The inside centre come emergency fly-half was in superb form to steer theMidlands side to victory as he stepped into the void left by Toby Flood still recovering from a head injury sustained in England's defeat to South Africa.

London Irish fly-half  Ryan Lamb managed just nine points in return and missed a couple of seemingly easy chances to cut the deficit.

Leicester Tigers welcomed back England duo Dan Cole and Ben Youngs into their starting XV while London Irish saw Delon Armitage line up at full-back.

Despite London Irish dominating the majority of first-half attacking possession it was the Tigers kicked the points on offer and led 9-3 at the break.

Topsy Ojo scored a phenomenal try after a Lamb cross-kick after the break to cut Tigers lead to 9-8.

However, Leicester soon capitalised on a lose kick from Delon Armitage which allowed them to put the ball through the hands to put Thomas Waldrom into the corner.

Lamb kicked two subsequent penalties after persistent Tigers infringements in the red zone before the Tigers stepped up their efforts in the pack and forced a penalty try to take the game.