Tigers roar past Gloucester

Leicester Tigers maintained their spot at the top of the Guinness Premiership table by seeing off Gloucester 33-11 at Welford Road on Saturday.

Tigers, recording their ninth Premiership victory of the season, were boosted by the welcome return of England internationals Toby Flood and Louis Deacon, as well as Italy powerhouse Martin Castrogiovanni.

Star fly-half Flood notched up 21 points for the home side, kicking four penalties and successfully converting the three tries posted by Lote Tuqiri, Geordan Murphy and Ben Youngs.

Early lead

The Cherry and Whites had won six games in all competitions since December 27 and were evidently seeking their seventh, as fly-half Nicky Robinson kicked two early home penalties to propel them into a 6-0 lead.

The early initiative failed to last, however, as Tigers piled the pressure on the visitors' struggling front row, with Flood slotting three penalties as a result of their mistakes up front.

Leicester continued to turn up the heat and finally secured the opening try in the 35th minute as winger Tuqiri powered over thanks to a neat inside pass from Flood.

The fly-half converted to put Tigers 16-6 ahead, with the visitors' chances of a comeback fading by the second.

The hosts continued to pile on the misery for Gloucester, going 23-6 up within three minutes of the restart as Murphy touched down and Flood converted.

Opportunity

The West Country side delivered the glimpse of a fightback with an unconverted try from centre Jonny May in the 58th minute, but the game belonged to Tigers again soon after as the hosts tightened up and Gloucester were forced to defend.

The win was wrapped up before long as Gloucester infringed just outside their 22 and Flood kicked the resulting penalty.

The final nail in the visitors' hopes came with two minutes left on the clock as scrum-half Ben Youngs crossed the line and Flood successfully converted to close out the emphatic victory for Tigers.