Flood turns tide of history

England fly-half Toby Flood scored 22 points as Leicester won at Bath in the Premiership for the first time in five years.

Flood scored two tries and kicked two penalties and three conversions, as the Tigers romped to victory in this clash of the two traditional English heavyweights.

The bonus point victory moved the two-time defending champions seven points clear of second-placed Saracens.

Tom Croft also touched down twice for the visitors, while centre Anthony Allen crossed early on as Leicester built up a 22-3 interval lead.

Bath had just two Butch James penalties to show for their efforts as they were outclassed in front of a full house at the Recreation Ground.

Flood, his half-back partner Ben Youngs, Croft and prop Dan Cole all returned from Six Nations duty for Tigers, but injuries sidelined England lock Louis Deacon and Italy prop Martin Castrogiovanni.

Bath, meanwhile, picked England's Matt Banahan on the wing, with former Leicester back Sam Vesty lining up in midfield as replacement for Olly Barkley, who broke his leg against Gloucester three weeks ago.

Flood opened the scoring through a 14th-minute penalty, then Tigers took advantage of poor defending to run in a long-range try from Allen.

Slicing through

Allen raced in from 60 metres out, slicing through tackles at will and touching down behind the posts for a score that Flood effortlessly converted.

Leicester had lock Ed Slater sin-binned for a high tackle, which enabled Bath to open their account through a James penalty, but Leicester still controlled the contest.

And with Slater still absent from the action, Leicester struck again with a try that owed everything to Youngs' enviable game-breaking ability.

He sprinted clear from the base of a lineout, and then had the simple task of sending a supporting Croft over unmarked. Flood converted and Tigers were in cruise control, 17-3 ahead.

Flood added Leicester's third try before the break, and despite Bath dominating in terms of territory, they trooped off 19 points adrift.

The second period contained more woe for Bath, with Flood and Croft compounding their misery.

Dust-up

A late dust-up produced yellow cards for Bath replacement Ignacio Fernandez-Lobbe and Leicester wing Horacio Agulla, but it was irrelevant in terms of the result.

Leicester rugby director Richard Cockerill has set his team a 70-point target to clinch a home play-off, and Tigers are now just eight points short of that aim with four games left to play.