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Leicester leave it late to maintain remarkable 'Big Game' record
By PA
Dan Cole’s converted try snatched a dramatic last-gasp draw for Leicester as they fought back to hold Harlequins to a 34-34 Gallagher Premiership stalemate.
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Quins appeared to have clinched a desperately close encounter at a sold-out Allianz Stadium when man-of-the-match Cadan Murley ran in the second of his two tries in the 69th minute.
But the Tigers used their pack to pound away at the home line in the closing moments and were rewarded when Cole crept over with a minute left with Handre Pollard landing the conversion.
Pollard’s successful kick meant that for the third time the ‘Big Game’ fixture at Twickenham had produced a draw between the rivals.
Leicester played with greater cohesion but a self-destructive streak undermined their evening with first-half mistakes gifting their rivals two tries and providing Marcus Smith with two easy shots at goal.
Smith was irrepressible throughout and comfortably the most dangerous player on the pitch, his electric display watched by Steve Borthwick from the stands as England’s head coach draws up his plans for the looming Six Nations.
Smith’s first meaningful contribution was pure magic as he caught a clearance, dummied his way between two defenders and then danced around a third before supplying Jack Walker with the scoring pass.
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The try wiped out an early penalty from Pollard but the England fly-half rolled the dice with a dangerous kick out of defence that fell straight into the arms of Ollie Hassell-Collins.
It was from that position Leicester constructed a patient try for Hassell-Collins before their attack purred again in the 21st minute when Freddie Steward set off on a lung-busting run from deep in Tigers’ half with Solomone Kata completing the move.
Almost immediately Quins were back under the pump, but they were able to pickpocket a Leicester line-out that was closing in on their whitewash with Jack Kenningham bursting free and feeding Murley, who rounded for Steward for a sublime finish.
Pollard’s second penalty opened a six-point lead for Tigers, who then saw their success in withstanding a prolonged home attack undermined when Kata was shown a yellow card for a high tackle on Oscar Beard.
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From the ensuing line-out, Luke Northmore took a short pass from Danny Care to score.
Leicester had paid a heavy price for two errors in the first half – dropping the ball at the line-out and then Kata’s sin-binning – and will not have seen a 21-20 interval deficit as a fair reflection of the game.
A dynamic break by Quins that started behind their posts was stopped on the halfway line when Steward flattened Smith and soon after the England fly-half kicked a penalty awarded for an off-the-ball tackle by Mike Brown.
But Leicester hit back with a Steward try after the home defence had been overwhelmed, creating acres of space for the full-back to score.
An obstruction by Pollard offered Smith another three points with the Tigers seemingly determined to help their opponents over the line.
Smith was trying everything to ignite Quins and just after he conjured some magic to threaten down the right, play swung left where rapid passing sent Murley over for his second.
But Leicester staged their late assault and would not be denied with replacement prop Cole and then Pollard – the South African destroyer of England’s 2023 World Cup dream – doing the damage.
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