Leicester tightened their grip on the Zurich Premiership title on Saturday night with a
crushing victory at Saracens - but England captain Martin Johnson can count
himself lucky to have been on the pitch to see the final whistle.
Leicester skipper Johnson escaped with a yellow card despite his sickening
punch that left Saracens hooker Robbie Russell requiring six stitches to a cut
below his left eye.
Television footage clearly showed Johnson launching his right fist into
Russell's face but referee Dave Pearson produced a yellow cards rather than the
red one the incident warranted.
Although Pearson dealt with the incident, England and Lions leader Johnson
still might not have heard the last of it given its seriousness.
Leicester demolished sorry Saracens with an outstanding performance to streak
17 points clear of Gloucester at the top of the Premiership.
The reigning Premiership champions ran in a massive seven tries to earn a
bonus-points victory which brings their season tally to a staggering 57 points.
Saracens on the other hand must go back to the drawing board again as they
have now suffered three successive home defeats.
They remain seventh in the Premiership table but could slip further down the
league ladder by the end of the weekend.
Visiting Leicester, who had not won at Vicarage Road for five years, set the
tone early on with an Andy Goode penalty.
England forward Neil Back then reaped the rewards of a tried-and-tested
Tigers' scoring method after just 10 minutes.
Having earned a line-out on Saracens' 10-metre line, Johnson took the ball
cleanly to set up a powerful drive. Flanker Back finally emerged from bottom of
the ruck having scored. Goode converted.
The 21-year-old then rounded off the first half with the Tigers' second
converted try following another sustained Leicester attack.
The rout continued after the break with Saracens having no reply. Just eight
minutes past before young centre Oliver Smith broke free to charge 50m uphill
and score. Goode then converted.
Even going a man down after Johnson was sin-binned on 61 minutes did not stop
the Tigers.
Rod Kafer was soon on the scoreboard followed by Geordan Murphy, Freddie
Tuilagi and Steve Booth who lifted Leicester's score to a 47 points.
Saracens' blushes were only saved by scrum-half Nick Walsh. He scored their
first points with just three minutes remaining.
Former Springbok Jannie De Beer had previously missed three early penalties
which could have put Saracens on a firmer footing in the first half. He did
however manage to convert the final score.
Teams:
Saracens: Winnan, Horan, Shanklin, Sorrell, O'Mahony,
De Beer,
Walshe, Flatman, Russell, Durant, A. Benazzi, Murray, Chesney,
Roques, Hill.
Replacements: Cairns for Russell (67), Harbut for Durant (79).
Not Used: Roche, Hooper, Hampson, Sparg, Arasa.
Sin Bin: Russell (61).
Tries: Walshe.
Cons: De Beer.
Leicester: Murphy, Booth, Smith, Kafer, Tuilagi, Goode,
J. Hamilton, Rowntree, Cockerill, Garforth, M. Johnson, Kay,
Kronfeld, Back, Corry.
Replacements: Gelderbloom for Smith (73),
Deacon for J. Hamilton (66), Chuter for Cockerill (66),
Nebbett for Garforth (72), Grindal for Kay (66),
Moody for Back (63), W. Johnson for Corry (41).
Sin Bin: M. Johnson (61).
Tries: Back, Goode, Smith, Kafer, Murphy, Tuilagi,
Booth.
Cons: Goode 5.
Pens: Goode.
Att: 9,347
Ref: D Pearson (RFU).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook