Leicester sink Harlequins with stunning fightback

Ollie Hassell-Collins' 57th career try sealed Leicester's comeback win

The Prem

Leicester (0) 29

Tries: Wand 2, van Poortvliet, Hassell-Collins Cons: Searle 3 Pens: Searle

Harlequins (16) 19

Tries: Porter Cons: J Evans Pens: J Evans 4

Leicester Tigers fought back from 19-0 down to beat Harlequins in the Prem with a sensational second-half comeback.

The Tigers bossed first-half possession and territory, but trailed to three Jarrod Evans penalties before Will Porter finished a thrilling Quins move to make it 16-0 at half-time.

Evans booted the visitors further ahead but they then conceded twice with Jack Walker in the bin, as Will Wand and Jack van Poortvliet pulled Tigers back within five points.

Billy Searle's penalty further reduced the arrears before Ollie Hassell-Collins and Wand's second sealed a dramatic first Prem win for Tigers' new head coach Geoff Parling.

It also marked back-to-back defeats for Quins under new head coach Jason Gilmore, whose side gave away a 17-0 lead in the season opener against Bath.

Game of two halves as Quins collapse again

Parling had bemoaned Leicester's failure to finish off their chances at Ashton Gate and once again his side failed to capitalise on two-thirds of first-half possession and 58% territory.

An early lost lineout five metres from the Quins line set the tone, before van Poortvliet's knock-on cut short another slick attack.

In contrast, Quins made full value of their limited attacking possession through Evans' two long-range penalties, although Nick David fluffed a two-on-one chance to extend the lead, denied by Freddie Steward's try-saving tackle.

Tigers winger Adam Radwan's thrilling run almost gave Leicester their breakthrough, with Ollie Chessum, in his first game as club captain, then diving over - but van Poortvliet's offload was ruled forward.

Evans used the strong wind to push over a third penalty from inside his own half, and direct from the restart Alex Dombrandt charged forwards and produced a sublime back-handed offload, with Porter crossing unchallenged.

A sloppy start to the second half from the hosts saw James Thompson concede an early penalty as Quins looked to be cruising at 19-0.

Will Porter's try, shortly before half-time, put Quins 16-0 in front

Another Leicester lineout in front of the Quins line went awry, but the hosts - with Storm Amy's gusts at their backs and the wind in their sails - began to turn the screw.

With hooker Walker sent to the sinbin, Wand finally put the Tigers on the board after 56 minutes after the hosts had pummelled away and forced a succession of red zone penalties.

Quins had their lead cut to five points before Walker's return as Radwan's break provided the territory before a brilliant scrum set up the platform for van Poortvliet to cross.

Searle's penalty maintained the momentum and Leicester completed the turnaround with 10 minutes left when Chessum sent Hassell-Collins in at the left corner.

And in the final minute, a simple Wand run in earned what had looked an unlikely try bonus point just 25 minutes earlier as the visitors subsided.

'I always thought we had the quality' - reaction

Leicester Tigers head coach Geoff Parling:

"Despite the scoreline, I thought we produced a lot of good stuff in the first half, but it looked like we were getting ratty with ourselves as things weren't coming off.

"After that I was really pleased with the fight we showed as we had our backs to the wall, but I always thought we had the quality to get back in the game.

"Changing four players at one time early in the second half was a pivotal moment as I believe we needed fresh legs to get back in the game.

"The bench did make a big impact and once we scored the first try, the belief came back into our game."

Harlequins head coach Jason Gilmore:

"We have to be better in controlling territory and possession as we let ourselves down in that area today.

"Once that happens you get regularly pinged and it brings the referee into the game. It's disappointing as last season we conceded the least amount of penalties in the league.

"We struggled against Bath's power game last week but I thought we were better in that area today.

"However, we should have been further ahead at half-time as we bombed a try in the left-hand corner and then, in the second half, Jarrod (Evans) missed a penalty touch and we were back in our half with the crucial yellow card soon following."

Leicester: Steward, Radwan, Kata, Woodward, Hassell-Collins, Searle, van Poortvliet, Smith, Clare, Heyes, Henderson, Chessum (c), Moro, Ilione, Cracknell.

Replacements: Blamire, van der Flier, Hurd, Thompson, Reffell, Whiteley, Searle, Wand.

Harlequins: Green, David, Beard, Benson, Cleaves, J Evans, Porter, Baxter, Walker, Williams, Cunningham-South, Treadwell, Kenningham, W Evans, Dombrandt (c).

Replacements: Riley, Kerrod, Lamositele, Green, Carr, Green, Kerr, Anderson.

Sin-bin: Walker (51).

Referee: Hamish Smales.