Leicester vs Northampton match report: Manu Tuilagi back with a bang for Tigers

Leicester Tigers 30 Northampton Saints 27

(Getty Images)

A derby that Leicester seemed to have in the bag after leading 21-0 was eventually won for them by Freddie Burns’s last-kick penalty.

England centre Manu Tuilagi’s successful return from the Tigers’ bench after missing 15 months injured, and Dylan Hartley’s withdrawal from the Saints’ replacements with a rib injury, were other talking points set before watching national-team coach Eddie Jones.

Tuilagi flew into a brilliant tackle on Northampton’s England lock Courtney Lawes to announce his comeback from a frustrating wait for a chronic groin injury to heal. The Samoan-born colossus has missed an autumn series, Six Nations Championship and World Cup for his adopted country, and his club coach Richard Cockerill cautioned against rushing him into action against Scotland on 6 February. “That would be unrealistic for Manu,” said Cockerill. “We need to make sure that groin is 100 per cent right first. I’ll be having a chat with Eddie Jones on that subject in the next few days.”

It was Lawes, stepping through a ruck on Northampton’s 22-metre line to challenge Leicester scrum-half Ben Youngs, who conceded the match-winning penalty.

Youngs had been a strong influence in a match of few scrums, and one yellow card to Leicester’s tighthead Dan Cole, taking the five-season tally in this fixture to five red cards and 21 yellows. But this edition was mostly legitimate, raucous entertainment.

Cockerill’s Saints counterpart Jim Mallinder said he hoped, rather than expected, that Hartley would play against Glasgow in Europe next Sunday. It must be a concern to Jones that a potential captain has made only one start since a seven-week lay-off with concussion. On the upside, the two starting hookers here, Mikey Haywood and Tom Youngs, went at it hammer and tongs, although both had trouble securing clean line-out ball in the first half. And Tom Wood returned for Northampton after six weeks out.

Leicester had their Welsh fly-half Owen Williams taken to hospital with a suspected broken jaw after a collision with Lawes – which was disruptive to Leicester as Williams had been central to their opening burst of three converted tries by Matt Smith, Lachlan McCaffrey and himself.

The biggest post-war attendance at Welford Road saw Saints claw back with tries either side of half-time for Teimana Harrison and George North, before Burns slotted two penalties. A galloping try by promising tighthead Paul Hill was ruled out for a questionably awarded high tackle on Peter Betham. Eventually, Jamie Gibson strolled unopposed from a line-out for Northampton’s third try, before Steve Myler’s boot levelled the scores with six minutes left, and finally Burns settled it.

Leicester: T Veainu (S Harrison, 72); P Betham, M Tait, M Smith (M Tuilagi, 52), A Thompstone; O Williams (F Burns, 33), B Youngs; M Ayerza (L Mulipola, 69), T Youngs (capt), D Cole (sin-bin, 60-70), S de Chaves (L Pearce, 78), G Kitchener, M Fitzgerald, B O’Connor (T Croft, 5), L McCaffrey.

Northampton: B Foden; J Elliott, G North, L Burrell, T Collins; JJ Hanrahan (S Myler, 65), L Dickson (capt); A Waller (E Waller, 65); M Haywood (M Williams, 79), P Hill, C Lawes, V Matfield, J Gibson, T Harrison (C Day, 65), S Dickinson (T Wood, 26).

Referee: W Barnes (London).