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Gallagher Premiership

Bristol Bears (5) 19

Tries: Ibitoye, Ravouvou, Randall Cons: MacGinty 2

Leicester Tigers (22) 36

Leicester Tigers leapfrogged Bristol Bears into second spot in the Premiership with an exhilarating, and at times frantically captivating, victory at Ashton Gate.

A no-look, behind-the-back pass from Kalaveti Ravouvou that set Gabriel Ibitoye up for Bristol’s only first-half try was the highlight of an absorbing opening 40 minutes that Leicester otherwise dominated through tries from Adam Radwan, Ollie Hassell-Collings and Jack van Poortvliet.

Handre Pollard added a penalty to those three touch downs to put Leicester 22-5 up at the break.

Tigers were down to 14 men, with Joe Heyes in the sin-bin, when Ravouvou grabbed the host’s second try after the break.

Freddie Steward appeared to put the result beyond the Bears’ reach with a bonus-point try for Tigers just after the hour mark, but a Harry Randall score in response and Solomone Kata’s yellow card for Leicester made it a nervy finish before Cameron Henderson completed the win in the final minute.

Bristol were in action for the first time since their heavy West Country defeat by Gloucester in March sparked a league-wide debate about how high-scoring, high-entertainment rugby is what the Premiership needs.

Van Poortvliet was quick to add to the conversation, conjuring the first points of the game after punching through a gap down the middle before dishing the ball off for Radwan to touch down inside four minutes.

Bristol’s response was as dazzling as it was quick, with Ravouvou manging to fling an outrageous pass out to Ibitoye despite being brought down in a tackle.

The no-look offload found Ibitoye in space, with the winger able to race over on his long-awaited first appearance since late December.

The willingness to push attacking boundaries, however, caught Ibitoye out as he had a wayward pass intercepted by Hassell-Collins to allow Tigers to restore their lead.

The advantage was soon added to by Van Poortvliet, who dummied his way over from close range before Pollard landed his second conversion and went on to slot a penalty to make it a 22-5 half-time lead.

Tigers saw out the first-half a man down after Heyes was sin-binned for his hit on Fitz Harding. Bristol took advantage of the numerical advantage after the interval as they stretched the visitors with a fast-flowing move that ended with a dashing Ravouvou finish.

A try apiece in the space of three minutes – with Randall linking up with Benhard Janse van Rensburg after Steward grabbed Tigers’ fourth try – added to the breathless nature of the spectacle before Kata was sin-binned for a high tackle.

Bristol director of rugby Pat Lam told BBC Radio Bristol:

“We are obviously disappointed that we got nothing out of that game.

“We would probably describe that first-half as pretty sloppy. We gave up three easy tries and scored a good one.

“We talked at half-time that we didn’t look like ourselves, we were sloppy with what we were doing. In the second half we wanted to start well, which we did and then we had lots of opportunities that we didn’t take advantage of.

“The last thing you want to be is two scores down against Leicester with 10 or 15 minutes to go, they do very well to shut you out. And the game was slowed up at the end.

Leicester Tiger head coach Michael Cheika told BBC Radio Leicester:

“For me personally and for us as a team, we really wanted to play this game for the fans back at Leicester. We were poor the day they came there and we got beat, and we really did want to turn that around today. I hope they will be happy with that performance.

“The play-off chances will be decided after the final game, there is no points for being third or fourth, or first or second now. There is no prize for that.

“We need consistency. We have had some great games this season and we have had some poor ones. Trying to tie that all up towards the end of the year means trying to have multiple good games in a row, which then starts to put you in as a contender.

Bristol Bears: Lane; Bailey, Ravouvou, Janse van Rensburg, Ibitoye; MacGinty, Randall; Genge, Oghre, Kloska; Dun, Caulfield, Luatua, Harding (c), Mata.

Replacements: Thacker, Thomas, Lahiff, Grondona, Heenan, Marmion, Elizalde, Jenkins.

Leicester Tigers: Steward; Radwan, Kata, Woodward, Hassell-Collins; Pollard, Van Poortvliet; Smith, Montoya (c), Heyes; Henderson, Chessum, Liebenberg, Reffell, Cracknell.

Replacements: Clare, Whitcombe, Hurd, Rogerson, Ilione, Youngs, Shillcock, Kelly.

Yellow cards: Heyes (38), Kata (69).

