Loffreda: No rush

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Teams

• Leicester

Players

• Harry Ellis

Leicester head coach Marcelo Loffreda has said he would rather Harry Ellis was not rushed back into an England jersey after the scrum-half returned from a 10-month injury lay-off in the Tigers' 34-21 win over Leeds.

Ellis missed the World Cup after rupturing knee ligaments but made his first Tigers appearance since last May after coming on as a 59th minute replacement.

Tries from Jordan Crane, Tom Varndell and Johne Murphy had already helped Leicester fight back from an early 13-point deficit, with Loffreda delighted to see Ellis back in the fray.

He said: "Harry Ellis is an outstanding player and he has been great for the club. Everyone is happy to welcome him back. He is a very good person and that's good for the team.

"But he has been out for a long time and it is important not to rush things when you have not played for 10 months.

"The result and the bonus point was good. Other teams have lost so it is a good step, but we have to get better in our game.

"Every game will be very tough if we are not in the right mindset. Sometimes we are trying to go much further than we should. We take two steps forward and lose possession."

Leeds stunned the Welford Road faithful by taking an early lead, with Fosi Pala'amo touching down and Argentinian fly-half Alberto di Bernardo converting before the latter added both a penalty and drop goal to put them 13-0 up.

But Leicester hit back with Crane's push-over try and Varndell's score - the speedy winger picking up the ball inside his own 22 - to haul the Tigers back into contention.

The home side stepped up a gear in the second half and were awarded a penalty try, before further scores from Murphy and Ian Humphreys comfortably secured the bonus point.

Crucial

Leeds grabbed a late consolation through Jonny Hepworth, with director of rugby Stuart Lancaster refusing to acknowledge the looming presence of the relegation trap-door - despite now sitting 10 points from safety.

He said: "We have got three massive games coming up now. We play Bristol, Worcester and Newcastle and we know we have got to start putting some wins

together. They are crucial games for us.

"We started off really well and got to 13-0 up. But against sides like Leicester, you can't afford them easy tries.

"It was a mixture of confidence and frustration after a game like that. We challenge most sides that we meet on a regular basis but the pattern is repeated most weeks.

"We need to eradicate those gifts that we give to most teams."