Wales back-rower Aaron Wainwright scored his first try for Leicester Tigers as they defeated Gloucester 38-31 in a forward-dominated contest in the Gallagher Prem watched by The Duke of Sussex, Prince Harry.

The hosts found themselves 14-0 down after just 10 minutes at Mattioli Woods Welford Road, but a sustained period of dominance led to them scoring 31 unanswered points that put them well on the way to their second straight win.

For the Cherry and Whites, this was a first league loss of the season as they fell short in a match that saw eight of the nine tries scored by forwards.

Prince Harry, who had a beer in his hand, is a keen rugby fan and was in attendance with Andrea Pinchen, the Tigers chief executive.

Harry returned to the UK with Meghan and their children in August after six years away in the US.

It was Leicester who quickly found themselves under pressure when they had fly-half Billy Searle sin-binned just three minutes in for deliberately knocking Ben Loader’s pass forward inside his own 22.

The Cherry and Whites quickly made the most of their one-man advantage when Wales flanker Jac Morgan squeezed his way through after a succession of pick-and-goes from his fellow forwards.

Try number two for the visitors soon followed when a driving maul powered its way over, with loosehead Dian Bleuler grounding the ball. Caolan Englefield converted both early scores stylishly from out wide.

Shortly after Searle returned to the field, Leicester were on the board when Finn Carnduff managed to force himself over the whitewash from close quarters.

The Tigers began to dominate territorially and found themselves level after half an hour when England tighthead Joe Heyes blasted through from a couple of metres and Searle added the extras.

The turnaround was then completed in the 36th minute when Jamie Blamire scored off the back of a driving maul to give Leicester a 21-14 half-time lead.

The hosts then pulled away as Searle kicked a penalty before the bonus point was sealed in the 50th minute with yet another close-range effort as Wainwright this time crossed from a matter of inches.

To make matters worse for Gloucester, they had Thomas sin-binned immediately after the try had been awarded as their evening threatened to unravel.

They had a lifeline after an hour when a superb carry from Morgan took them close to the line before Englefield’s pass allowed Will Trenholm to power in down the left.

But their hopes of a comeback were ended with 10 minutes remaining when Ollie Hassell-Collins became the first back from either team to score when Adam Radwan’s pass sent him scurrying in at the corner.

There was still time, though, for the visitors to claim two bonus points late on as Jack Innard scored their fourth try before George Barton knocked over a penalty with the final kick.

The Portuguese computer hacker who released documents which helped trigger the Premier League investigation into Manchester City will remain in witness protection after authorities in the country suspended the decision to end it.

Football Leaks founder Rui Pinto had been scheduled to leave the protection programme on Saturday, a ruling he previously said had put him in a “life-threatening situation”.

Pinto, 37, disclosed a tranche of confidential football documents, including emails and financial records relating to the English Premier League side.

In 2018, he shared documents with German magazine Der Spiegel, which used them for investigations into City’s finances and alleged breaches of financial fair play rules.

City were recently found guilty of all charges relating to breaches of the Premier League’s financial regulations between the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons. They have appealed against the decision.

Pinto became part of Portugal’s witness protection programme in 2020 after agreeing to co-operate with authorities and provide information obtained through the Football Leaks operation.

However, in a statement on Friday,, external Portugal’s Ministry of Justice said a decision to remove Pinto from witness protection had been reversed for the time being, with the body responsible for it – the special security programmes commission – having not adequately “notified” Pinto of grounds for its termination or given him the opportunity to challenge the decision.

Pinto will now be given 10 days to assess a risk assessment conducted by the special security programmes commission that indicates a low threat to his safety.

He posted on X, external thanking Portugal’s Minister of Justice, Rita Alarcao Judice and saying the commission’s initial decision had clearly violated the law and amounted to a “manifest abuse of power”.

Pinto has described himself as a whistleblower, but was convicted in Portugal of offences including illegal access to data and attempted extortion and given a four-year suspended sentence.

He wore a bulletproof vest during his first trial in 2020, which was also subject to heightened security measures.

Earlier this year, he was acquitted of 241 counts of illegally accessing email accounts belonging to a number of sports bodies in Portugal, including Benfica.

Mikel Arteta has said he has a clear conscience over his former club Manchester City’s serious breaches of financial rules.

An independent commission found that between 2009/10 and 2017/18, City artificially inflated their revenue by £830m. The club have lodged an appeal and deny all wrongdoing.

The investigation covered two years in which Arteta was working as assistant to manager Pep Guardiola but, in an otherwise guarded press conference, the Arsenal boss answered “yes” when asked if he had a clear conscience.

Arteta, who this week signed a new four-year contract as Arsenal manager, faced a string of questions over the City verdict by journalists but repeatedly insisted he would not comment further until the outcome of City’s appeal is known.

“The thing is that this has been going for various years,” he said.

“The process is still not finished, so it’s very difficult to express how I feel because it’s not resolved. When it’s resolved, I can talk with clarity and tell you exactly how I feel.

“I think that process has to be resolved in a way. And we need to trust that the people who are in charge doing that will do it in the timeframe that they believe is best for everybody.”

Arteta spent three-and-a-half seasons working with Guardiola, including the 2016/17 and 2017/18 campaigns, when City won back-to-back Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups, before leaving the club to take charge of Arsenal in 2019.

According to the independent commission, City artificially inflated their sponsorship income by £264.3m across the 2016/17 and 2017/18 seasons, a period during which their signings included John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Bernardo Silva, Ederson and Kyle Walker.

Arteta refused to comment when asked if his memories of working at City had been tainted.

When asked whether he was pleased to have won the Premier League title for Arsenal before the verdict, he said: “I feel proud and very emotional when I think about how we won it, the moments that we had together. It’s a unique and genuine feeling that I have.”

Arteta: Premier League still best in the world

Arteta insisted the Premier League will “100 per cent” continue to be the best league in the world despite questions of integrity being thrown up by the City verdict.

“It’s the best league in the world for many reasons,” he added.

“I’ve been here for over 20 years and it will continue to be the best league in the world. I feel privileged to be where I am.

“And there are a few clubs who have been extremely good and managed resources in an intelligent way. And we suffered from that a few weeks ago [with their defeat to Brighton].”

However, following comments by Nottingham Forest boss Oliver Glasner, who said the Premier League has been “damaged” by City being found guilty, Arteta admitted he was unsure about the impact on the competition’s reputation globally.

“I want to think that it doesn’t [damage the Premier League] but I don’t know,” he said. “And certainly it’s not in our control.

“In our control is to bring everything we can individually to the club, to maintain the position we have to be the best league in the world.”