By Ian Birks
January 30 2005

With a score line of 32-17 you may be forgiven for thinking that this was an easily won victory for the Tigers, but with two tries each, the main difference between Leicester and Harlequins on the day was the kicking ability of Andy Goode.
Quins took an early lead when Jon Dawson crossed the line with barely a minute on the clock, putting the visitors 0-7 up even before some supporters had managed to find their seats. A botched line-out from Leicester’s Chuter, well inside Tiger’s 22, allowed the visitors to mount a strong attack which ended with the first points of the day as Dawson took his opportunity to score.

Goode and Staunton both scored from the boot and a second excellent try for Quins from Ugo Monye saw the 12th placed Quins take a 9-17 lead at the home of the current Premiership leaders.

Healey got the first of Leicester’s tries just after the half-hour mark when Kay gathered a cross-field kick by Goode and passed to Healey who dived over.

Goode converted and an additional three points from a successful penalty attempt was enough to see the Tigers leave the field at half-time 19-17 ahead.

Quins failed to add to their tally in the second period of play. Meanwhile, Tigers made replacements around the hour mark with Gibson, Tuilagi (H) and White joining the fray.

A little more control was added with the appearance of Gibson and while Tuilagi was used to batter the visitor’s line, support and follow-up was somewhat lacking.

Try as they might, Leicester struggled to score due to a combination of sound Harlequins defence and poor handling performances from Leicester in the line, scrum and open play.

Tigers were uncharacteristically lacking in the decision making department for the entire game; this was illustrated by the decision to kick for three points after Quins had Easter binned for handling the ball from an off-side position. Goode finally elected to take the three points on offer from in front of the posts.

A further penalty allowed Goode to take the score on to 25-17, though Leicester were far from being home and dry.

Replacement, Tuilagi, finished the game in the 7th minute of added time as he finished a strong run to crash over in the corner and Goode did well to convert, and with that the final whistle brought this scrappy affair to an end.

This was one of those occasions when Tigers could have secured the bonus point. Apart from the Stirling defence from the Harlequins, Leicester lacked in both incision and decision. Chances from initial breaks from Lloyd, Murphy, Gibson and Smith were wasted by the ensuing poor passing and handling.

With Bath beating Wasps in High Wycombe, Leicester are still well clear of the chasing pack as we enter the Six Nations, but on this form neither the English or European trophies look likely to be heading to Welford Road.