A late withdrawel from stand in captain Aaron Mauger forced a shuffle in the backline. Dan Hipkiss, who was due to start at 13, moved to inside centre and Matt Smith came off the bench. Tom Youngs filled Smith’s open seat on the bench. Toby Flood started his first Premiership game for the club who were missing Corry, Moody, Deacon, Castrogiovanni, Hougaard and the aforementioned Mauger through injury.

A scrappy start to the game showed both sides trying to get used to the new ELVs. Referee Dave Pearson was heavy to penalise the ruck area with players killing the ball and playing off their feet. After missing his first kick at goal Toby Flood got into range and put the Tigers 6-0 ahead. Play was frustrating though and both teams struggled to put any real passages of play together. Ben Herring was excellent on the floor, stealing numerous turnovers. Ellis set Tuilagi free on the right only for him to slip and the move break down. Fortunately for Tigers Ryan Lamb seemed to carry his last season’s goal kicking form into the game and missed several easy kicks at goal. Herring pinged for playing the ball on the floor and spent 10 minutes cooling off in the bin. Lamb was instrumental in Gloucester’s finest move of the day, a high up-and-under caught brilliantly by Olly Morgan who fed Titterall and surged towards the line. Only great tracking back by Tom Varndell and Jordan Crane saved a certain try.

It wouldn’t be much longer before Gloucester scored the first try of the afternoon. After the 3^rd official rightly said the ball was held up, the ensuing scrum saw Gloucester swing it wide quickly and Morgan crossed in the corner. Lamb missed the conversion leaving Leicester with a slim 5-6 lead. Excellent work in the scrum and line out, Tom Croft especially, was starting to pay dividends for Leicester who finished strongly. A long penalty attempt from Flood closed the half with the Tigers having a one-point advantage – a good result after being down to 14 men for a period.

Tuilagi, who had struggled with a leg injury, was replaced in the second half with Youngs meaning Hipkiss returned to his usual 13 and Matt Smith out to the right wing. The penalty trend continued with Tigers being caught playing the ball on the floor and Gloucester not staying on their feet at the ruck. Lamb’s first successive penalty pushed Gloucester into the lead for the first time. More attacking saw the Leicester line cut open and a certain try went begging after Anthony Allen didn’t straighten the defence and Narraway slipped within inches of the line. It suddenly became a costly mistake as Leicester soon scored their first try of the Premiership campaign. Good line out work and hands from Blaze and Ayerza, the ball slipped to Crane who broke into the Gloucester half. Instead of going to floor he kept the ball alive with an over the head pass to Julian Dupuy, a replacement on for Harry Ellis. The move seemed to slow but an excellent line from Geordan Murphy saw him cut into the 22 and outpace James Simpson-Daniel to score near the posts. Conversion from Dupuy saw Leicester go 8-13 in front with time running out.

Replacements came with Kayser , Wentzel and Wood thrown into the action to try and hold Gloucester back. The crowd added to the player’s nervousness when again in the Leicester 22 with a clear overlap Gloucester the try line went begging. The ball spilling out the side of the ruck all Nieto had to do was pass it outside. He dummied, went alone and was hauled down by Benjamin Kayser. The resulting ruck saw Gloucester penalised for diving in off their feet. The crowd weren’t happy and Gloucester had to start taking risks. Unfortunately for them however Toby Flood, the Tigers new boy, saw a pass before Olly Morgan did and intercepted the ball to score under the posts, much to the delight of the one Leicester fan in the Shed. An easy conversion made it game over.

Some definite good aspects of play from Leicester but too many penalties and a somewhat stagnant backline were the draw-backs. The plus points came in the shape of the forwards – Marcos Ayerza showcasing a prop fit for open running, Jordan Crane with his England Saxons form and Tom Croft excelling at the lineout and using his pace in the loose. The backs still have some work to do but Tom Youngs looked very impressive in the second half. The ELV’s? I thought it made line-outs more interesting and the scrum was definitely still an important factor. The only aspect I didn’t like was the aimless ping-pong kicking. Leicester still have some gears to find but this was excellent start to the league campaign. The future’s bright, the future’s green, red and white.

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