Sam Burgess made his first Premiership start for English side Bath in front of England coach Stuart Lancaster but had little opportunity to display his attacking prowess as Leicester won 17-8 at Welford Road.

As with all of a star-studded Bath back division, outside centre Burgess was kept at a safe distance on Sunday by Leicester’s tenacious defence, with try-scoring opportunities few and far between.

Second-placed Bath’s run of five successive league wins came to a grinding halt as an early Tom Youngs try and four Owen Williams penalties helped Leicester avenge one of the most humiliating days in their history.

George Ford kicked Bath’s solitary penalty but missed the 80th-minute conversion of Ross Batty’s try that would have given the visitors a losing bonus point.

It was a sweet result for Leicester, given that Bath crushed them 45-0 when the sides last met just over three months ago.

It will be back to the drawing board for Bath and Burgess against Wasps next weekend, with champions Northampton now six points clear as league leaders.