Powerful Leicester prove too strong for under-strength and off-colour Scarlets

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jan/16/leicester-scarlets-european-champions-cup

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Leicester have reserved some of their least impressive performances in Europe for Belfast but they will need to beat Ulster there next weekend to put themselves in contention for the knockout stages. With Toulon on course to win Pool Three and all the second-placed teams in the other four pools better placed than the Tigers at the start of the fifth round, victory may not even be enough – and Leicester are unlikely to meet a defence akin to that of the Scarlets, which resembled unset putty.

The Welsh team were without six injured international players and were reduced to their fourth-choice hooker in their quest for a first away victory for 11 months. Their defence was fourth-rate, as first-up tacklers were brushed off far too easily. The first five of Leicester’s six tries all came as a result of the Tigers opting for set pieces rather than taking kickable penalties.

Leicester’s director of rugby, Richard Cockerill, reckoned in the build-up to the game that his side would need two bonus-point victories to have a chance of qualifying from the pool, and it took the Tigers 53 minutes to achieve the first bonus point. They had led 14-11 at the interval through tries from Miles Benjamin and Jordan Crane from lineouts, the first after the ball was moved wide and the second after the forwards drove a maul at speed. It was only the home side’s indiscipline, especially at the breakdown, that kept the Scarlets in touch.

Even allowing for their absentees and a playing budget some way below Leicester’s, the Scarlets were inexcusably deficient without the ball. They were slick when in possession, Scott Williams especially creative in midfield, but they fell off too many first-up tackles, starting with the first of the game, when Jordan Williams went half-heartedly high rather than slamming into the wing on the touchline and injured his shoulder in the process.

Leicester took an early grip on the game, 14-3 ahead on 15 minutes after Rhys Priestland had given the Scarlets the lead with a penalty. But when Graham Kitchener, a sixth-minute replacement for the second-row Brad Thorn, was sent to the sin-bin because of his side’s constant infringing at the breakdown, the Scarlets scored a try from a driving lineout through the prop Rob Evans to supplement Priestland’s second penalty.

Hope at the interval quickly turned to despair for the Scarlets. Adam Thompstone’s try seven minutes into the second-half was too simple for a tournament that includes the word ‘champions’ in its title, the ball passed along the line without any deception and there was little resistance to a driving maul shortly afterwards as Tom Youngs scored a try moments after coming off the bench.

The hooker had his second three minutes later, again from a lineout after his brother Ben had made ground too easily. Having secured the bonus point they coveted, Leicester started conserving energy for the trip to Belfast.

Their final try was scored by the replacement scrum-half Sam Harrison after Robert Barbieri’s break and, though the wing Harry Robinson claimed two for the Scarlets, the match had long been won and lost.

The Scarlets’ defeat means that for the third successive year Wales will not be represented in the knockout stage. They had two of the match’s stand-out players in Scott Williams and the second-row Jake Ball, but their injuries meant they were stretched too far, especially up front – not that they should be excused some of their terrible tackling.

Leicester are never more dangerous than when their runners rampage their way over the gainline and the visitors struggled to contain the prop Logovi’i Mulipola, making his first start since September. The Scarlets’ flanker John Barclay left the field with a burst eardrum in the second-half. “Having watched the incident on video it was the result of a swinging arm, a cheap shot,” said the Scarlets’ head coach Wayne Pivac, who refused to name the alleged culprit.

“Logo made a big difference to us,” said Cockerill, who added that he did not know whether the England centre Manu Tuilagi, who has not played since October, would be fit to play against Ulster, his last chance of playing time before the start of the Six Nations. “We were clinical but we will need another five points against Ulster and, depending on how the other groups pan out, even that may not be enough.”

Leicester Tait; Thompstone, Goneva, Bai, Benjamin (Smith, 71); Burns (Williams, 60), B Youngs (capt; Harrison, 60); Rizzo (Ayerza, 51), Ghiraldini (T Youngs, 51), Mulipola (Balmain, 55), Thorn (Kitchener, 5), Parling, Croft, Salvi (Barbieri, 60), Crane.

Tries Benjamin, Crane, Thompstone, T Youngs 2, Harrison. Cons Burns 4, Williams.

Sin-bin Kitchener 32

Scarlets J Williams (S Shingler, 12); Robinson, King, S Williams (capt), Parkes; Priestland, A Davies; Evans (Jones, 60), Elias, Edwards, Ball, Earle (Rawlins, 60), A Shingler, Barclay (Davies, 56), McCusker (Pitman, 60).

Tries Evans, Robinson 2. Pens Priestland 2. Con S Shingler.

Sin-bin: A Shingler 64

Referee: P Gaüzère (France)