Leicester were able to name an unchanged side from the one that earned an important win at Exeter last weekend for this clash against their East Midlands rivals.
The much-awaited fixture against Northampton Saints had been sold out for weeks and a hostile crowd greeted Tigers players for a game that was vital to both teams.
10 MIN: PENALTY (0-3) After a typically fast and furious start, Tigers get the scoreboard ticking over through Toby Flood's penalty kick.
11 MIN: PENALTY (3-3) Stephen Myler gets the home side on the board only a minute later.
18 MIN: PENALTY (3-6) After a great high-ball-take from Mat Tait, Tigers win another penalty and re-take the lead.
27 MIN: PENALTY (3-9) Flood extends the lead as Tigers start to get on top.
34 MINS: YELLOW CARD Saints lose Courtney Lawes after he is penalised for a deliberate knock-on.
34 MIN: PENALTY (3-12) Flood gives Tigers a nine-point half-time buffer and it is deserved.
H-T: Saints 3 Tigers 12
41 MIN: TRY (3-17) Manu Tuilagi scores the first try of the afternoon with a simple finish in the corner after Tigers start the half with 10 phases of possession.
57 MIN: YELLOW CARD Niall Morris is sent to the sin-bin for a deliberate knock-on as Saints threaten during a big spell of pressure.
58 MIN: TRY (8-17) And with their man advantage, the Saints make the most of it and run in a try through their fly-half Stephen Myler. Tigers had defended their line with vigour during several five-metre line-outs and seemed to have kept Northampton at bay until Myler pounced for the points.
62 MIN: TRY (8-24) But it's Leicester who score next and there are still a man down. It's another for Tuilagi, who breaks through the tackle of Tom May in midfield to run in for his second.
71 MIN: TRY (8-31) The game is well and truly over when Niall Morris cruises in on the right wing after some lovely off-loading in the build-up from a visiting side that smelt blood.
74 MIN: TRY (8-36) Tigers go for the jugular with the Saints looking a broken side and Mat Tait runs in the crucial fourth try for a bonus point as he finds himself one of a five-man overlap with Saints stretched.
F-T: Saints 8 Tigers 36
