Howard plays down Tigers clash

Pat Howard insists that calm will prevail between Lewis Moody and Alesana Tuilagi.

Leicester head coach Pat Howard has insisted that the Twickenham clash between Lewis Moody and Alesana Tuilagi will have no effect on their relationship as Tigers teammates.

Flanker Moody was hit with a nine-week ban after the brawl during the England-Samoa clash on Saturday, while wing Tuilagi was handed a six-week suspension.

It is the Tigers who will bear the brunt of the punishment with the players missing crucial domestic and European games, but Howard is adamant the incident will not affect morale in the Leicester camp.

"There is no ill feeling there," he told Sky Sports News. "It happened in an international and unfortunately the club's got to bear the consequences of it.

"So I've got to deal with that one first. But I'm sure when they get back on the pitch they will be right and raring to go."

Howard added that punch-ups between teammates are hardly a rarity. 

"The mentality here is a fairly physical one and it's a common occurrence in a contact training session," he said. "Occasionally there is a punch thrown. There is no ill-feeling between any two players that have a punch-ups, even in training sessions."

England and Leicester skipper Martin Corry agreed. "There's no bad blood whatsoever," he said "They shook hands after the game and had a beer together on Saturday night. It's nothing, just one of those unfortunate things which happen.

"They've both been given lengthy bans and we have got to take that on the chin and get on with it."