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Last gasp Hardwick penalty sees Leicester beat Glocuester

Hanro Liebenburg

A last-minute Tom Hardwick penalty saw a much-changed Leicester deservedly beat Gloucester 16-13 at Welford Road, registering their opening Premiership win of the season in the process.

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Tigers boss Geordan Murphy made nine changes to his squad from last week’s defeat against Saracens but, despite a dominant showing in the opening 40 minutes, they could only take a 10-6 lead into the interval.

The afternoon could not have got off to a worse start for Gloucester when they lost captain Ed Slater to the sin-bin for a shoulder charge on Tigers playmaker Noel Reid and, after Hardwick and Billy Twelvetrees had traded penalties, the young fly-half scored a solo try.

Splitting the Gloucester defence five metres out, Reid tip-toed down the blind-side before barging past Gerbrandt Grobler to score his first try for the club since joining from Leinster in the summer.

Jordan Olowofela should have added a second on the half hour mark, with the young winger on the end of a free-flowing moving instigated off a Tigers lineout – but Telusa Veaninu couldn’t hold on to his inside pass.

And, but for the rearguard efforts of the irrepressible Tom Marshall, Leicester would have been out of sight.

The Gloucester full-back seemingly covered every blade of grass as he sought to stem the Leicester tide, keeping them in touch.

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It was fitting, then, that Marshall was at the heart of the Gloucester response, setting up an outstanding try for Joe Simpson.

Combining with Mark Atkinson, Marshall set away the unusually quiet Ollie Thorley, who ghosted past his man – before feeding Simpson to scamper over from 15 metres and put Gloucester three ahead at 13-10.

With the Gloucester back division beginning to flex their muscles, the famous ‘16th man’ came into full effect, and the home faithful never stopped believing.

Re-asserting their authority, Murphy’s charges drew level going into the final 10 minutes courtesy of a second Hardwick penalty as the decibel levels continued to rise.

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Led on by Sam Harrison, a bundle of energy from minute one, Tigers went in search of a winner and after Sione Kalamafoni was repelled, a scrum right in front of the posts presented a clear opportunity.

The shove was textbook, giving referee Ian Tempest no choice but to award the penalty kick – which Hardwick belted over to give Tigers the lead with a minute left on the clock and the victory.

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Hellhound 35 minutes ago
Scotland's Gregor Townsend confirms Tom Jordan Glasgow exit

NZ lost a great player there. Played brilliantly for Glasgow and against SA was the best player on the pitch. Caused the Boks some headaches. Slot him into the current AB's team, and they would be very dangerous, especially broken play.


However, the Scots isn't stupid and their recruiting from the SH countries is starting to pay off. They don't have the player pool the SH countries have, nor that of their neighbours even.


I applaud them for being so open-minded as giving those players who have loyally played their rugby in Scotland for years a chance. SA for one have such a vast pool of players that's so talented and could be world class given the smallest chance, but will never get a look in because there is just so many stars in the country.


I don't mind that Saffas play for other countries to further their own careers. Besides, it makes Scotland better and makes for one more team to step up to the big stage and make rugby more exciting than just the top 4 that usually wins.


Scotland may have lost by 17 against a rusty Bok "B" team, but that score is not a true indication of that match. The Scottish biggest mistakes was kicking at goal the entire time, instead of going for the jugular. If they tried to go for tries, they may have been stopped and the score might have been bigger, but the game was on such a knife edge, that if they did go for it, they might have scored a couple of tries or more and we very well might have seen a Scottish upset.


It was by no means a bad effort at all. Tom Jordan is one of their best new talents coming through. He should've stayed with Glasgow. What a loss for the URC Champs. Going to Loftus and getting one over the Bulls is something that not even the so called best team in club rugby could do. Leinster keeps losing at Loftus. For Glasgow to do that in a Final was phenomenal and Tom Jordan was no small part of that feat.


Rugby is truely becoming a global sport now, where the eligibility rules is making rugby a much smaller world, but a much bigger global game. The Scots is most likely the team with the most aliens in their team. They welcome players with open arms. I applaud that. They are a sleeping giant, and if they continue playing like they did against the Boks, despite the results, they will become a real threat for 2027.


I admired how they played. They impressed everyone. I say good on them. Results will come if they continue on their upward trajectory. I wish them and Tom Jordan all the luck they deserve.

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