Match Centre: Gallagher Premiership: Leicester Tigers 29-26 Gloucester

Leicester Tigers 29-26 Gloucester, Mattioli Woods Welford Road

Leicester Tigers held on to claim a narrow 29-26 victory over Gloucester Rugby at Mattioli Woods Welford Road, retaining the Slater Cup in a thrilling Premiership encounter.

Gloucester left with two league points but came up just short for the second away game in a row, despite a hat-trick from Max Llewellyn.

Leicester fly-half Handre Pollard opened the scoring with a penalty after just five minutes, punishing Gloucester's Freddie Thomas for an infringement near the ruck.

However, Gloucester quickly responded, with a brilliant 50/22 kick from Seb Atkinson setting up a prime attacking opportunity. Charlie Atkinson's pass found Llewellyn, who sliced through the Leicester defense for the game’s first try. Santi Carreras added the conversion, putting Gloucester ahead 7-3.

Gloucester extended their lead when second-rower Freddie Thomas finished off a break by Arthur Clark, with Carreras again converting from the touchline, making it 14-3.

Leicester answered back with a try from Ollie Hassell-Collins, but Pollard missed the conversion, leaving the score at 14-8.

Llewellyn struck again before halftime, scoring his second try after another burst of pace, though Carreras missed the conversion, giving Gloucester a 19-8 lead at the break.

Leicester came out firing in the second half, with Pollard scoring a converted try just minutes after the restart, cutting the deficit to 19-15. The momentum shifted when Josh Bassett crossed for another Leicester try, with Pollard's conversion giving the Tigers a 22-19 lead.

Gloucester struggled with discipline, conceding multiple penalties that kept them under pressure. Eventually, Leicester capitalized, with Dan Kelly scoring from close range, and Pollard adding two more points, pushing the Tigers ahead 29-19.

Despite a missed chance when Freddie Thomas spilled the ball over the line, Llewellyn completed his hat-trick late on, keeping Gloucester within striking distance at 29-26.

However, a scrum penalty in the dying moments allowed Leicester to secure the win and hold on to the Slater Cup.

Team line up:

Leicester: Steward; Bassett, Kelly, Woodward, Hassell-Collins; Pollard, Van Poortvliet; Smith, Montoya, Heyes, Wells, Chessum, Liebenberg, Reffell, Cracknell.

Reserves: Clare, Cronin, Cole, Manz, Ilione, Youngs, Shillcock, Wand.

Gloucester: Carreras; Hathaway, Llewellyn, S Atkinson, Jones; C Atkinson, Williams; Knight, Singleton, Gotovtsev, Clark, Thomas, Clement, Ludlow, Mercer.

Reserves: Blake, Ruskin, Fasogbon, Alemanno, Tuisue, Taylor, Englefield, Hillman-Cooper.