Harlequins heap more misery on Leicester Tigers

Dino Lamb’s try gave Harlequins their fourth straight Gallagher Premiership victory as they ran out 29-25 winners at surprise early-season strugglers Leicester.

In a slugfest where the lead changed hands six times, Freddie Steward scored twice for Leicester on his return to domestic action following the Rugby World Cup, but this was not enough to prevent a fourth loss in five games for his club.

In contrast, Quins are top of the table for 24 hours at least ahead of their meeting with champions Saracens next Saturday after outscoring their hosts by five tries to three.

There was one late change for Leicester, where openside Tommy Reffell dropped out in favour of Matt Rogerson, with youngster Emeka Ilione stepping up to the bench.

It took just four minutes for Harlequins to open the scoring when, after a succession of carries towards the Leicester line, skipper Alex Dombrandt was able to force his way over it.

Marcus Smith hit an upright with the conversion, meaning the gap was soon down to 5-3 when returning World Cup winner Handre Pollard knocked over a penalty for the Tigers.

Quins then had their second try in the 16th minute when Italy international Lamb

was helped over the line by a couple of team-mates from a few metres out, Smith this time converting.

Leicester quickly hit back again, though, when some slick handling from Cameron Henderson, Ben Youngs and Mike Brown led to captain Hanro Liebenberg finishing superbly in the corner down the left.

The Tigers then went ahead for the first time with 33 minutes played when a strong attacking scrum led to Youngs feeding Pollard, whose pass gave Steward a walk-in on the right wing.

Pollard added the extras, but Harlequins went into the break 17-15 in front thanks to a spectacular diving finish from right winger Tyrone Green off the final play of the first half.

The lead changed hands again seven minutes after the restart when Brown timed his pass to allow Steward to score his second, despite him hobbling around the right wing moments before, with Pollard converting again.

Back came Quins as they scored their bonus-point try when scrum-half Will Porter broke through Ollie Chessum’s attempted tackle to go clear under the posts, with Smith’s conversion putting the visitors 24-22 ahead.

After replacement prop James Cronin knocked on close to the line, Pollard was able to nudge the Tigers ahead by one point with a penalty from in front of the posts in the 66th minute.

The pendulum then swung for one final time with 10 minutes remaining when, following a quickly taken penalty, Lamb was able to burrow his way over from close range for his second of a barnstorming afternoon.