Bath resist late surge from Leicester Tigers despite losing three to sin-bin

Leicester Tigers 23-27 Bath Rugby, Welford Road
Scorecard

Bath survived a late surge from Leicester Tigers in the final 10 minutes despite losing three players to sin-bin as they completed a 23-27 win in their opening encounter of the 2017/18 season of Aviva Premiership at Welford Road.

England international George Ford got the Tigers off the mark in the 20th minute with a penalty and soon a fit again Manu Tuilagi crossed over as the home side claimed a 10 point lead.

However, Bath bounced back strongly with a double from Max Clark (26' and 31') while Semesa Rokoduguni (34') also strolled past the post. Rhys Priestland added the extras on all three occasions as Bath ended the first half with an 8-21 lead.

Both Priestland and Ford exchanged penalties in the 55th and 58th minutes respectively as Todd Blackadder's men maintained their 13 point lead heading into the final quarter.

However, in an unexpected turn of events, Bath lost Kahn Fotuali'i (69'), Matt Garvey (75') and Matt Banahan (79') to sin-bin and Jonny May capitalised on the advantage with a brace of tries in the 72nd and 77th minutes but could not quite get the Tigers over the line as they succumbed to a four point defeat.

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