Holger Rune produced a sensational performance to stun home hero Carlos Alcaraz and claim the Barcelona Open title.

Denmark’s Rune matched the Spaniard shot-for-shot and held firm in the tight moments to beat his childhood friend 7-6 (8-6) 6-2.

It is Rune’s first ATP Tour title for two years and his biggest since the Paris Masters in 2022.

Rune, forced to retire in Monte Carlo last week with illness, said afterwards he had been inspired by Novak Djokovic’s victory over Alcaraz in the Olympic final at Roland Garros.

“I told myself OK, what did Novak do when he beat him? ” Rune, 21, said.

“I kind of played it in my mind, the Olympic final, and I thought to myself let’s try to play that kind of style, really make him play a lot of balls.

Alcaraz, who had been bidding for a third Barcelona title in four years, missed all four of the break opportunities he created in the second set and also required a medical timeout.

While Rune will return to the top 10 on Monday, Alcaraz will be replaced as world number two by Alexander Zverev.

The first set in Barcelona was a high-quality encounter between two players born just six days apart and who have been playing one another since their teens.

Alcaraz broke first, thumping his forehand with increasing ferocity, but Rune was equally impressive to immediately force the match back on serve.

Both aggressive baseliners, Alcaraz and Rune sent the ball thudding around Pista Rafael Nadal, but Rune was superior at the net, winning 12 of 16 points there.

Monte Carlo champion Alcaraz fended off four set points but a long forehand in the tie-break handed the initiative to Rune.

Again, Alcaraz had his chances, missing two break points in Rune’s first service game. But at 2-1 up, he left the court for a medical timeout, and could not find his rhythm on his return.

Rune reeled off the next five games, committing 24 unforced errors to Alcaraz’s 33, and ultimately secured victory on a missed Alcaraz forehand.

The pair are set to play in the Madrid Masters, which begins on Tuesday.

Holger Rune produced a sensational performance to stun home hero Carlos Alcaraz and claim the Barcelona Open title.

Denmark’s Rune matched the Spaniard shot-for-shot and held firm in the tight moments to beat his childhood friend 7-6 (8-6) 6-2.

It is Rune’s first ATP Tour title for two years and his biggest since the Paris Masters in 2022.

Rune, forced to retire in Monte Carlo last week with illness, said afterwards he had been inspired by Novak Djokovic’s victory over Alcaraz in the Olympic final at Roland Garros.

“I told myself OK, what did Novak do when he beat him? ” Rune, 21, said.

“I kind of played it in my mind, the Olympic final, and I thought to myself let’s try to play that kind of style, really make him play a lot of balls.

Alcaraz, who had been bidding for a third Barcelona title in four years, missed all four of the break opportunities he created in the second set and also required a medical timeout.

While Rune will return to the top 10 on Monday, Alcaraz will be replaced as world number two by Alexander Zverev.

The first set in Barcelona was a high-quality encounter between two players born just six days apart and who have been playing one another since their teens.

Alcaraz broke first, thumping his forehand with increasing ferocity, but Rune was equally impressive to immediately force the match back on serve.

Both aggressive baseliners, Alcaraz and Rune sent the ball thudding around Pista Rafael Nadal, but Rune was superior at the net, winning 12 of 16 points there.

Monte Carlo champion Alcaraz fended off four set points but a long forehand in the tie-break handed the initiative to Rune.

Again, Alcaraz had his chances, missing two break points in Rune’s first service game. But at 2-1 up, he left the court for a medical timeout, and could not find his rhythm on his return.

Rune reeled off the next five games, committing 24 unforced errors to Alcaraz’s 33, and ultimately secured victory on a missed Alcaraz forehand.

The pair are set to play in the Madrid Masters, which begins on Tuesday.

Bukayo Saka’s ankle injury is “nothing serious” after he was forced off during Arsenal’s 4-0 Premier League win at Ipswich on Sunday, manager Mikel Arteta said.

The winger was injured by a high challenge on the back of his ankle in the 32nd minute by Leif Davis, who was sent off.

England international Saka was substituted early in the second half and was pictured with strapping on his ankle.

Arteta said the winger was “sore” – but added that the decision to take him off was just a precaution, with Arsenal facing the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against Paris St-Germain on 29 April.

“He was a bit sore, but it’s nothing serious, so it’s good,” Arteta said.

