Freddie Burns stars in Leicester's 27-17 victory over Racing 92
Freddie Burns broke clear to score for Leicester
©PA
Leicester Tigers 27-17 Racing 92, Welford Road
Scorecard
Replacement fly-half Freddie Burns contributed with 16 points as Leicester Tigers completed a 27-17 victory over Racing 92 in their European Champions Cup clash at Welford Road on Sunday.
A second minute try from flanker Brendon O'Connor got Leicester Tigers off the mark but fly-half Owen Williams failed to add the conversion. Former All Blacks star Dan Carter reduced the gap to two points with his eighth minute penalty but it was soon negated by a three-pointer from Williams.
The penalty from Williams came after Richard Cockerill's men lost two players in quick succession due to injuries. Lock Dom Barrow suffered a head injury while minutes later Wallabies star Matt Toomua was out due to a leg injury.
With another successful penalty kick in the 39th minute from Williams, Leicester Tigers ended the first half with an eight point lead over Racing 92.
The French team made a strong comeback in the second half through Carter, who scored a converted try in the 48th minute to narrow down the gap to just one-point. But, from there on it was a one-man show with Burns, who replaced Williams in the 53rd minute, added two penalties and a converted try in a span of eight minutes to take the home team to 24 points.
Even though Juan Imhoff tried his best to secure a losing bonus point for Racing 92 with a try at the closing stage, Burns played spoilsport with a penalty kick on 77th minute to ensure a 10-point win for the Tigers.
Leicester Tigers rugby director Cockerill was pleased with the team's show on Sunday and believes the group is heading for a tight finish.
"Racing are a quality side and are going to score tries against you, so there's no point getting upset.
"But by and large we were on top physically and the supporters were good when we got on top of them.
"Racing not getting a losing bonus point could be huge. It's going to be a really tight pool and we've got to go to some tough places. It will be a fight to the end."
