Leicester open their account in Champions Cup with 45-27 win over Scarlets

Leicester Tigers 45-27 Scarlets, Welford Road
Scorecard

Leicester Tigers managed to get their first win in the ongoing European Champions Cup after they went on to beat Scarlets 45-27 in their Pool 4 encounter at Welford Road on Friday.

Leicester now are at the top of the table that also has Scarlets languishing at the bottom with a solitary point from two games.

George Ford also had an impressive outing with 20 points and he started the proceedings for Leicester with a third minute penalty goal. The home side stretched their lead to 10-0 when Harry Wells crossed over in the 9th minute and Ford kicked the extras.

The scores were levelled 10-10 by the half-hour mark with Gareth Davies touching down in the 15th minute and Leigh Halfpenny kicked a conversion and a penalty. Guy Thompson with his 37th minute try gave the Tigers a five-point lead that was reduced to just two after Halfpenny's second penalty kick in the 40th minute.

The Tigers started the second half in the similar fashion to first with Sione Kalamafoni being the try-scorer this time in the 47th minute that had Ford's penalty and conversion on either side. However, the Welsh regional side had a better response this time around with Steff Evans (53') and Blade Thomson (60') dotting down. With Halfpenny converting both the gap between the teams was just five points as the final quarter kicked-off.

Nevertheless, the Premiership side dominated the final quarter of the game with tries from England internationals Manu Tuilagi (64') and Jonny May (72') going over the line and Ford had two apiece of conversions and a penalties to complete a 45-27 victory.