Alex Tuilagi's two second half scores helped Leicester keep the pressure on leaders Sale at the top of the
Zurich Premiership table after their ferocious battle with Gloucester at Welford
Road.
The Samoan wing struck in the 54th and 74th minutes after Gloucester had been
pummelled into submission during a ferocious forward battle.
Seru Rabeni had put Leicester on their way by scorching past the cover from 40
metres out, with 13 points from the boot of Andy Goode finishing the job.
All Gloucester had to show for an afternoon of heroic defensive work were a
pair of Henry Paul penalties in the first half - and Paul's consolation try and
conversion deep in injury time.
But it could have been a lot worse. The Tigers had one score ruled out and
Martin Johnson - who needed 10 stitches in a first-half head wound - clung on to
what was another gilt-edged chance.
Both sides made a raft of injury-enforced changes before the game - none more
worrying for England boss Andy Robinson than the absence of scrum-halves Andy
Gomarsall and Harry Ellis.
Gomarsall suffered a back spasm in the warm-up while Ellis was given more time
to recover from a sore Achilles.
Both should be available for England against Canada next weekend, although
Robinson may need extra cover that may open the door to Matt Dawson's return
from exile after missing training to appear on 'A Question Of Sport' on TV.
The absence of Gomarsall and Duncan McRae left Gloucester with a new half-back
pairing of Alex Page and Brad Davies, while lock Alex Brown's run of 87
consecutive games was ended by a blow on the arm picked up against Ulster.
Leicester, though, looked equally unfamiliar in the back line, where
19-year-old Tom Varndell made his debut on one wing with the relatively untried
Dan Hipkiss, 21, on the other.
But never mind the absence of the Gomarsall v Ellis scrap. There were plenty
of others to savour, between two heavyweight packs with a tasty undercard battle
between England open-sides Lewis Moody and Andy Hazell.
Gloucester managed a furious early surge - from a driven lineout and then
through Marcel Garvey's thrust down the left - and landed the first blow with
Paul's third minute penalty.
The rest of the half belonged to Leicester as they gradually won the forward
battle - despite some heroic defensive work from Hazell - then launched Rabeni
to devastating effect into midfield.
The Fijian can burst and spin through tackles, and has the pace to take him
clear of defences.
And he showed all those skills with the 12th minute try that saw him break
past Paul 40 metres out and then surge between two defenders to the posts for
his eighth try this season.
Goode converted then added a penalty to make it 10-3 although they could not
quite crack Gloucester's defence after that.
The visitors dug in by making three times as many tackles as their opponents
and closed the gap against the run of play with a second Paul penalty before the
break.
Gloucester, though, conceded a penalty to Goode immediately after the interval
and were creaking at the scrums.
They escaped one near miss when Hipkiss got over on the right only for the
score to be ruled out because of Vesty's forward pass in another Rabeni-inspired
build-up.
But Johnson made no mistake when he popped up in midfield from their next
attack, providing the perfect assist for replacement wing Alex Tuilagi to
outstrip the cover from 30 yards for the clinching try just before the hour.
After Goode stretched the lead with his third penalty, Gloucester had to throw
caution to the wind to rescue even a bonus point.
All they could manage was to hand Leicester another gift, with Garvey's pass
picked off by Tuilagi, who blasted 70 yards down the right-hand touchline to
score.
Paul's consolation try and conversion made the scoreline look more respectable
but Gloucester were well beaten.
Teams
Leicester: Vesty, Hipkiss, Rabeni, Gibson, Varndell, Goode,
Bemand, Morris, Buckland, White, M. Johnson, Kay, H. Tuilagi,
Moody, Corry.
Replacements: Broadfoot for Vesty (81),
A. Tuilagi for Hipkiss (53), Rowntree for Morris (61),
Cockerill for Buckland (78), B. Deacon for H. Tuilagi (65),
Back for Moody (71).
Not Used: Wright.
Tries: Rabeni, A. Tuilagi 2.
Cons: Goode 2.
Pens: Goode 3.
Gloucester: Goodridge, Garvey, Fanolua, Paul, Bailey, Davies,
Page, Bezuidenhout, Fortey, Vickery, Eustace, Cornwell, Buxton,
Hazell, Boer.
Replacements: Mauger for Fanolua (71), Powell for Vickery (78),
Balding for Cornwell (58), Forrester for Hazell (54).
Not Used: Parkes, Amor, Kiole.
Tries: Paul.
Cons: Paul.
Pens: Paul 2.
Att: 16,815
Ref: Tony Spreadbury (Bristol).
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