Leicester Tigers on the up as Bristol slump

The Tigers did manage five tries, but Bristol arrived at Welford Road with a side shorn of several key players — and after the possession the Tigers won they should have strolled passed the 50-point mark.

But this is a Leicester side in the middle of a shocking run. Before this win over Bristol, they had lost in the Anglo-Welsh Cup final and had slipped from second to sixth place in the Guinness Premiership, gaining just 12 points from their last seven encounters.

With Bristol safe from relegation and unable to qualify for the Heineken Cup, coach Richard Hill had given several regulars, including captain Matt Salter, the rest of the season off.

Although they were short on established names, Bristol were not short on spirit. That showed in their defence and two second-half tries, including one from Graeme Beveridge deep in injury time.

But Leicester's inevitable bonus point arrived in the 58th minute when the Bristol pack finally cracked and gave away a penalty try after six scrums on their line.

"We are delighted with the win after the week we have had," admitted Leicester coach Marcelo Loffreda, 'but we now need to be much better if we are to win our last two games against Newcastle and Harlequins and be competitive at the end of the season."

The result had been put beyond Bristol's reach in the first 30 minutes when tries from Aaron Mauger, Ben Herring and Tom Varndell and the boot of Andy Goode sent Leicester into an unassailable 20-0 lead.

The power of Alesana Tuilagi created the opener for Mauger as he barged his way through the Bristol defence, while Herring came up with the ball after a trademark rolling maul from 15 metres out. Varndell's was the pick of the scores. Tuilagi burst clear on the blindside of a ruck on halfway, a simple pass taking Luke Arscott out of the game and Varndell over.

The bright spot for Bristol came in the form of ex-England scrum half Shaun Perry, who stunned the home crowd with a 49th-minute try, bursting off the back of a scrum from 10 metres out.

Perry responded well to his dual with Harry Ellis, even if he was playing behind a beaten pack, and it is clear he does not believe his days as a Test player are over.

Goode scored a try out wide in the 70th minute after a long pass from Ayoola Erinle to settle Leicester's nerves and take them 32-7 ahead, but Bristol had the last word, Beveridge diving over from a Jason Strange offload in the 87th minute.

"We didn't come here to lose but we came up with a young side today and showed true grit," said Bristol assistant coach Paul Hull. "There were some harsh words at half-time and they responded well, winning the second half 14-12."

Wins in their last two games against Harlequins and Newcastle should send Leicester into the play-offs. But one more performance like this could see them fail to make the end of season knockout for the first time since 2004.

Bristol have now slipped to four straight Premiership defeats since beating Newcastle 28-8 on March 16. It is clearly all about next season for the men from the Memorial Ground.