Gloucester 26-33 Leicester: Ford boot makes the difference for Tigers

FOUR tries apiece constituted excellent entertainment but 13 points from proved the difference.

In the week, Ford was left out of 's first training squad of the season, he showed he was far from a spent force with a polished performance.

also illustrated that they are now more than a one-dimensional team with Freddie Steward, Harry Potter and Nemani Nadolo all providing thrilling moments to reward the industrious efforts of their pack in which skipper Ellis Genge was outstanding.

However the best individual performance of the night came from flanker, Ruan Ackermann, whose aggression almost single- handedly kept his side in the fight.

Gloucester's head coach, George Skivington said: “Ruan had an operation in the summer and missed the whole of pre-season.

“He had 20 minutes last week and didn't want to come off after 60 tonight. He is a proper warrior and a massive part of this club.”

Ackermann wasn't alone in impressing as Ben Morgan had his best game for the club for some time with the whole-hearted efforts of Jack Singleton and Fraser Balmain ensuring that Gloucester achieved near parity in the set piece.

Behind the scrum it was a different story as Gloucester lacked penetration and made too many unforced errors so the return of Jonny May, Louis Rees- Zammit and Chris Harris cannot come quickly enough.

Two penalties from Ford gave Leicester an early advantage before Harry Wells extended it by forcing his way over from close range.

Gloucester looked in danger of being blown away by Tigers' explosive start but they responded when Balmain battered his way across the line.

Leicester then produced the move of the match. Following a round of passing 10 metres from their own try-line, the ball reached Nadolo, who immediately brushed through Tom Seabrook's tackle before knocking aside two further opponents on a 60m run.

The Fijian powerhouse fed Steward and Tigers looked certain scorers but Kyle Moyle dived in to prevent recycling and was yellow-carded.

Sliding in: Harry Potter scores Tigers' third try
PICTURES: Getty Images

In the full-back's absence an error by Lloyd Evans saw him give away a penalty with the visitors capitalising by moving the ball quickly for Genge to score. Moyle returned and should have been replaced in the sin-bin by Tommy Reffell for a no-arms tackle on Ackermann but Gloucester still had the penalty and benefitted when a looped pass from Lloyd Evans sent Ackermann over to leave the hosts trailing 18-12 at halftime.

Gloucester dominated the opening period of the second half but their opponents showed them how to finish when Harry Potter collected a poor clearance from Seabrook to waltz pass three defenders to score a splendid individual try.

The home side remained in contention when Mark Atkinson celebrated his England call-up by scoring their third try before Ford gave his side breathing space with his third penalty.

Tigers' victory was sealed with a try from Nic Dolly following a line-out drive but replacement, Ollie Chessum, was sinbinned for persistent team infringements just a minute after coming onto the field.

immediately powered over for Gloucester to sniff a draw but Tigers just held on for a deserved victory.

By ROGER PANTING

Gloucester ……..26pts

Tries: Balmain 17, Ackermann 35, Atkinson 57, Clement 73

Conversions: Evans 17, 57; Hastings 73

GLOUCESTER: Moyle 6, Seabrook 4, Twelvetrees 5, Atkinson 7, Thorley 6 (Hastings 29-40), Evans 5 (Hastings 58, 6) Meehan 6 (Varney 69, 6), Elrington 6 (Ford-Robinson 66, 6), Singleton 8, Balmain 7 (Gotovtsev 69, 6), Slater 6 (Clarke 58), Davidson 5, Morgan 8 (Clement 63, 5), Ackermann 9 (Conradie 73, 6), Ludlow (c) 7

Not used: Walker

Leicester ……….33pts

Tries: Wells 13, Genge 27, Potter 53, Dolly 67

Conversions: Ford 13, 53

Penalties: Ford 3, 6, 63

LEICESTER: Steward 8, Potter 8, Scott 5, Kelly 6, Nadolo 8 (Porter 58, 6), Ford 7, Van Poortvliet 7 (Youngs 50, 6), Genge(c) 8 (Van Wyk 68, 6), Dolly 8, Cole 7 (Heyes 58, 6), Wells 7 (Chessum 70, 4), Snyman 6 (Green 50, 6), Martin 6 Liebenberg 7, Reffell 7

Not used: Cowan-Dickie, Burns

REFEREE: Tom Foley

ATTENDANCE: 11,640

Star man: Ruan Ackermann – Gloucester