Leicester stage stunning fightback in Premiership opener

Leicester staged a superb fightback to kick off the English Premiership season with a dramatic 38-31 victory over Gloucester at Kingsholm on Friday.

Scotland centre Matt Scott scored two tries on his Premiership debut for Gloucester, while wings Charlie Sharples and Henry Purdy also touched down as the hosts swept into a 31-7 lead five minutes after half-time.

Skipper Greig Laidlaw added 11 points from the boot, but Leicester refused to surrender despite that huge deficit.

Tries by England centre Manu Tuilagi, South Africa wing JP Pietersen and scrum-half Sam Harrison kept them in touch.

New Zealander flanker Brendon O'Connor crossed four minutes from time to draw Leicester level, setting the stage for Harrison to leave Gloucester stunned after he bundled over the winning try in stoppage-time.

Freddie Burns converted three tries and kicked a penalty, while Harrison added two conversions after Burns went off to secure an unlikely bonus-point triumph as Tigers scored 31 unanswered points in 33 second-half minutes.

"I'm so, so disappointed with that first 50 minutes. We were pretty woeful and need to put that right pretty quickly," Leicester director of rugby Richard Cockerill told BT Sport.

"But credit to the players, we got our composure back, and Gloucester ran out of steam, to be fair. I'm delighted with the win."

The other fixture on the Premiership's opening night was an equally tense affair as Newcastle defeated Sale 19-17 at Kingston Park.

Newcastle were in danger of starting the campaign with a damaging home defeat when Sale fly-half Dan Mugford lined up a last-minute penalty.

But, with Sale trailing by two points, Mugford missed the final kick of the game and Newcastle breathed a sigh of relief.

Newcastle led 10-3 at the break after Samoa's Sinoti Sinoti crossed in the corner.

Sale pair Johnny Leota and Bryon McGuigan scored tries after the break, but All Black international Mike Delany's four penalties for Newcastle proved decisive.