A Chris Ashton hat-trick inside the first 27-minutes gave Bristol Bears an uphill challenge that they never overcame on Saturday to lose 56-26 at Premiership leaders Leicester Tigers.
Ashton's trio of scores saw the former England winger become the Gallagher Premiership’s record try scorer with 95, moving beyond former Tiger and Bristol player Tom Varndell who he was equally with at the start of the day.
Leicester scored eight tries in total to Bristol's four on what was a comfortable afternoon where they secured a home semi-final in the play-offs, aided by a series of errors from the visitors to Mattioli Woods Welford Road.
READ MORE: Leicester Tigers 56-26 Bristol Bears LIVE Reaction following heavy away defeat
It took just four minutes for Ashton’s moment of history – and 93rd Premiership try – when he got on the end of Matias Moroni’s kick to score in the right-hand corner.
George Ford then took the score to 8-0 with a penalty before Bristol hauled themselves back into the contest when Piers O’Conor’s pass put Jack Bates through a gap and he showed Ford a clean pair of heels to score.
Callum Sheedy’s conversion reduced the deficit to one point, but Ashton extended the Tigers’ lead, and his own record, with his second try after 22 minutes.
Ellis Genge powered through a tackle before passing to Ford, who moved the ball on for Freddie Steward and it was his pass who sent Ashton clear down the left.
The 35-year-old then completed his hat-trick when a Leicester break from their own 22 led to Ben Youngs throwing the final pass to put Ashton through to score from halfway.
Toby Fricker pulled a try back for Bristol with an easy finish off Harry Randall’s pass down the blindside, but Leicester’s try bonus point was soon in the bag when Ben Youngs nipped in down the left-hand corner.
That gave the hosts a 27-12 lead at half-time, and they were handed a fifth try within two minutes of the restart when Tiff Eden’s kick was charged down by Tommy Reffell, giving Moroni an easy run-in.
Ford then twisted the knife with his second penalty of the afternoon and the fly-half’s last contribution before being replaced by Freddie Burns was a pass that led to Steward weaving his way through to score under the posts.
Leicester’s half-century was brought up after 67 minutes when Jasper Wiese was able to force his way over moments after Ioan Lloyd, who had been drafted straight into the side having been named on the bench after Charles Piutau pulled out late in the day with a groin problem, had pulled off a try saving tackle to stop Ashton scoring his fourth of the game.
Bristol’s Harry Thacker, who was the Bears outstanding player, then ran in against his old club in reward for his tireless display that saw him finish the game on the wing.
The late flurry of scores continued, as Tigers’ Harry Potter made his way through some weary defence before some neat handling led to Chris Vui grabbing a bonus-point try for the visitors but there was no celebration amongst the away side as the scoreboard told the story of the gulf between the two sides at the moment.
Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Guy Porter, 11 Harry Potter, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 1 Ellis Genge (c), 2 Julián Montoya, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Harry Wells, 5 Calum Green, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Tommy Reffell, 8 Jasper Wiese
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 James Whitcombe, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Eli Snyman, 20 Olly Robinson, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Nemani Nadolo
Bristol Bears: 15. Ioan Lloyd, 14. Toby Fricker, 13. Jack Bates, 12. Piers O’Conor, 11. Henry Purdy, 10. Callum Sheedy, 9. Harry Randall; 1. Jake Woolmore, 2. Harry Thacker, 3. John Afoa, 4. Joe Joyce, 5. Chris Vui, 6. Steven Luatua (c), 7. Sam Jeffries, 8. Fitz Harding.
Replacements: 16. Will Capon, 17. Jono Benz-Salomon, 18. Jake Armstrong, 19. John Hawkins, 20. Dan Thomas, 21. Andy Uren, 22. Tiff Eden, 23. Alapati Leiua.
Referee: Karl Dickson (61st Premiership game).
Assistant referees: Neil Chivers and John Meredith.
TMO: David Rose.
Citing Officer: Chris Sharp.
