| Leicester (3) 16 |
| Try: Wiese Pens: Pollard 3 Con: Pollard |
| Edinburgh (0) 6 |
| Pens: Boffelli 2 |
Leicester Tigers held off a spirited Edinburgh fightback to win 16-6 and book their place in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Champions Cup.
Jasper Wiese came off the bench to show power and poise to score the only try of the game at Welford Road.
Edinburgh held a narrow lead after a couple of Emiliano Boffelli penalties in the second half, but Handre Pollard kicked Tigers clear after Wiese’s try.
The English champions will visit either Leinster or Ulster in the last eight.
Resilient Tigers have enough
Tigers came into the game with four consecutive victories to breathe life into their season after a disappointing start, and there was plenty of that spirit on display at a soggy Welford Road.
With the rain pouring down in the East Midlands all day, the script was written for a damp affair with limited attacking rugby.
Edinburgh slowed the ball at every opportunity and frustrated their hosts, who had to rely on Jack van Poortvliet’s box-kicking to gain territory.
Pollard was on target from the tee to hand them the advantage and more Edinburgh ill-discipline at the breakdown resulted in further Leicester penalties, but the hosts favoured the kick for touch over the shot at goal option, which proved fruitless.
Edinburgh shot out of the blocks at the start of the second half and Boffelli reversed the scoreline in their favour, before Wiese smashed his way through Jamie Ritchie and nimbly remained in field to ground the ball in the corner.
That was the shot in the arm Tigers needed to kill off the Edinburgh challenge as another two Pollard penalties sailed over the posts for victory.
Five victories in a row puts Tigers in the frame to challenge in Europe and defend their domestic title just at the right time of the season.
Edinburgh battle hard to no avail
Edinburgh were intent on slowing the ball and restricting Leicester’s speed of ball for their evasive backs in the first half, and it worked as they trailed by three at the interval.
As the night sky appeared to clear, the orange shirts emerged from the tunnel for the start of the second half with a new lease of life.
They charged at rucks and threw the ball around with more freedom. Henry Pyrgos danced and sniped through a hole in the Leicester defence to prod the ball into touch deep inside the hosts’ half.
Momentum began to swing their way and Boffelli made it count on the scoreboard but they were unable to prevent Wiese’s moment of brilliance after the ball spilled loose inside their own half.
The ever-reliable Ritchie had to take a seat on the drenched turf and Leicester had lift off.
A fifth consecutive defeat ends their involvement as Scotland’s only side in Europe’s premier club competition.
Leicester Tigers: Steward; Watson, Porter, Gopperth, Potter; Pollard, Van Poortvliet; Cronin, Montoya (c), Cole, Martin, Henderson, Liebenberg, Reffell, Cracknell.
Replacements: Clare, West, Heyes, Synman, Wiese, Wolstenholme, Atkinson, Kelly.
Edinburgh: Boffelli; Graham, Bennett, Lang, Van der Merwe; Kinghorn, Pyrgos; Schoeman, McInally, Nel, Skinner, Gilchrist (co-captain), Ritchie (co-captain), Watson, Mata.
Replacements: Cherry, Venter, De Bruin, Sykes, Crosbie, Vellacott, Hutchison, Hoyland.