Dominguez kicks Stade to victory - report

Leicester Tigers 13 Stade Francais 26

Italian master Diego Dominguez starred as Stade Francais wiped out the memories of their 2001 Heineken Cup final defeat by Leicester with an impressive display at Welford Road this evening.

The two teams have already met in the pool stages of the competition this season – Stade won that encounter 26-15 – but this victory will be by far the sweeter given what was at stake: a place in the quarter-finals.

And the French champions richly deserved to progress in the tournament as they competed on equal terms in the first half before assuming full control after the break with Leicester running out of steam, especially up front.

Dominguez, 38 in April, proved the difference after booting 16 points without missing a single shot at goal and matching his sublime kicking performance with some inventive play at fly-half which he capped with an injury-time try.

In contrast, Leicester tried out four different kickers who failed to hit the target once in six attempts between them – a shocking return that resulted in the Tigers failing to reach the Heineken Cup last eight for only the second time in their history.

Dean Richards’ men showed promise with tries from Harry Ellis and Ollie Smith while number eight Henry Tuilagi caused Stade all sorts of problems with his powerful running, but they never showed up for the second half.

It was a sorry way for Neil Back to mark his 300th Leicester appearance and Dorian West his 200th – and a bitterly disappointing way for the club to exit the tournament following their recent heroics against Ulster and Gwent Dragons.

They were bolstered by the return of Smith, Ben Kay and Martin Corry, who came on from the bench, but even the England trio were powerless to overcome a Stade side which will now be counted among the favourites to win the competition.

The Frenchmen drew first blood with a Dominguez penalty following a finely poised opening 10 minutes but Leicester slashed the deficit with a wonderful try which left the home fans purring with delight.

It was started and finished by Ellis who scooped up the ball just outside his 22 and fed Freddie Tuilagi on the left wing, giving the powerful Samoan the space to build up some steam.

He was eventually collared but found Steve Booth who ran 40 yards and went desperately close to crossing before full-back Ignacio Corleto scrambled back in time to snuff out the immediate threat.

But the damage had already been done as Stade found themselves over-stretched in defence and Ellis scrambled beneath a tackle from close range to grab the try Leicester’s attacking ambition deserved.

Dominguez slotted another penalty to restore the French lead but it did not last long as a mixture of individual brilliance from Jaco van der Westhuyzen and some sloppy Stade defence let the Tigers in for their second try.

Van der Westhuyzen’s bomb initially appeared harmless enough and so the visitors thought, allowing the Springbok fly-half to plenty of time to gather-up his own kick and feed Ollie Smith who was able to dash home unopposed.

France winger Christophe Dominici was dispatched to the sin-bin for a dangerous challenge on substitute Luke Myring – Booth had limped off injured - but his absence coincided with Stade’s first try.

It arrived on the stroke of half-time as the visitors battered away at Leicester’s line with a series of forward drives and just as it seemed the Tigers had overcome the danger, skipper David Auradou barged over.

Dominguez converted to give Stade a 13-10 lead and there was plenty of action after the interval as the two sides probed away, although the Frenchmen were gradually claiming the upper hand.

Their Italian general Dominguez was the man doing the damage as he carved open the Tigers on a couple of occasions before adding two penalties which sandwiched a three pointer from van der Westhuyzen.

Leicester scarcely moved out of their half as Stade dominated and Dominguez sealed the result in injury time, skipping in under the posts as the Tigers defence fell to pieces. He then added the conversion to cap a fine evening.