Following Leicester Tigers’ 22-16 win over Bristol Bears in round five of the PREM Rugby season, here’s our take on the key winners and losers.

Winners

The set-piece battle

The set-piece is getting quite sexy in the PREM, and tonight was another truly scrumptious battle in that department.

It was a proper old-fashioned ding-dong between two front-rowers gunning for England spots in the scrum, Ellis Genge and Archie van der Flier on the respective loosehead sides, George Kloska and Joe Heyes on the tighthead and Gabe Oghre and Jamie Blamire at hooker; and they were almost trying to outdo each other at every turn. Penalties soon followed for both sides too.

To the untrained eye, it might have appeared a touch messy; but that was the result of two packs going hell for leather at each other, and any prop (as this humble writer was in his day) would have sat there with their tongue out and panting.

The lineout followed suit, too, with the teams again just going after each other in that department as they looked to turn it into a key weapon.

Sublime, sexy, scrumptious scrummaging stuff all round.

Hooker duo

A timely display from both Oghre and Blamire given the injury concern to Kepu Tuipulotu ahead of the Nations Championship, but you feel both men nailed their final audition to make the training squad next week. Both of them contributed superbly in the set-piece, which is a hookers nuts and bolts, and backed that up with some strong work around the field for good measure. Blamire also got himself on the scoreboard at a crucial period in the contest.

This was always going to be a fascinating battle given the overarching Test conversation, and it lived up to the billing. Borthwick would have liked what he’d have seen.

Luka Ivanishvili

Potentially goes under the radar in this Bristol back-row, but he was taking all of the headlines in that unit tonight with a gorgeous effort. Just made himself a real nuisance in the breakdown across his incredibly industrious shift, seemingly spawning whenever a ruck formed and clamping straight down on the ball. His two turnovers probably don’t even reflect just how much he pestered the Tigers in that department, as he was sensational.

That was also backed up with some lovely efforts around the park, which only showcased his talents. Really, really good night for the Georgian international

Ollie Chessum

A captain’s knock from the England lock, who stood tall on a big night for his side. It was as flawless a performance a lock could dream of, really; bossing proceedings on both sides of the lineout, leading the efforts in defence and coming away with some big turnovers in the breakdown along the way. His Man of the Match gong was certainly a just reward for his gutsy work.

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This only bodes well for England looking towards the Nations Championship, with Chessum expected to play a key role for Borthwick’s side.

Billy Searle

A rare off-night off the tee, but he more than made up for that with some lovely flashes around the park. Led his team around superbly well on a night that really called for a general’s effort from someone in the backline, kicking wonderfully well and distributing nicely to bring in the rest of his backline. His cross-field kick assists were also exquisite, and that deserves some flowers on its own.

He is seemingly carrying on the form he showed last year, and he continues to be pushing his case for a possible England call-up as well.

Losers

Bristol sin-binnings

The Bears saw two flashes of yellow in the first-half, with both Matias Moroni and Tom Jordon put on the naughty step for high tackles. That period with both men off the pitch also dented Bristol at a time when the game was still right in the balance, with Leicester winning that period 10-3.

It probably should have been more, and Bristol deserve some credit for the way they defended with 13, but it was still costly after losing by a six-point margin.

Error count

There was a lot to like about the overall contest tonight, as the aforementioned winners section should suggest, but there was a lot of handling errors from both sides tonight.

There wasn’t any real rhyme or rhythm to these errors tonight, albeit with the caveat that the ball was particularly greasy and slippery, but it did stop a number of very decent chances to score which, in a game that was in the balance for a good while, is pivotal.

That will surely be one both sides will reflect on harshly in the review session, whenever they next meet.