Bonus night for tip-top Tigers

Leicester claimed a bonus point victory over Perpignan, the Tigers' third straight win cementing their grip on Pool Three.

An entertaining contest was not settled until the final quarter as Perpignan twice battled back after looking to be down and out.

But the Tigers always looked the more composed and their forwards produced a solid platform to launch some impressive attacks.

Leicester dominated the opening exchanges, with their scrum looking particularly strong and they got early rewards with two penalties from England fly-half Toby Flood.

The visitors were quickly rueing the absence of Dan Carter as David Mele missed a simple penalty chance.

The New Zealand star was in the crowd but will make his debut in Perpignan next week. With three injured fly-halves, Perpignan's number 10 shirt was filled by Mele, usually a scrum-half.

The first try arrived on 18 minutes following typically patient work from the Leicester forwards, but it was scored by a piece of individual brilliance.

After a series of phases a gap appeared to the left of the ruck and Flood burst through it, beating three defenders with a jinking run to score by the sticks.

In front of the watching Martin Johnson, Flood added the extras himself.

Perpignan finally got on the board when Leicester's scrum was penalised for not binding and Mele hit the target, but he almost immediately hit a post with an easier penalty chance.

Progress

By now Perpignan were starting to make some progress with forward drives and good offloads and they were rewarded with a Mele penalty on the half hour mark.

Things got even better six minutes later when they scored a brilliant individual try of their own. This one was even more striking than Flood's effort, as centre Maxime Mermoz collected a long lineout throw in his own 22, beat Flood and fended off two would-be tacklers before racing 80 metres to touch down.

Mele levelled the scores at 13-13, which prompted some restlessness in the Welford Road crowd.

But they were roaring their approval on the stroke of half time as Dan Hipkiss' powerful surge to the sticks created the space for Aaron Mauger to crash over and Flood tagged on the two to restore the Tigers' seven-point advantage.

That became 10 points two minutes after the break when the struggling Perpignan scrum was penalised - Julian White was enjoying himself - and Flood kicked a 40-metre penalty.

There was clear water between the sides moments later when Scott Hamilton's long kick left Mele isolated and hounded in his own 22. The penalty which inevitably followed was again kicked by Flood.

But Perpignan were showing plenty of resilience and on 51 minutes Romanian lock Ovidu Tonita finished impressively in the corner to haul the visitors back into the contest, emphasised when Mele converted from the touchline.

Skills

But again it was the scrum which proved key for Leicester just past the hour mark as they pushed Perpignan 20 yards to their own line, Jordan Crane displaying good footballing skills to keep the ball under control and then drop on it as it crossed the line.

For once Flood was off target with the kick but a two-score cushion had been re-established.

Six minutes later the Tigers had the crucial bonus point as quick hands in midfield sent Matt Smith sprinting down the right wing and a neat step past Philip Burger gave him the fourth try.

That settled the contest but Perpignan finished on a high as they were awarded a penalty try in injury time after sustained pressure on the Leicester line.

There were some heated exchanges at the end and the two sides can resume the argument in southern France in the re-match next weekend.