Nine-try Tigers thump Treviso

Leicester secured a place in the Heineken Cup quarter-finals with a 62-15 victory over Benetton Treviso at Welford Road.

The Tigers rattled up nine tries with Jordan Crane scoring a hat-trick and Scott Hamilton adding a brace, while Toby Flood converted seven plus a penalty for a 17-point haul.

Brothers Manu and Alesana Tuilagi, Thomas Waldrom and replacement Steve Mafi also crossed, while the visitors spared their blushes with two second-half tries through Brendan Williams and Tobias Botes.

But Tigers were unable earn a vital home draw in the last eight after finishing level on points with Perpignan in Pool Five, the French side having the better head-to-head record, meaning Richard Cockerill's side must travel to Leinster in April.

They did not hit top gear against a limited Treviso outfit, but last weekend's victory over the Scarlets in Llanelli had set them up for a last-eight spot, an opportunity Leicester did not spurn.

Reminder

The Italian champions went ahead after just 32 seconds through fly-half Kristopher Burton's drop-goal, giving Leicester an immediate reminder that Treviso did not intend to merely make up the numbers.

Flood hauled Leicester level through a ninth-minute penalty and Treviso showed the first sign of cracking when Tigers resorted to their traditional forward power.

Referee Romain Poite had no hesitation in sin-binning Treviso prop Lorenzo Cittadini when he tackled Crane from an offside position, and alarm bells were ringing throughout the Italian camp.

Crane claimed a 17th-minute pushover try, and although Flood could not convert, Leicester were up and running, 8-3 in front.

Treviso, temporarily a man down, could not cope with escalating Tigers territorial dominance, and they conceded a second try when Crane blasted through in midfield to set up attacking options either side of him.

Hamilton proved the beneficiary, gliding over on an outside angle for a well-worked score that Flood converted, putting Leicester 15-3 in front after 25 minutes.

Ruthless

Treviso just had no answer, and after they lost a second player to the sin-bin - flanker Valerio Bernabo - Leicester's ruthless pack prospered again as Crane lunged over from five metres.

Another Flood conversion left Treviso 19 points adrift - and Tigers one try from a bonus point - before a heated exchange involving both packs resulted in Poite warning Louis Deacon and Cittadini.

Leicester now had momentum, and the all-important fourth try was sealed as half-time approached.

Treviso could not handle Leicester's array of off-the-ball runners and Alesana Tuilagi touched down, with Flood's conversion taking Tigers 26 points clear at the interval.

The one-way traffic continued as Crane added his third touchdown, then Waldrom crossed - Flood converting both tries - before Treviso managed a consolation try by full-back Williams.

Treviso substitute Tobias Botes added another score for the visitors, but Leicester had long since entered auto-pilot mode, their job emphatically done in terms of qualification which was underlined through further touchdowns from Manu Tuilagi and Mafi.