Welford Road winning streak over as Saints' suffering shows no sign of ending

Chris Boyd's side struggled to make it count with extra men as Tigers lost three players to the sin bin.

A penalty try did finally arrive during the first half, but during the time Tigers were down to 13, Saints lost the period 3-0.

Hill did finally ensure they would have a good score to shout about with 15 minutes to go, and Henry Taylor also finished well.

But it was too little, too late for Saints who have now suffered 10 defeats in their past 12 matches - and their three-match winning run at Welford Road is over.

The black, green and gold have slipped alarmingly down the Gallagher Premiership standings and things won't get any easier as they go to Exeter Chiefs in the Champions Cup quarter-final next Sunday.

Saints had headed to Leicester hoping it could again be a venue that would help them to reignite their season.

And after some clever play from Dan Biggar, who booted a penalty out on the opposite side of the field, Saints used their territory to win a penalty, which their fly-half landed with ease.

But Saints were then hit with a sucker punch as powerhouse wing Nemani Nadolo smashed George Furbank in the tackle and the ball fell to Ben Youngs who picked up and raced in to score.

Zach Henry added the extras and despite a promising start, Saints were behind.

Tigers had the bit between their teeth, lining Saints up at every opportunity and delivering some ferocious hits.

Saints stole a lineout in their own 22 to relieve some pressure, but they were being undone at the breakdown, with Tigers steaming in to stop any momentum.

And after Luke Wallace got over the ball in the Saints half, Tigers had yet another penalty, which Henry notched to make it 10-3.

Henry was at it again soon after, slotting yet another penalty after David Ribbans was penalised at the breakdown.

It was an area that was killing Saints, who really hadn't got going and were already staring down the barrel.

Tigers thought they had rubbed even more salt in the wounds as they went over, but Nadolo was seen to have knocked on in the build-up and Saints breathed again.

Only after Henry landed a penalty for an earlier offence, though.

At 16-3 down with 24 minutes gone, Saints were desperately seeking a spark.

But they lost their only fit senior loosehead prop, Francois van Wyk to injury, bringing Academy player Manny Iyogun into the game for his first-team debut.

Iyogun came on at a time when Saints were swarming all over Tigers, who were constantly infringing.

Tomas Lavanini paid the price with a yellow card and Harry Wells was soon following him off the field as Tigers went down to 13 men after conceding a penalty try.

Saints were desperate to put the pressure on and at six points down, they would have fancied their chances of going in at half-time ahead.

But it just wasn't happening for the men in grey as they continued to make errors while still losing the battle at the breakdown.

And it got even worse when Tigers won a scrum penalty, despite having two backs in their eight-man shove.

Full-back Freddie Steward thumped the kick between the posts from close to halfway to give his team a nine-point half-time lead.

Saints introduced Fraser Dingwall and Nick Isiekwe at the break, with Tigers bringing on influential England prop Ellis Genge.

But little changed from a Saints perspective as the stream of errors continued to flow, and after Tigers won another scrum penalty, Henry slotted it well.

The Saints scrum was under real pressure, with Wayne Barnes continually favouring Tigers at the set piece.

It was costing Saints any chance of getting any kind of foothold in the game, but they came close to scoring when Taqele Naiyaravoro broke the line, only to fail to see Fraser Dingwall in support as Steward made the tackle.

Saints still had a chance though as they booted a penalty to the corner, and Tigers soon saw yellow for the third time as No.8 Hanro Liebenberg was binned for trying to kill the ball.

But Tigers held out, winning a penalty on their own line to relieve some of the pressure.

Still Saints tried to assert some sort of dominance with their man advantage, but they just couldn't find a way through with their forwards.

That was until Hill had his say.

The prop was denied a sensational score at Welford Road in January 2016, but he got one on this occasion, rampaging through and brushing off a would-be tackler as he charged over the line.

Biggar converted to cut the gap to five points with 15 minutes to go, but Saints soon lost a man as Ribbans was penalised for a high tackle on Steward.

Henry missed the penalty but he soon made amends with a drop goal under little pressure to put his team eight points in front.

And it was soon 11 points as Saints suffered in the scrum yet again, giving Tigers another easy three points.

Saints did have the final say as replacement scrum-half Taylor dived over and Biggar converted, but the clock was in the red, meaning Tigers had the win.

Leicester Tigers: Steward; Murimurivalu, Porter (Potter 31), Scott, Nadolo; Henry, B Youngs; Gigena (Genge 40), T Youngs (c) (Clare 48), Cole (Leatigaga); Lavanini, Green; Wells, Wallace (Taufua 50), Liebenberg.

Saints: Furbank; Tuala (Mitchell 72), Proctor (Dingwall 40), Hutchinson, Naiyaravoro; Biggar, Mitchell (Taylor 65); van Wyk (Iyogun 25), Fish (Haywood 48), Franks (Hill 48); Ratuniyarawa (Moon 48), Ribbans; Lawes, Ludlam, Harrison (c) (Isiekwe 40).

Referee: Wayne Barnes