Match Centre: Harlequins 19-27 Leicester Tigers
Anthony Watson scored on his 100th Premiership appearance
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Harlequins 19-27 Leicester Tigers, Twickenham Stoop
Leicester Tigers managed to overcome a late surge from Harlequins as they sealed a 27-19 win in the sixth round of the Gallagher Premiership at Twickenham Stoop on Sunday.
The victory also ended a two-game losing streak for the Tigers as they moved to the sixth place in the table while Harlequins are at eighth place.
Leicester were the quickest to get off the mark as Ben Youngs created the space for Tommy Reffell to dive over in the 7th minute and Freddie Burns had a tough start as he missed a conversion and a penalty goal in the 16th minute.
Just over the half-hour mark, the visitors extended their lead as Julian Montoya touched down at the back of a line out but this time Burns got the conversion right to make it 0-12 at the end of the opening half.
Both the teams were desperate for a breakthrough in the second half and it was once again Reffell, who dived into the left corner for his second try but a missed conversion from Burns meant their lead remained at 17 points.
The Quins finally opened their account in the 67th minute as Cadan Murley forced his way over after good work from Tommaso Allan and Marcus Smith slotted the conversion to make it 7-17. Burns missed a drop goal in the 71st minute but made amends with a penalty goal a minute later after George Hammond took out Jack van Poortvliet making it 7-20.
A second from Murley with two minutes left in the game raised the home side's hope but Smith missed his first kick of the season to make it 12-27. Watson marked his 100th Premiership appearance by picking off a pass from Andre Esterhuizen to secure the bonus point.
Murley looked threatening to complete his hat-trick as he sped into the Tigers' half with eventually Danny Care completing the try. Smith landed the conversion right but it wasn't enough as Leicester completed an eight-point victory.
Team line up:
Harlequins: Green; Marchant, Northmore, Esterhuizen, Murley, Smith, Care; Marler (capt), Musk, Louw; Lamb, Herbst, Keningham, Evans, White.
Reserves: Riley, Garcia Botta, Kerrod, Hammond, Jurevicius, Gjaltema, Allen, David.
Leicester Tigers: Steward; Ashton, Potter, Scott, Watson, Burns, B Youngs; Cronin, Montoya, Cole, Wells, Green, Liebenberg, Reffell, Wiese.
Reserves: Clare, Van Wyk, Heyes, Henderson, Cracknell, Van Poortvliet, Gopperth, Nadolo.
