichot and Gibson prominent but it was one of those days when the rub of the green seemed to go against us. A couple of kicks rolled the wrong side of the flag and a few decisions went against us.

We had a glimmer of hope when Martin Johnson was sinbinned for pulling back Mike Lipman without the ball. A kick for the corner and a lineout against a 7 man pack seemed a likely option but we went for goal and missed.

Leicester then struck a killer blow as half time approached when that man Murphy again hit the line at a great angle to cut between Scott Morgan and David Rees to go over and he converted his own try again. It's all about taking chances.

Bristol were rueing two missed penalties from Felipe Contepomi but he found his kicking boots as the half drew to a close and reduced the gap to 14-6. The second came after a great spell of pressure and the Tigers gave away a series of penalties. A penalty try and sinbinning were a possibility but referee Goodliffe only gave a penalty.

We started the 2nd half seemingly with the intention of trying to play the game in the Tigers 22 and wait for the mistakes. However, the Leicester lineout was functioning well and we still lacked that cutting edge.

Leicester bided their time and went further ahead on 50 minutes. Bristol were penalised for offside and Leicester kicked into the 22. The catch and drive ensued and Bristol's pack was split. Josh Kronfeld took full advantage and stretched over. 19-6.

Leicester now turned the screw and had the lion's share of possession and territory. Bristol's defence was stretched to the limit but they hung in there. Matt Salter put in one particularly big fine tackle on Leon Lloyd and Felipe Contepomi intercepted a potential try scoring pass.

Bristol couldn't hold out though and the floodgates burst 5 minutes from time. Ollie Smith and Rod Kafer inspired a break from halfway and, after a couple of phases, Smith was able to breeze over under the posts despite valiant defence. Stimpson converted.

Leicester were rampant and started to run the ball from everywhere. Bristol started to look ragged. Vesty broke the line with a dummy and Kafer took the scoring pass. Stimpson converted again. 33-6.

Phil Christophers made one searing break with Lee Best up in support to lift the flagging Bristol spirits but Leicester had the final word with a Steve Booth try and Stimpson conversion.

The home games against Harlequins and Bath are going to be crucial.