Bassett shines as Leicester beat Ulster to qualify

Pool 1 of the Investec Champions Cup

Leicester Tigers: (12) 38

Try: Bassett 3, Hassell-Collins 2, Perese Con: Pollard 2, Steward, Shillcock

Ulster: (10) 10

Leicester Tigers defeated Ulster 3-0 to advance to the knockout stages of the Investec Champions Cup, where Josh Bassett scored a hat-trick.

Without a point from their opening two games in Pool 1, Ulster did so at Welford Road, but Nick Timoney scored a surprise try on the opening try.

In the icy East Midlands, Bassett opened his account with a strong finish out wide. Leicester appeared to be struggling in the cold.

At the end of the first half, Ulster had a chance to take the lead after Nathan Doak’s early penalty caused him to run in a second backs move to help Bassett double his tally.

Leicester were much better after the break thanks to their head coach’s harsh words after an angry Michael Cheika was caught criticizing his players during the break.

As the hosts finished the bonus point, Bassett’s double earned fellow Tigers wing Ollie Hassell-Collins to add two tries to his own.

Before Izaia Perese crossed to give the scoreline more gloss, Bassett found more room close to the touchline and ran clear for his third.

In their previous Champions Cup encounter, Leicester cruised past a Sharks team with little success, but they did not have the same level of fluency in the opening exchanges against Ulster.

Before Timoney was the victim of a fortuitous bounce from a clearance kick that beat two covering Leicester defenders, Doak’s penalty gave the Irish province the lead.

The hosts attempted to use more width in their attacks, but they failed to achieve accurate results when Bassett was fed wide for a clinical finish cutting back against the traffic.

In the same corner, the winger crossed for Tigers to take the lead at break, and Cheika’s side let the handbrake off in the second half.

Hassell-Collins scored after Leicester made an inroad with the pack, but the winger doubled his tally soon after some good hands despite the bitter cold.

Replacements: Clare, Whitcombe, Cole, Wells, Ilione, Youngs, Shillcock, Woodward.

Ulster: McIlroy, Kok, Carson, Postlewaite, Ward, Morgan, Doak, Warwick, Andrew, Wilson, Henderson (capt), Izuchukwu, McNabney, Timoney, McCann.

Replacements: McCormick, O’Sullivan, Barrett, Treadwell, Sheridan, Cooney, Murphy, Telfer.