Match Report: Five-try Cov make history at Leicester

An outstanding display of forward power and defensive commitment fired Coventry Rugby to a memorable first win at Leicester since 1992.

Fittingly after stepping forward in the pre-match ceremony to lay a Remembrance Day wreath on behalf of his club, it was Lance Bombardier Tiki Nayalo of the 7 Parachute Regiment RHA who sealed the win by claiming his side’s fifth score.

While their Fijian colossus rightly claimed the player-of-the-match award, his name came from a shortlist including most of the Coventry side.

Prominent on this was fly half Tommy Mathews, who returned from a lengthy injury absence to produce an assured display despite pulling on a Coventry shirt for the first time, while a number of home players will be nursing the bruises inflicted by Aaron Hinkley’s brutal tackling for some days.

The bare stats say that Alex Rae’s team are now seven-from-seven this term and two-from-two in the Premiership Rugby Cup.

But for a club seeking to make its mark on the aloof elite that runs English club rugby this emotion-packed occasion at one of the country’s great rugby cathedrals was about much more than banking five points.

Instead, roared on by a massive travelling support that at times drowned out the Welford Road faithful this was truly a Red Letter day for Cov and one which will remain long in the memory of those present.

The Tigers were quickly out of the blocks and when Cov’s 2023/24 player-of-the-year Will Wand escaped the clutches of Tom Hitchcock he swapped passes with Jack Kinder before claiming the hosts’ opening try.

However, once Cov got a few early mistakes out of their system they then hit Leicester with a four-try, nine-minute salvo that turned the contest on its head.

The outstanding Hinkley scored his team’s opener when he picked up the pieces and plunged over after Ryan Hutler contested a precise Mathews cross-kick deep inside the home 22.

Visiting skipper Poole soon followed the former Northampton flanker on to the scoresheet when he applied the finishing touch to a lineout drive.

Hitchcock then beat his man and applied a neat finish in the corner to claim a try in which Hutler had again played a key role by recovering a loose Leicester pass and breaking from halfway.

And unbelievably when Cov stole possession on the ground and Mathews chipped precisely behind Malelli Satala, replacement winger David Opoku snapped up a badly-bouncing ball and outpaced the cover to the corner.

Mathews added three conversions and after Cov defied a five-minute spell of pressure deep inside their own 22 to emerge with their line intact they took a 5-26 advantage into the break.

Like the first half it was Leicester who started best after the break and Opoku did a good defensive job to gather a dangerous grubber kick close to his own line.

However, when the growingly-influential Tom Whiteley chipped over Cov’s defence he found acres of space and two passes later replacement centre Solomone Kata went under the visitors’ posts for a try that Tom Threlfall improved.

With the crowd now involved, Leicester closed to within seven points 15 minutes from time when a long spell of forward pressure produced a close-range converted score for replacement prop Archie van der Flier.

The match was at a crossroads and fittingly Nayalo chose this moment to make a decisive intervention by ripping the ball from a maul and sprinting 25 metres to the home line for a try that Mathews upgraded.

The Tigers piled on pressure in the closing stages in the search of the try that would have delivered two bonus points but Cov’s defence held firm to trigger a huge celebration between players and supporters that will live long in the memory.

Line-Ups:

Leicester: Pearson (Kata 44); Satala (Myall 70), Wand, Kelly, Kinder; Threlfall, Whiteley; Whitcombe (van der Flier 47), Vanes, Hoyt; Joussain, Chessum; Rogerson, Williams (Beddall 57), Hatherell

Replacements: Easterby-Gray, Mountford, Thomas , Bemand

Coventry: Davies (Opoku 15); Hutler, Tiueti, Hitchcock, Robson; Mathews, Barton (Lane 62); Nairau (Warren 66), Poole (Ma’asi 53), Johnson (Salt 66); Nkwocha (Tyas 53), Nayalo (Owen 68); Ball (Anstey 63), Hinkley, Kvesic

Referee: George Selwood

Half-Time: Leicester 5-26 Coventry Rugby

Scorers:

Leicester:

Tries: Wand (5), Kata (53), van der Flier (47)

Conversions: Threlfall (53) (65)

Coventry:

Tries: Hinkley (13), Poole (17), Hitchcock (20), Opoku (22), Nayalo (68)

Conversions: Mathews (13) (17) (22) (68)