Champions Cup: Leicester keep their play-off hopes alive with a 40-23 win over Scarlets
Last Updated: 17/01/15 4:06pm
Leicester Tigers kept their European Champions Cup knock-out stage hopes alive with a 40-23 victory over Scarlets on Friday.
Both sides came into the game needing a bonus point victory to stay alive in the competition and Leicester must now win away to Ulster in their final match, or hope the Irish province upset Pool 3 leaders and defending champions Toulon in France on Saturday, to potentially reach the quarter-finals.
Leicester did what they had to do on Friday as they scored six tries in all. Miles Benjamin, Jordan Crane, Adam Thompstone, Tom Youngs and Sam Harrison all went over as Leicester dominated the scrum and the lineout.
The home side did not have it all their own way though and Scarlets showed their skills with tries from Rob Evans and a Harry Robinson brace, however they suffered in the set-pieces and had no answer for the power of Leicester.
Leicester took control early on through tries from Miles Benjamin and Jordan Crane but their poor discipline let them down. Scarlets made the most of Leicester lock Graham Kitchener's sin-bin and Rob Evans went over to make the score 14-11 at half-time.
But normal service was resumed once Kitchener returned and Thompstone punished a stretched Welsh backline to canter over.
Freddie Burns missed his first conversion of the evening but Tigers were now just one try away from their coveted bonus point. And they soon earnt that as replacement hooker Youngs made an instant impact when he popped up with the ball after another catch-and-drive line-out from close range.
Scarlets simply couldn't handle Leicester's power in the set-piece and Ben Youngs teed up his brother Tom for his second try after a break from the back of a ruck.
The Welsh outfit may have been beaten but they weren't bowed and perfectly delayed passes from centres Scott Williams and Regan King put wing harry Robinson over in the right corner on the hour.
But flanker Aaron Shingler was sin-binned and Italy back-rower Robert Barbieri set up replacement scrum-half Harrison for Leicester's sixth.
Before Shingler returned, Scarlets showed clinical finishing as Sam Robinson was again found in space wide on the right for the ninth and final try of a thrilling match.
