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Leicester’s Geoff Parling scores to seal win over his new club Exeter Leicester’s Geoff Parling scores to seal win over his new club Exeter
(about 2 hours later)
Geoff Parling, the England lock bound for Exeter next season, scored a crucial second-half try for Leicester to lift the Tigers into the play-off places. Freddie Burns may have seen his England hopes fade dramatically in the last 12 months, but his improving form over the past two months is beginning to win the hearts of Leicester’s army of supporters.
Parling, who announced in January his intentions to leave Leicester for Devon next summer, swept over in the 65th minute of a tight and tense Premiership clash. Burns, who joined from Gloucester last summer, has taken time to find the form this season that made him an England hopeful two years ago and he needs more afternoons like this one where he contributed 20 points and kept the Tigers’ pack on the front foot.
Leicester, who started the match in fifth place, won thanks not only to Parling’s opportunism, following a succession of scrums on the Exeter line, but also the accurate goal kicking of Freddie Burns. “Goal kickers win games,” was the happy refrain of Richard Cockerill, Leicester’s director of rugby, after Burns had slotted six out of six penalty attempts and converted a try from Geoff Parling, the England lock.
Burns, who joined Leicester last summer from Gloucester, had one of his best days for his new club by landing six penalties and the conversion of Parling’s try for a match haul of 20 points. The scores edged the Tigers 22-8 ahead of a cussed Exeter team who hit back late on to grab a deserved losing bonus point through a try from Will Chudley and a conversion and penalty from Henry Slade.
Exeter played a full part in an absorbing match but missed first-half chances before grabbing a losing bonus point. However, unlike Burns, Slade found the gusting wind at Welford Road difficult to gauge and also missed two first-half efforts, including one from a monstrous 60 metres, and also saw his conversion of Thomas Waldrom’s try, in the 51st minute, strike an upright.
Though they scored two tries after the break, from ex-Leicester No8 Thomas Waldrom and Will Chudley, the scrum-half, the Tigers, via Burns and Parling, had got their noses in front. Waldrom’s try, against his old club, reduced Leicester’s lead to 15-8 and stung the Tigers into their best period of the match. The pressure ended in Parling, who announced in January his intentions to join Exeter next summer, diving over in the corner after a succession of scrums on the Exeter line.
Exeter had dominated the first half territorially and were denied even after one sustained periods of pressure which ended after 27 phases. With Burns landing the difficult conversion from the touchline, Leicester led 22-8 and looked on course for a more comfortable win before Exeter’s wholehearted finish won that bonus point.
The statistic highlighted Leicester’s stern defence and also that Exeter’s intelligent phase play lacked that final cutting edge to turn possession into points. Burns’ immaculate goal kicking certainly impressed Cockerill who must be relieved that the fly-half is finally delivering as Leicester’s backup No10, Owen Williams, is out for the season due to a torn achilles’ tendon.
Leicester, in contrast, made Exeter pay for the wasted chances in the first half. Burns did not miss a kick, landing all four opportunities while Henry Slade, the opposite fly-half, missed his first two efforts, the opening shot from 10 metres inside his own half, before successfully slotting another long-distance attempt in the 22nd minute. Cockerill hopes that his patched up squad will keep on improving as this win was the fifth in the Premiership in a row. However, he also admitted he feared Manu Tuilagi, the England centre, would not play for the club again this season due to his slow recovery from his groin injury.
Once Exeter missed out on a try, Leicester slowly increased their grip, the Youngs brothers linking from a lineout to step up the best chance before Burns finished off the half by kicking his fourth penalty. “Freddie’s goal kicking was outstanding,” Cockerill said. “We don’t want to take the sparkyness out of his game but he’s learning to control the game more now. He’s also kicking his goals and goal kickers win games. The expectation here is great and he’s under pressure to perform but he’s been doing it.”
Exeter’s costly concession of penalties continued after the interval giving Burns a fifth chance, which he accepted. Cockerill believes Leicester’s improving form could be a key factor as his team seek a place in the playoffs. He was delighted his England players – Parling, Tom and Ben Youngs plus Dan Cole – wanted to play only a week after the finish of the Six Nations. “They knew they would be getting a week off next weekend because we are not playing in Europe,” he said.
The fierce defence could not last all of the match and a powerful drive off a scrum by Waldrom eventually cracked the Leicester defence. Rob Baxter, Exeter’s head coach, though delighted at the bonus point also felt his team had shown a “mental softness” in the first half when they conceded too many penalties. “I was delighted we fought back but we also have things to learn from that first-half performance,” he added.
Slade missed the conversion – his attempt striking the upright – and Leicester immediately struck back to launch their best spell of the match which led to Parling scoring in the left corner. Burns converted the difficult kick to put his team 22-8 ahead. Exeter deserved some reward because they had played a full part in an absorbing match but paid for missing first-half chances. They dominated the opening period territorially and were denied even after one sustained period of pressure of 27 phases. That statistic highlighted Leicester’s stern defence and also Exeter’s intelligent phase play which lacked a cutting edge to turn possession into points. Leicester, in contrast, made Exeter pay for the wasted chances in the first half. Burns did not miss a kick, landing all four opportunities while Slade, his opposite at fly-half, missed his first two efforts, the opening shot from 10 metres inside his own half, before successfully slotting another long-distance attempt in the 22nd minute.
Though Exeter claimed a second try when Slade raced away to set up Chudley, Burns kicked his sixth penalty four minutes later before Slade responded, in the final minute, to land a crucial penalty which gained his team a deserved losing bonus point. Once Exeter missed out on a try, Leicester slowly increased their grip, the Youngs brothers linking from a lineout to set up the best chance before Burns finished off the half by kicking his fourth penalty. Exeter’s costly concession of penalties continued after the interval giving Burns a fifth chance, which he accepted. But Leicester’s fierce defence could not last all of the match and a powerful drive off a scrum by Waldrom eventually cracked the Tigers’ defence.
Slade missed the conversion, his attempt striking the upright, and Leicester immediately struck back to launch their best spell of the match which led to Parling scoring in the left corner.
Though Exeter claimed their second try when Slade raced away to set up a try for Chudley, Burns kicked his sixth penalty four minutes later before Slade responded, in the final minute, to land a crucial penalty which gained his team a deserved losing bonus point.