Leicester ……….35pts
Dragons …………28pts
LEICESTER Tigers stumbled to this narrow win by five tries to four after the Dragons fought back from a 21-0 half-time deficit.
And the way the Dragons charged through in the second half must be a big worry for Steve Borthwick's squad who face more Welsh opposition from the Scarlets at the Mattiolo Woods Welford Road on Thursday night.
The Leicester boss conceded his squad had lessons to learn after they lost their edge after that efficient first half which brought tries for full-back Freddie Steward, hooker Nic Dolly and impressive scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet.
“There was a bit of rust to shake off for both teams at the start,” Borthwick said, “but the next quarter was good and we demonstrated how we wanted to play and it showed on the scoreboard.
“Those are the things (the second-half errors) that can happen at this stage of the season. We will eradicate them but they were good lessons.”
Leicester, ultimately, needed the introduction of wing Nemani Nadolo to settle the contest after the Dragons had fought back to level at 28-28 with 18 minutes left.
Nadolo finished off in the left corner after Steward, below, just about man-of-the-match, supplied the pass to add to his firsthalf try and a second in the 57th minute.
A mix of home complacency and Dragons' enterprise had jured fightback which brought the visi- tors four tries in 22 minutes broken by Steward's second.
The fourth came from a familiar face to the Leicester fans in Jordan Olowofela who has joined Dragons on loan after spending last season in Australia – if you're looking to play games here's a link to the best AU online casino.
Dragons, who had missed out on some good chances in the first half, smartened up their game straight after the re-start when hooker Richard Hibbard forced his way over.
Sam Davies, who added all four conversions, intercepted a pass from Freddie Burns for the second while substitute Lewis Jones, on his debut, scored after a smart move.
The pace of another substitute in James Benjamin helped put Olowofela clear for the score that levelled the match, but Leicester, despite substituting Burns and van Poortvliet, had too much power and a final move made their fifth try, Nadolo striding to the line.
Dragons overall paid for those first half errors after they had created the first chance through the enterprising Jordan Williams but failed to finish off.
Leicester, in contrast, were ruthless in the way they took their chances to score three tries all converted by Burns.
Burns also orchestrated the first try in the 18th minute by catching out the Dragons defence in throwing a long pass to give Steward sufficient space in the right corner.
Leicester relied on muscle for the second when Dolly burrowed over from a line-out drive.
The best bits of the half were provided by the speed and the quick thinking of van Poortvliet. His break from halfway started the pressure which brought Steward's first try.
The England U20s captain popped over for Leicester's third try by neatly taking Hanro Liebenberg's pass off a out.
Dragons forced four penalties in setting up camp in the home 22 only to concede possession and the chance was lost.
