Leicester edge out Sale by point in 10-try thriller

Adam Radwan capped a fine performance with two first-half tries

The Prem

Leicester (22) 36

Tries: Radwan (2), Henderson, Ilione, Whiteley Cons: O'Connor (3), Searle Pens: O'Connor

Sale (7) 35

Tries: O'Flaherty, James (3), Roebuck Cons: Ford (5)

Leicester Tigers edged past a resurgent Sale Sharks in a nail-biting 10-try thriller in the Prem at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.

In a first half devoid of spark for long periods, Adam Radwan scored twice before Tom O'Flaherty finally got the visitors on the board with a diving, inch-perfect effort.

The tries flowed freely from that point on, Cameron Henderson and Luke James' scores cancelled each other out either side of the break, before Emeka Ilione added another to bolster his increasingly growing reputation.

Tom Roebuck and Tom Whiteley then exchanged tries before James secured his hat-trick, but seventh-placed Sale were never quite able to seize the game from their hosts, who moved up up to fifth spot.

Following a series of drives in the Sale 22 it was the Tigers who struck first.

With the visiting defence numbered up it looked like the opportunity had gone, but quick hands from Freddie Steward sent Radwan clear down the wing for the first try of the afternoon.

The Sharks, still reeling from last week's humbling 65-14 defeat by Saracens struggled to match the Tigers' early intensity, but were almost gifted a score following a loose Leicester pass, only for the opportunity to be ultimately squandered thanks to a knock-on.

Amid a flurry of penalties, handling errors and misplaced line-outs, it was the Tigers who grabbed the initiative.

Following an attacking Leicester line-out, the ensuing rolling maul was halted by the Sharks, but the ball was recycled across to Steward who once again fed Radwan to pick the perfect angle to scythe through and increase the lead still further.

The winger's second seemed to spark something in the visitors, however.

Shortly after the restart, O'Flaherty forced his way over in the corner, despite the attentions of Whiteley, after a determined period of Sharks pressure.

But with half-time looming, Leicester found the line again

Following a break by Olly Cracknell, Whiteley spotted a gap in the Sale defence and kept his hands free to offload to Henderson for a surprisingly healthy 15-point lead at the break.

Tom O'Flaherty scored Sale's only try of the first half

The second half could not have been more different from the first as Sale started with a much greater sense of purpose.

After a series of drives up to the Tigers' line, and with the defence narrowed, George Ford fed James to jog over untouched.

Any feel-good factor from that score was quickly extinguished when Leicester added their bonus-point score.

With the visitors' defence seemingly set, Hanro Liebenberg's slip pass found Ilione who stole through a gap to dive over next to the posts.

The game had opened up and with both defences out on their heels, Sale drove up to the Leicester line again.

In a near carbon copy of his first try, James found a gap after a pinpoint pass from Ford to secure his brace and keep the visitors in contention.

The lively Whiteley was next on the scoresheet, the scrum-half taking advantage to snipe over from close range after Ollie Chessum had been repelled.

With both teams seemingly scoring at will, it was only fitting that Sale scored their bonus-point try soon after as Rob du Preez exploited a gap in the Tigers defence before being dragged down.

Replacement Raffi Quirke marshalled his forwards before eventually passing to Roebuck to add to the try bonanza.

Breaking the tit-for-tat cycle, Sale scored a fifth.

James claimed his hat-trick after the imperious Ford sent Marius Louw through a gap - the South African found the full-back as the Tigers ran out of defenders.

But Sale were unable to find that decisive final score and Billy Searle had no difficulty in kicking the ball dead as time elapsed.

Leicester: Steward; Radwan, Perese, Kata, Hassell-Collins; O'Connor, Whiteley; Smith, Blamire, Heyes, Henderson, Chessum (c), Liebenberg, Reffell, Cracknell.

Replacements: Clare, Haffar, Hurd, Wells, Ilione, Allan, Searle, Bailey.

Sale: James, Roebuck, du Preez, Ma'asi-White, O'Flaherty; Ford, Warr; Opoku-Fordjour, Cowan-Hickie, Harper, van Rhyn (c), Bamber, Vermuelen, Woodman, Dugdale.

Replacements: Jibulu. Onasanya, Bell, Burrow, du Preez, Quirke, Louw, Reed.

Referee: Karl Dickson.