“I haven’t seen the slow motion, I’ve just seen the normal pace image and yeah, he cuts him from the back.

“I don’t think it’s intentional at all, but it’s dangerous because he cannot really react to anything, because you cannot see him coming. “

Arsenal have suffered an injury-hit campaign, with Saka, Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus all absent for long periods.

And Arteta acknowledged that because of that, he does get concerned when he sees one of his players struggling during a match.

Arteta was thrilled with the way his players kept up their levels four days after sealing a Champions League semi-final place with a victory over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.

“I think the first 35 minutes is one of the best 35 minutes we played this season,” Arteta said.

“We scored two goals [in the first half]; we could have scored three or four to be fair.

“We really dominated the game. Very high intensity and understanding what we had to do today to win here.

“And after, obviously, when they got the red card, the context of the game changed and we were much in control, scored another two goals, made certain rotations, so overall a very positive afternoon. “

With PSG to consider, Arteta must now decide whether to rest key players for Wednesday’s Premier League home game against Crystal Palace.

“We have to somehow put 11 players out there and have four or five changes, so let’s see how they recover in the next few days,” Arteta said.

“The good thing is they are willing to play because they like the rhythm as well.

“We are so used to that rhythm every three days that the boys are demanding and then we don’t have a game at the weekend, so we have a gap there, so let’s see how we get on Wednesday. “

At Portman Road, Arteta selected a midfield perhaps with PSG in mind – as Thomas Partey will be suspended for the first leg of the semi-final.

The manager moved Declan Rice to a deeper midfield role, with Mikel Merino – who has been playing as a makeshift striker – taking up his natural position in the middle.

Leandro Trossard came in up front and scored two goals – and is ready to start against PSG if needed, according to Arteta.

“Yeah, he’s certainly ready to play in any position,” he said.

“We have to make certain adjustments, not because of PSG but because of the situation we had with Thomas and a few other players.

Bukayo Saka’s ankle injury is “nothing serious” after he was forced off during Arsenal’s 4-0 Premier League win at Ipswich on Sunday, manager Mikel Arteta said.

The winger was injured by a high challenge on the back of his ankle in the 32nd minute by Leif Davis, who was sent off.

England international Saka was substituted early in the second half and was pictured with strapping on his ankle.

Arteta said the winger was “sore” – but added that the decision to take him off was just a precaution, with Arsenal facing the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against Paris St-Germain on 29 April.

“He was a bit sore, but it’s nothing serious, so it’s good,” Arteta said.

“I haven’t seen the slow motion, I’ve just seen the normal pace image and yeah, he cuts him from the back.

“I don’t think it’s intentional at all, but it’s dangerous because he cannot really react to anything, because you cannot see him coming. “

Arsenal have suffered an injury-hit campaign, with Saka, Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus all absent for long periods.

And Arteta acknowledged that because of that, he does get concerned when he sees one of his players struggling during a match.

Arteta was thrilled with the way his players kept up their levels four days after sealing a Champions League semi-final place with a victory over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.

“I think the first 35 minutes is one of the best 35 minutes we played this season,” Arteta said.

“We scored two goals [in the first half]; we could have scored three or four to be fair.

“We really dominated the game. Very high intensity and understanding what we had to do today to win here.

“And after, obviously, when they got the red card, the context of the game changed and we were much in control, scored another two goals, made certain rotations, so overall a very positive afternoon. “

With PSG to consider, Arteta must now decide whether to rest key players for Wednesday’s Premier League home game against Crystal Palace.

“We have to somehow put 11 players out there and have four or five changes, so let’s see how they recover in the next few days,” Arteta said.

“The good thing is they are willing to play because they like the rhythm as well.

“We are so used to that rhythm every three days that the boys are demanding and then we don’t have a game at the weekend, so we have a gap there, so let’s see how we get on Wednesday. “

At Portman Road, Arteta selected a midfield perhaps with PSG in mind – as Thomas Partey will be suspended for the first leg of the semi-final.

The manager moved Declan Rice to a deeper midfield role, with Mikel Merino – who has been playing as a makeshift striker – taking up his natural position in the middle.

Leandro Trossard came in up front and scored two goals – and is ready to start against PSG if needed, according to Arteta.

“Yeah, he’s certainly ready to play in any position,” he said.

“We have to make certain adjustments, not because of PSG but because of the situation we had with Thomas and a few other players.