Late try moves Leicester closer to quarter-finals

Leicester 29 Stade Francais 22

Leicester moved to within touching distance of the Heineken Cup quarter-finals after a stunning late show shattered French giants Stade Francais at Welford Road.

Lock Louis Deacon and centre Dan Hipkiss scored tries during the final seven minutes to leave Tigers just one point away from reaching the last-eight.

Their final Pool Three game is away against Clermont Auvergne next Friday night – Leicester coach Pat Howard’s former club – while Stade finish off against Paris visitors the Ospreys.

A losing bonus will be enough from Leicester’s trip to central France, but for so much of a Welford Road classic it looked as though the Tigers would be left fighting for Heineken Cup survival.

Stade appeared to have done enough when substitute Mirco Bergamasco claimed a second-half interception try, but Deacon and the Hipkiss – Leicester’s late match-winner against the Ospreys a week before Christmas – struck gold.

Victory for the 2001 and 2002 Heineken Cup winners over Clermont would make Stade’s result against the Ospreys academic.

But Irish challengers Munster and Leinster are also well-placed to progress as a best runner-up, so Howard’s men will look to finish the job in style.

Andy Goode kicked 19 points for the home side, who trailed 22-12 after 63 minutes, while Stade centre David Skrela slotted three penalties and there were drop-goals from Juan Martin Hernandez and Ignacio Corleto.

Tigers head coach Pat Howard made a solitary change following last weekend’s Guinness Premiership victory over London Irish, replacing flanker Brett Deacon with Will Johnson, while Austin Healey was preferred to England scrum-half Harry Ellis and flanker Shane Jennings passed a late fitness test.

Leicester and England skipper Martin Corry made his 200th start for Tigers, but Stade were determined to repeat their Welford Road victory of two seasons ago as they paraded a side containing 13 internationals under the captaincy of lock David Auradou.

Corry’s men knew the ball was in their court, but Stade settled quickly as good driving work from hooker Dimitri Szarzewski and flanker Remy Martin put Leicester under pressure.

Tigers needed to release the stranglehold, and they almost managed it in spectacular fashion on six minutes when centre Hipkiss broke clear from his own 22, sending wing Geordan Murphy sprinting clear before he was denied by some last-ditch Stade defence.

Murphy’s fellow wing Leon Lloyd the exploited space barely 60 seconds later, and after he was bundled late into touch by Szarzewski, Goode booted the resulting penalty for a 3-0 lead.

Stade suffered an injury blow midway through the half when wing Lucas Borges limped off to be replaced by Bergamasco, and before the French side could regroup, Goode doubled Leicester’s advantage through a 30-metre penalty.

The Tigers were up and running, but Stade responded with six points in three minutes via a Skrela pealty and Hernandez drop-goal as dominant defences severely restricted try-scoring chances.

Goode and Skrela exchanged penalties as half-time approached, and Leicestet stayed in touch despite a double injury setback that saw Lloyd – a legacy of the Szarzewski challenge – and Jennings go off to be replaced by Tom Varndell and Luke Abrham, respectively.

Irish referee Alan Lewis increasingly antagonised the majority of a 16,815 capacity crowd with his eagerness to punish any technical indiscretion, and their frustration was compounded when he punished Corry for not rolling away after tackling Stade scrum-half Jerome Fillol, handing Skrela another three-pointer.

Leicester almost wiped out a 12-9 interval deficit within three minutes of the restart. Stade though, just did enough to thwart Healey’s blindside break and clear their lines before Goode sent 50-metre penalty attempt drifting wide.

Goode’s accuracy let him down again two minutes later, ths time from 10 metres nearer the Stade posts, and with the visitors appearing increasingly fluent in attack, Howard made his first tactical change, sending on Ellis for Healey.

The game, inevitably with so much at stake, developed into a nervous war of attrition as both sides struggled to carve out gilt-edged opportunities, but Leicester had no answer when Corleto rifled over a mighty 50-metre drop-goal.

It was a brilliant strike by the Argentine star, yet Stade still couldn’t move clear on the scoreboard as Goode set up a tense final quarter through landing his fourth successful penalty.

But they didn’t have to wait long, as Leicester were brutally made to pay for Goode’s ambitious midfield pass.

Instead of finding a fellow Leicester attacker, Goode could only look on helplessly as Bergamasco gathered the ball and sprinted almost 60 metres unopposed for a try that Skrela improved to give Stade an imposing 22-12 advantage.

Goode added a fifth penalty, and the closing stages grew increasingly dramatic when Murphy’s angled line of attack transfixed the Stade defence and a tireless Deacon crossed wide out for a stunning try.

Goode converted from the touchline, levelling a gripping game at 22-22 before Leicester laid siege inside the Stade 22 in pursuit of a winning score and Hipkiss came up trumps.