Rugby Union: Tiger Harris has earned his stripes: Subtle stand-off makes life hard for Baa-Baas as Irish suffer in A-team international

Leicester . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

Barbarians. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

JEZ HARRIS has made a career of understudying Leicester outside- halves but amid the frivolity of yesterday's annual Welford Road extravaganza he showed why, after all these years, he is at last the first choice in his own right.

Among others Les Cusworth, Brian Smith and Gerry Ainscough have all come and, after widely varying lengths of time, gone. Niall Malone, an Irish international, came and is in the second team because through it all - 'it' even including the occasional barracking of Tigers supporters - Harris has stayed. Aged 28, he has been with Leicester since he was 14.

Good for Jez for showing loyalty in an age when it has been diminishing. It is not just the points he has begun accumulating, 26 yesterday taking his season's total to 144, but the quality of his game as a whole that has become so striking.

With confidence having soared, he delivered some of the most exquisitely subtle passes imaginable to open up the Barbarians' defence and also had a fine try of his own to go with a drop goal - only the eighth in the 84-year history of the fixture - and eight successful kicks from nine.

Harris's was a record individual score for Leicester against the Barbarians and, assisted by the increase in modern scoring values, so were the Tigers' points and margin. All of which accurately reflected the impossibility of a collection of individuals, no matter how distinguished, taking on a side as well-prepared as Leicester are bound to be in the middle of their league programme.

Thus the tightly knit Tigers easily devoured the Barbarians at forward, where Neil Back's early departure with a knee injury made less difference than would have been the case on a more stringent occasion. By the time Rory Underwood followed after hurting his little finger, the match had long since been won and lost.

In fact, there had not been much doubt even when the match was in its infancy. Stuart Potter set out as he meant to continue by scoring the first try after two minutes and in injury time he scored Leicester's sixth and last after the hugely impressive Martin Johnson had charged through a gap looking more like a threequarter than an England lock.

In between times Rory Underwood, Graham Rowntree, Harris and Tony Underwood were the other try-scoring Tigers. The Baa- Baas by contrast managed only two, Patrice Lagisquet making his journey from France worthwhile with the first, the only time the former Bayonne Express was given a clear run, and Jon Sleightholme coming off his wing to take Huw Woodland's clever pass for the second.

Craig Chalmers converted them both, and after this the Scotland stand-off's next scheduled visit to England is for talks with Bristol. A job in marketing is said to be on offer if he will forsake the Borders for the West Country, though his appearance at Welford Road yesterday was a reminder that last season Leicester, too, were interested in his services. But no longer; the Tigers, after all, already have their own Jez Harris.

Leicester: Tries Potter 2, R Underwood, Rowntree, Harris, T Underwood; Conversions Harris 6; Penalties Harris 2; Drop goal Harris. Barbarians: Tries Lagisquet, Sleightholme; Conversions Chalmers 2.

LEICESTER: W Kilford; T Underwood, S Potter, L Boyle, R Underwood (J Hamilton, 64); J Harris, A Kardooni; G Rowntree, R Cockerill, D Garforth, M Johnson, M Poole, J Wells, D Richards (capt), N Back (T White, 23).

BARBARIANS: M Rayer (Cardiff); J Sleightholme (Wakefield), P de Glanville (Bath), H Woodland (Neath), P Lagisquet (Biarritz); C Chalmers (Melrose), R Howley; M Griffiths (Cardiff), N Meek (Pontypridd), E McKenzie (Paris-Universite Club), P Johns (Dungannon), A Macdonald (Heriot's FP), C Sheasby (Harlequins), S Williams (Neath), A Robinson (Bath, capt).

Referee: C Thomas (Neath).

(Photograph omitted)