Flood stars in debut

Winning debut for Flood and new Tigers coach in Kingsholm win

Last updated: 8th September 2008   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Flood stars in debut

Flood: Winning start

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Leicester won a third straight Premiership game at Kingsholm as last year's table-toppers Gloucester endured a poor start to the season with a 20-8 reverse.

South African Heyneke Meyer took charge of his first Premiership game since replacing Marcelo Loffreda as Tigers coach - and started with a victory from a tough away day.

Both sides really went at it but the hosts were left to rue missed chances as late tries from Geordan Murphy and Tigers debutant Toby Flood sealed an impressive start for Leicester.

The Tigers ended Gloucester's Premiership hopes last season with a fine semi-final victory at Kingsholm, and despite the desire for revenge the execution from the hosts let them down.

Flood kicked two early penalties on his Leicester debut but he and opposite number Ryan Lamb missed seven shots at goal between them.

Gloucester full-back Olly Morgan scored his team's solitary try just two minutes after Leicester flanker Ben Herring was yellow-carded.

Lamb's penalty just after the interval put Gloucester, table-toppers twice in three years but without Premiership success, in front for the first time in the match.

Gloucester missed a couple of glorious chances to add a game-clinching second try, and just moments after they could, and should, have got over the line they were stunned at the other end.

A superb counter attack from Leicester saw them move right down the length of the field before Murphy made the decisive break to slide over the line, with substitute scrum half Julien Dupuy converting.

Gloucester knew they had to throw the kitchen sink at Leicester, and they duly obliged during the closing moments despite suffering a big blow when centre Anthony Allen was carried off late on.

Flood had just missed a penalty to keep Gloucester hoping but the former Newcastle man atoned by sealing the game for Leicester.

With the pressure mounting James Simpson-Daniel flung a long pass out wide but Flood read it like a book and collected the ball and raced away under the posts for a winning start for both him and new coach Meyer.