By Nick Powell
Leicester Tigers but in a stunning second half performance as they fought back from 31-7 down with half an hour to go to record a bonus point victory against Gloucester in the first game at Kingsholm in its 125th anniversary year.
Gloucester struck early after a dominant start through debutant Matt Scott, But Leicester hit back almost immediately as their own debutant JP Pietersen fed Manu Tuilagi for a one-yard try.
But after Charlie Sharples ran in an interception try, Gloucester took full control through a penalty and Scott's second try for a 17 point half time lead.
They continued their success after the break, as Henry Purdy ran in their second interception try of the night, before Leicester quickly hit back through Pietersen.
After a spell of sustained pressure, Sam Harrison barrelled in for a third try, and Leicester were back in touching distance as Burns landed a long range penalty.
The cherry and whites looked to have held on, and turned down a chance to extend their lead to 10 as they went in search of another try.
But that attack fizzled out, and after Ben Youngs' box kick bounced perfectly for Pietersen, he recorded a second assist of the night, feeding Brendon O'Connor for the try that would prove to be the equaliser as Harrison kicked the points.
And the scrum-half scored from the back of a maul again to seal an extraordinary win.
Leicester defence below par in First Half
After an exchange of tries which both contained forward passes, the game seemed finely balanced. Gloucester had got over after some lovely short passes down the left hand wing set Twelvetrees free, who offloaded to Scott from a yard out, who touched down for the opening try of the night, before Burns' fine kick set Pietersen free and he matched Twelvetrees by feeding his outside centre for an easy finish.
Gloucester were now coming under pressure from Leicester but Burns handed the cherry and whites their second try, throwing it straight to Sharples who had a jog under the posts to put his side back into the lead.
Leicester's woeful start continued as Matthew Tait stupidly ran a quick lineout, 50 metres back from where he could have had it, and he was isolated and penalised, giving Gloucester a 10 point lead. That became a 17 point lead as Manu Tuilagi rushed out the line, giving Gloucester the space out wide before great hands from Ross Moriarty put Scott over for a second try.
It had been a terrible first half for Tigers, trying to play too much out of their own half, with poor hands whenever they had a decent opportunity letting them down along with lacklustre defence, poor tackling and poor positioning and throwing poor passes straight to their opponents. They were in big trouble.
Gloucester panic, but look to have survived
When heading for a win against a big side, a big lead can often work against you. This was never truer than in this clash. Gloucester came back into their shell, just as Leicester were freeing right up with the game seemingly gone. After Purdy had run in another interception try for Gloucester, their lead was quickly back to 17 points as Leicester regained the ball from the restart after sloppy play from an excited Gloucester, and JP Pietersen was soon over in the corner to cut the gap to 31-14.
Pietersen's try was just what Gloucester wouldn't have wanted straight after opening up such a big lead
The pressure was building, and Gloucester's excitement was soon replaced with nerves as a much improved Leicester began to threaten their opponents, kicking deep into the hosts' territory. The hosts suffered a yellow card, and eventually conceded as Sam Harrison bundled over from a maul. As Freddie Burns landed that conversion and an unlikely penalty from long range soon after, they were back within 7 points and Gloucester were looking very nervous.
Leicester came again, but a foot in touch looked to have saved Gloucester. 3 penalties in a row helped them move into Tigers territory, with the last being in a kickable position, however they turned downed the points and went for the line, that lineout was lost and easily cleared and they had missed out.
In spite of that, it seemed Gloucester would hold on, Leicester were enjoying a lot more of the ball, with much better handling and decision making, but with just four minutes left, they were forty metres out and struggling to generate quick ball. That was the moment that Youngs put in a delicious box kick that bounced perfectly for JP Pietersen. Disappointingly from a Gloucester perspective, the only player outside of the back three that chased the kick from either side was a Tiger, and Brendan O'Connor's chase came good as he had a free run to the line after a well timed pass by Pietersen.
Leicester were level for the first time in nearly an hour
Leicester do "a Leicester" in thrilling finish
Leicester are known for playing for 80 minutes, and finishing strongly, and that was the case as they finished with the match winning try, it looked like it would be Gloucester making the last attack as they burst forward after a charge-down, but they were caught in possession in midfield and Leicester went for the corner again.
From the driving lineout, Leicester scored the winner as Harrison again wriggled over from the back of a maul to lead for the first time, in overtime. Harrison kicked his own conversion to rub yet more salt into the wounds. Leicester had done what seems to come naturally to them, and they claimed a bonus point win for a perfect start to the season.
It was a remarkable comeback, and whilst they looked really poor in the first half, they showed their quality and ability to adapt to difficult situations in a wonderful second half performance and in the end, they probably deserved their victory.
Youngs couldn't help but show his delight as Leicester moved to the top of the table
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