Leicester beat Bristol to go second in Premiership

Ollie Hassell-Collins has scored eight Premiership tries this season

Gallagher Premiership

Bristol Bears (5) 19

Tries: Ibitoye, Ravouvou, Randall Cons: MacGinty 2

Leicester Tigers (22) 36

Tries: Radwan, Hassell-Collins, Van Poortvliet, Steward, Henderson Cons: Pollard 3, Shillcock Pens: Pollard

Leicester Tigers leapfrogged Bristol Bears into second spot in the Premiership with an exhilarating, and at times frantically captivating, victory at Ashton Gate.

A no-look, behind-the-back pass from Kalaveti Ravouvou that set Gabriel Ibitoye up for Bristol's only first-half try was the highlight of an absorbing opening 40 minutes that Leicester otherwise dominated through tries from Adam Radwan, Ollie Hassell-Collings and Jack van Poortvliet.

Handre Pollard added a penalty to those three touch downs to put Leicester 22-5 up at the break.

Tigers were down to 14 men, with Joe Heyes in the sin-bin, when Ravouvou grabbed the host's second try after the break.

Freddie Steward appeared to put the result beyond the Bears' reach with a bonus-point try for Tigers just after the hour mark, but a Harry Randall score in response and Solomone Kata's yellow card for Leicester made it a nervy finish before Cameron Henderson completed the win in the final minute.

That final try had Tigers head coach Michael Cheika and his coaching staff on their feet in celebration as it took them from fifth in the table and up to second on points difference.

Bristol were in action for the first time since their heavy West Country defeat by Gloucester in March sparked a league-wide debate about how high-scoring, high-entertainment rugby is what the Premiership needs.

Van Poortvliet was quick to add to the conversation, conjuring the first points of the game after punching through a gap down the middle before dishing the ball off for Radwan to touch down inside four minutes.

Bristol's response was as dazzling as it was quick, with Ravouvou manging to fling an outrageous pass out to Ibitoye despite being brought down in a tackle.

The no-look offload found Ibitoye in space, with the winger able to race over on his long-awaited first appearance since late December.

The willingness to push attacking boundaries, however, caught Ibitoye out as he had a wayward pass intercepted by Hassell-Collins to allow Tigers to restore their lead.

The advantage was soon added to by Van Poortvliet, who dummied his way over from close range before Pollard landed his second conversion and went on to slot a penalty to make it a 22-5 half-time lead.

Tigers saw out the first-half a man down after Heyes was sin-binned for his hit on Fitz Harding. Bristol took advantage of the numerical advantage after the interval as they stretched the visitors with a fast-flowing move that ended with a dashing Ravouvou finish.

A try apiece in the space of three minutes - with Randall linking up with Benhard Janse van Rensburg after Steward grabbed Tigers' fourth try - added to the breathless nature of the spectacle before Kata was sin-binned for a high tackle.

And after Randall had gone close to another late score, Tigers came up with one last converted try that lifted them to second in the table with a win that went a significant way to making up for the 54-24 loss Pat Lam's side inflicted on them in December.

'No prize for being second now' - reaction

Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam told BBC Radio Bristol:

"We are obviously disappointed that we got nothing out of that game.

"We would probably describe that first-half as pretty sloppy. We gave up three easy tries and scored a good one.

"We talked at half-time that we didn't look like ourselves, we were sloppy with what we were doing. In the second half we wanted to start well, which we did and then we had lots of opportunities that we didn't take advantage of.

"The last thing you want to be is two scores down against Leicester with 10 or 15 minutes to go, they do very well to shut you out. And the game was slowed up at the end.

"All in all we are disappointed, but we only have ourselves to blame."

Leicester Tiger head coach Michael Cheika told BBC Radio Leicester:

"For me personally and for us as a team, we really wanted to play this game for the fans back at Leicester. We were poor the day they came there and we got beat, and we really did want to turn that around today. I hope they will be happy with that performance.

"The play-off chances will be decided after the final game, there is no points for being third or fourth, or first or second now. There is no prize for that.

"We need consistency. We have had some great games this season and we have had some poor ones. Trying to tie that all up towards the end of the year means trying to have multiple good games in a row, which then starts to put you in as a contender.

"When we play multiple games in a row, then I'll say our play-off chances are looking good."

Bristol Bears: Lane; Bailey, Ravouvou, Janse van Rensburg, Ibitoye; MacGinty, Randall; Genge, Oghre, Kloska; Dun, Caulfield, Luatua, Harding (c), Mata.

Replacements: Thacker, Thomas, Lahiff, Grondona, Heenan, Marmion, Elizalde, Jenkins.

Leicester Tigers: Steward; Radwan, Kata, Woodward, Hassell-Collins; Pollard, Van Poortvliet; Smith, Montoya (c), Heyes; Henderson, Chessum, Liebenberg, Reffell, Cracknell.

Replacements: Clare, Whitcombe, Hurd, Rogerson, Ilione, Youngs, Shillcock, Kelly.

Yellow cards: Heyes (38), Kata (69).

Referee: Karl Dickson.