Leicester Tigers Academy suffered a first defeat of the Under-18 League season when they went down 34-20 against Wasps on Saturday.
In a game played at Aylesbury RFC, Tigers trailed 17-15 at half-time but it was Wasps who pulled away in the second half to take the win.
Tigers, with five wins from five previous rounds, had already secured top spot in the league’s Northern Conference before kick-off, while Wasps finished in fourth place, just a point short of claiming a place at Finals Day.
The hosts opened the scoring with a try from full-back Olly Hartley inside the opening two minutes before a Jack Vernum penalty got Tigers on the scoreboard.
Tries just five minutes apart from Ollie Dawkins and Kofi Cripps took the hsts into a 17-3 lead but Tigers got back into the game with scores from flanker Jordan Tebbatt and hooker Joe Plunkett to cut the deficit to just two points at the break.
Cripps completed his hat-trick with tries either side of a score from fly-half Charlie Atkinson as wasps bagged their bonus point and stretched the lead to 34-15 before wing Josh Lugsden scored a third for the visitors from some neat play by the backs.
Commentary
FULL TIME | 34-20
The young cubs’ winning streak is over, though defeat to Wasps cannot deny Tigers a place in next Sunday’s Grand Final; with their opponent from the southern conference still to be confirmed.
HALF TIME | 17-15
Tigers are back in this game at the break, trailing by just two points after tries to Jordan Tebbatt and Joe Plunkett.
KICK-OFF AT AYLESBURY RFC
The Tigers Academy are underway in their final regular-season match of this campaign.