With youngsters Leon Brown, Robson Blake, Josh Skinner, Owen Davies, Arwel Robson and Will Talbot-Davies all on the bench awaiting their Dragons debuts.
Early pressure from the home side was expected with a pack consisting of names like Tom Croft, Graham Kitchener and Marcos Ayerza. And the Tigers didn’t disappoint their fans with four tries being scored in the first half.
It was fly-half Freddie Burns who opened up the Tigers account with a penalty kick from the around the 15m marker.
Dragons with some good line speed attempted to attack with possession of the ball only for it to be spilled forward by Craig Mitchell. Leicester Tigers take full advantage of this error with Welshman Owen Williams scoring a try thanks to his own grubber kick. The conversion is added by Burns and the English outfit lead 10-0.
The Dragons had the chance to add three points to the board and fly-half Geraint Rhys Jones nailed the huge kick, which was earned from the scrum, 10-3.
With Meyer missing a kick to touch the Dragons found themselves back inside their own half. The Dragons defened well by the forwards however eventually a gap opened up for Adam Thompstone to cross.
Their third try came quickly afterwards and once again the Tigers dominated at the scrum. They powered through the Dragons defence with Greg Bateman going over.
The bonus point came for the English outfit before the first half ended with Freddie Burns crossing the white wash and converting his own try.
Half Time: Leicester Tigers 27 – Newport Gwent Dragons 3
The second half saw Leon Brown, Arwel Robson, Robson Blake, Will Talbot-Davies and Josh Skinner make their senior debuts for the Dragons.
With Leicester Tigers coming out from the break fighting, and a chance through the boot of Burns saw them add three more points to their lead.
The home side continued their dominance and even with a yellow card they secured their fifth try through the hands of Ellis Genge, but the conversion was missed. And then they had the final say as Jack Roberts crossed as the clock ticked to 80 minutes and a conversion from George Worth.
Full Time: Leicester Tigers 42 - Newport Gwent Dragons 3
Referee: Andrew Jackson
Attendance: 18,750
