Leicester open Champions Cup campaign with bonus-point win over Stade Francais
Last Updated: 14/11/15 9:31am
Leicester opened their European Rugby Champions Cup campaign with a 33-20 win over French side Stade Francais at Welford Road.
Tries from Niki Goneva and Matt Smith as well as second-half efforts from debutant Brendan O'Connor and England's Ben Youngs gave the Tigers a convincing win in the opening weekend of European action.
It was an expansive game from Richard Cockerill's men as they gave the ball plenty of width in attack, but the home side let a few opportunities go begging in front of their supporters.
Leicester were almost on the scoreboard in the 15th minute when Owen Williams burst through the midfield and the ball was sent left and right through the phases. Peter Betham was given the ball in space and sprinted to cross the line, but the referee referred it and the TMO decided that Marcos Ayerza had blocked Morne Steyn from making a tackle in the build-up
It was Stade who got off the mark at the beginning of the second quarter, when a break up the right-hand touchline from Julien Arias led to Hugo Bonneval taking the ball right to the tryline. He was tackled centimetres short and popped the ball up to replacement scrum-half Julien Tomas, who cantered over in the corner.
Leicester had the chance to hit straight back when a sizeable overlap was created in the midfield, but a skip pass was put to ground by Ayerza.
The next Leicester possession led to a Stade Francais penalty for obstruction, and Morne Steyn stepped up to make it 8-0 after 28 minutes.
The Tigers' first points came off the back of great work from debutant Brendan O'Connor. The New Zealand import stole the ball at the breakdown and on the break Leicester sent the ball to Vereniki Goneva, who turned the last defender inside and out before rounding off an opportune try which was converted by fly-half Williams.
Leicester were set to go into the break behind their visitors before an attack minutes before half-time ended with centre Matt Smith crashing over in the corner despite attention from a last-gasp defender. The conversion was missed but the Tigers took a 12-8 lead into the changing rooms.
Leicester scored immediately after the break when the ball was spilled by Stade and picked up by O'Connor who ran in untouched within the first 40 seconds.
Owen Williams furthered the lead from the tee with a penalty, but the Parisians strung together an expansive team try that made it 20-15 to the Tigers following the conversion.
Quick thinking from Ben Youngs handed the hosts a bonus point when the half-back took a quick tap and only had one defender to beat for his side's fourth try.
Leicester enjoyed a wealth of territory and possession during the remainder of the game, but a lone penalty from Williams and one on the hooter from Seremaia Bai was all they had to show for it as a try from Arias rounded off the scoring for Stade Francais.
