Cockerill hails demolition job

LEICESTER director of rugby Richard Cockerill praised the intensity of his side’s performance after they hammered the Scarlets at Welford Road to take control of Heineken Cup Pool 5.

The Tigers had been just 13-10 ahead at the break thanks to a try from prop Martin Castrogiovanni and eight points from the boot of returning fly-half Toby Flood, back from the knee injury that had sidelined him since the opening day of the season.

But they ran riot after the break as their physicality at the breakdown and set-piece prowess proved too much for the Welsh region, with Ben Youngs, man-of-the-match Thomas Waldrom, Tom Croft (2) and Matty Smith all crossing as the bonus-point win was sealed to leave the Tigers four points clear of Perpignan at the top of the section.

Cockerill admitted he had been disappointed his side had only held a slender interval lead, but was understandably delighted with their second-half showing as the east Midlands outfit turned in their best display of the season to date.

“I felt we needed more points out of the first half as at half-time they (Llanelli) were very much in the game,” he said. “They took their try well and we’d have liked to have scored a couple more of our own but we didn’t take our opportunities.

“But we kept the intensity and composure and those five tries in the second-half included some quality bits of rugby. Ben Youngs was sharp, Toby Flood was really good and for Thomas Waldrom that was probably the best he’s played in terms of his physicality and ball carrying.”

The Scarlets had been feted in some quarters after their enterprising attacking style had yielded a 43-34 success over Perpignan last weekend, and Cockerill felt the Tigers’ defensive display was a key factor in their success.

He said: “Defence was our theme this week, we didn’t work on much else as we have been scoring plenty of tries but conceding soft tries. I am delighted we only conceded one try and, even when the game was won, in defence we were right up there and it’s a good sign for us.”

But the former England hooker says there will be no complacency, despite their strong start to the pool stages.

The next European appointments for the reigning Premiership champions will come in the form of back-to-back meetings with Perpignan in December.

The Scarlets had opened the scoring through a wonderful counter-attacking try from wing Morgan Stoddart while Wales fly-half Stephen Jones kicked five points, before they were ripped to pieces.

nA late flurry of points saw Perpignan to a first victory in Pool Five, though the 35-14 scoreline was harsh on a well-matched Treviso side.

The teams were locked at 14-14 with 20 minutes remaining but the hosts broke free with a penalty try before Gerrie Britz and Damien Chouly crossed in the closing stages.

LEICESTER: Murphy, Hamilton, Smith, Allen, A. Tuilagi, Flood, Youngs, Ayerza, Chuter, Castrogiovanni, Slater, Skivington, Croft, Newby, Waldrom.

Replacements: M. Tuilagi for Allen (59), Grindal for Youngs (56), Stankovich for Ayerza (64), Duffey for Chuter (76), Cole for Castrogiovanni (56), Mafi for Croft (67), Woods for Newby (64).

SCARLETS: Priestland, Stoddart, King, Maule, Lamont, S. Jones, Roberts, I. Thomas, Rees, R. Thomas, Reed, Cooper, Turnbull, McCusker, Lyons.

Replacements: Evans for King (70), Knoyle for Roberts (51), R. Jones for I. Thomas (70), Manu for R. Thomas (35), J. Edwards for Cooper (59).

Referee: George Clancy (RU).