Tigers finish with a flourish
Leicester ran in four second-half tries to record a 33-6 victory over Pool Four whipping boys Aironi at Welford Road.
Last Updated: 21/01/12 6:18pm
Leicester rounded out a disappointing Heineken Cup campaign with a comfortable 33-6 victory over Aironi at Welford Road.
The Tigers scored four tries in the second half to clinch a bonus-point triumph, though they still finished behind Clermont and Ulster in Pool Four.
They had led only 9-6 at the end of a desperately poor first half but with a strong wind at their backs, were much improved after the break.
Their second-half blitz means Italians Aironi, who end up without a point to their name, have conceded a massive 274 points in their six group games.
The Tigers dominated the opening 10 minutes, choosing not to take two kickable penalties in favour of more attacking options, but careless handling prevented them from collecting any points.
Instead it was Aironi who broke the deadlock, Naas Olivier making no mistake with his 50-metre penalty attempt after 12 minutes.
Ruled out
Geordan Murphy, Tom Croft and Thomas Waldrom then constructed Leicester's best move of the first half to send Alesana Tuilagi over the line, but the score was ruled out as Croft was adjudged to have put a foot in touch.
Billy Twelvetrees - who appears set to leave Leicester at the end of the season - made no mistake with his first penalty attempt to level matters, though Aironi were soon back in front thanks to Olivier's trusty boot.
A pair of penalties from Twelvetrees did give the hosts a three-point cushion at the interval - they then set sail with the breeze behind them to run in 24 unanswered points in the second half.
Within three minutes of the restart, the Tigers finally crossed the line. From a ruck 20 metres out, a pass from Mickey Young sent Waldrom through a huge gap in the visitors' defence for the number eight to cross unopposed.
Just four minutes later and Leicester went over again as the Aironi defence was now being stretched to the limit, Ben Woods on hand for a try which Twelvetrees successfully converted.
Murphy dummied his way over to give his side a 26-6 lead shortly before the hour mark, though poor handling in the difficult conditions continued to blight the English team's performance.
They had to wait until the 71st minute to collect their bonus point when George Ford displayed some neat footwork to find his way to the line, the replacement also adding the extras to round out the scoring.
