Beneath some hot and overdue summer sunshine the big crowd at the re-vamped and much improved Rec expected a Tigers victory. Even without so many big names away on World Cup duty their travelling squad was impressive. For the new-look Pirates it was a first taste of combat and they caused the Tigers plenty of problems with some bone crunching hits and well taken tries.

Leicester kicked off attacking the Clubhouse end of the ground and capitalised on a tentative Pirates start by scoring inside two minutes. A blistering midfield break by locks Wentzel and Gillanders, having ghosted through a huge gap in the Pirates rearguard, was halted inches short of the line. From the ensuing scrum Ben Youngs burrowed over to score and the Tigers were up and running as Burke added the easy extras.

The Pirates looked shaken as the Tigers continued to trouble them with a succession neat and precise handling movements, but bounced back to produce a sublime champagne moment ten minutes later. As the Pirates drove deep into Tigers territory new fly-half Gareth Steenson`s deft chip to the corner was collected by the onrushing Rhodri McAtee, who then outflanked the cover and touched down in the corner. Steenson slotted a tricky touchline conversion and the scores were level.

The Pirates showed more attacking flair moments later as they stripped the Tigers of possession close to their own line and launched a scintillating counter attack spoiled only by an unfortunate Brian Tuohy knock-on. Then with Alan Paver limping off with a calf injury the Pirates lost concentration and failed to respond quickly enough to a swift Ben Youngs tap-penalty. Vavae Tuilagi breezed in at the corner and Paul Burke`s boot restored a seven point lead.

The Pirates piled back with Tim Cowley, Richard Bolt and Tuohy all prominent in attack only for the Tigers to strike with a third try. This time Marco Wentzel scored after a slick handling movement undid the Pirates defence. As the first half edged into stoppage time the Tigers led by 7-21 but the Pirates bounced back again. This time a cheeky grubber kick from Steenson caught the Tigers on their heels and Simon Whatling won the race to touch down.

Both Coaches fielded fresh line-ups for the second period and the Tigers brought on the heavy artillery with Julian White, Alejandro Moreno, Louis Deacon, Andy Goode and Tom Varndell all prominent. Again the Tigers scored quickly with hooker Ben Kayser being driven over from close range. On 48 minutes the Pirates struck back again. Dawiduik`s overthrown line-out ball caused consternation in the Leicester defence as they failed to cope with the wickedly bouncing ball. The ever aggressive Steve Winn was quicker to react and stole possession back for an easy score under the posts. Steenson converted.

Aggressive tackling from the Pirates then repelled wave after wave of Tigers attacks as the visitors looked to assert their superiority. Ollie Smith then scored after an exquisite dummy from Murphy created acres of space for him but on the hour the Press Gang`s Brian Tuohy notched the fourth try for the home side after an excellent move instigated by Steenson and involving strong ball carrying from Eni Gesinde and Ed Williamson.

At 28-35 the Pirates were within touching distance of something special but it was not to be. Four tries in the last fifteen minutes rocked the home side as Leicester put a gloss on their days work. First up was a searing Tom Varndell break from half way that totally outpaced the Pirates defence. Goode converted. Jordan Crane then went over from a close range scrum before Dodge and a second try for Varndell in the final minutes finished the job. Andy Goode will be disappointed at missing his last three conversion attempts but as two weary squads trooped from the field at the end, there was no doubting that the crowd had been served a special treat.

Winnan, McAtee, Devlin, Whatling, Tuohy, Steenson, Bolt, Cowley (capt), Motusaga, Betty, Cummimg, Beardshaw, Seal, Elloway, Paver

Murphy, Hurrell, Smith, Cornwell, V.Tuilagi, Burke, Youngs, Finegan (capt), Abraham, Croft, Wentzel, Gillanders, Young, Davies, Stankovich

McAtee, Parsons, Tuohy, Winn (capt), Devlin, Whatling, Moore, Williamson, Betty, Gesinde, Beardshaw, Hobson, Heard, Dawiduik, Cook

Culpin, Varndell, Youngs, Smith, Dodge, Goode, Murphy, Crane, Herring, Pienaar, Deacon (capt), Blake, White, Kayser, Moreno

Scorers:-

Pirates – Tries: McAtee, Whatling, Winn, Tuohy

                Con: Steenson (4)

Tigers -  Tries: Youngs, Tuilagi, Wentzel, Kayser, Smith, Crane, Dodge, Varndell (2)

               Con: Burke (3), Goode (3)

Attendance:- 4238

Referee – Tony Spreadbury (RFU)

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