Bath edge out Leicester Tigers 33-31 with last-gasp penalty try

Bath Rugby 33 - 31 Leicester Tigers, Recreation Ground

Bath maintained their winning streak in the Anglo-Welsh Cup as a penalty try in the final stage saw them edge out Leicester Tigers 33-31 at Recreation Ground on Friday.

The Tigers started the proceedings with a ninth minute penalty from Tom Hardwick and they further upped the ante with a 16th minute try from Jonah Holmes and the fly-half's conversion increased their lead to 10 points.

Bath finally managed to get on the board with back to back penalties from Freddie Burns but the visitors made a strong statement with a touchdown from Adam Thompstone in the 35th minute to stretch their lead to 6-17.

Burns provided some respite to the hosts with a converted try at the stroke of half time as Bath reduced the trail to just four points leading into the second half.

The fly-half further extended Bath's advantage in the second half with his third penalty but the Tigers increased their lead to eight points with their third try that came from Holmes - it was also his second in the game.

Burns replied with his fourth penalty to make it 19-24 but Leicester ramped up the pressure with scrum-half Ben White finishing off at the posts with Hardwick converting to make it 19-31. But the home scrum still packed a punch and replacement Mercer pounced on a ball spilled by Tuilagi to keep Bath in touch at 26-31 after Burns' conversion.

Four penalties conceded in quick succession by Tigers led inevitably to a yellow card for replacement lock Joe Maksymiw as Bath piled on the pressure at line-out and scrum. Three reset scrums and then a collapse on the retreat finally earned the penalty try Bath needed with less than two minutes to spare.

The result also means Bath and Leicester Tigers top Pool 1 and Pool 4 respectively.