European reaction – Sunday

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Leicester boss Heyneke Meyer hailed Toby Flood's performance after Tigers launched their Heineken Cup campaign with victory over the Ospreys at Welford Road on Sunday.

Leicester boss Heyneke Meyer hailed Toby Flood's performance after Tigers launched their Heineken Cup campaign with victory over the Ospreys at Welford Road on Sunday.

The England star kicked all Leicester's points in a 12-6 triumph which must have impressed watching England coaches John Wells and Mike Ford.

Flood even played through the pain barrier for part of the second half after suffering a dead leg which eventually forced him off.

But he had already done his job as Leicester quelled a late Ospreys revival to take the points after a tense Pool Three encounter.

“I thought Toby was brilliant,” said Meyer.

“I wanted him to step up to the next level, and I felt he was outstanding.”

Flood's form could put him in the England fly-half picture for next month's autumn Test opener against the Pacific Islands at Twickenham.

His unfailing accuracy made a telling difference, especially as his opposite number James Hook missed two kicks at goal that could have tied the contest.

Leicester skipper Martin Corry added: “It was a first-class performance by Toby. There is an air of confidence about him, not arrogance, and he delivered.

“We are extremely happy to have Toby playing in a Leicester shirt.

“To beat a team of the Ospreys' calibre is very satisfying – these type of games are all about the result.

“Our endeavour in the first half was the best it has been this season.”

Leicester's medical team will now monitor Flood, who limped off after 58 minutes to be replaced by South African Derick Hougaard.

The star-studded Ospreys, meanwhile, travelled to the east midlands without their suspended centre Gavin Henson, who is serving a two-match ban imposed by his employers.

And it was a lacklustre Ospreys display, apart from the closing stages when they put sustained pressure on Leicester inside the home side's 22.

Ospreys wing wizard Shane Williams hardly received a pass, such was Leicester's dominance and control of possession.

Williams' scoring contribution was confined to a drop-goal, with Hook adding a penalty as Tigers avenged their Twickenham defeat against the Ospreys in last season's EDF Energy Cup final.

Ospreys head coach Sean Holley declared the Henson episode “case closed”, preferring to concentrate on his team's performance.

Holley said: “We are very pleased with the losing bonus point. We are right in this pool, fighting.

“When you come to Welford Road, Leicester have got a 16th man – the crowd – and you expect an early onslaught.

“Teams coming here expect a tough game, and Leicester deserved their win, but I thought our players showed tremendous character.”

Over in France, Butch James insisted Bath will learn from their last-gasp 18-16 Heineken Cup defeat away to Toulouse.

The Springbok fly-half's kicking problems continued in a hugely intense Pool 2 clash which saw six David Skrela penalties give Toulouse the narrow verdict, after Bath had outscored the French champions two tries to none.

Skrela completed the win with the last kick of the game after second-half tries from scrum-half Michael Claassens and full-back Nick Abendanon had Bath 16-15 up going into the last three minutes of a pulsating scrap.

“We all thought we'd done it when Nick Abendanon got the try. But we played for 89 minutes and 59 seconds and lost our concentration for one second – and it cost us the win,” said James.

“Either side could have won the game. But we played a lot of rugby and if we'd won it, we would have deserved it,” added James, who landed just two kicks – both penalties – out of five shots at goal, missing both conversion attempts.

“Our heads are down in the dressing room, and there's a mixture of anger and disappointment in there – disappointment that we didn't win and anger because we know we threw it away at the end.

“But the bottom line is we're leaving here a better side for this experience. If we're in the same position again, we won't make the same mistake and we'll close the game out.”

James survived a horrifically high second-half tackle from Toulouse French international centre Yannick Jauzion when he looked set to score Bath's second try of the match before Abendanon struck late on.

Jauzion escaped unpunished by Irish referee George Clancy – a decision which mystified Bath head coach Steve Meehan.

He said: “There were a few odd decisions out there, notably the one where Toulouse were given a defensive scrum in front of their own line after Butch James was taken out by Yannick Jauzion.

“He would have scored from that close in, and it might have affected the outcome. We'll have to have a close look at the incident later.

“I'm disappointed for the players because we came here to play good rugby and they delivered that, scoring two tries and keeping Toulouse from crossing our line.

“But it's never over until it's over, and mistakes like the one we made in the last seconds of a contest as close as that one cost a lot in a game where the margins are so tight.”

Elsewhere, Wasps boss Ian McGeechan was delighted to see Wasps return to form with a 25-11 Heineken Cup victory over Castres.

Wasps came into the game on the back of five defeats from six matches but determined to produce a performance of high tempo and high intensity.

And they lived up to it, racing into a 17-0 lead inside 22 minutes with tries from Paul Sackey and Tom Voyce before Danny Cipriani sent Josh Lewsey over for the third.

Wasps could not work a fourth try to earn a bonus point – but McGeechan was relieved to see his side back in familiar shape.

“I thought we started well and we were back to a lot of the things we do well,” said McGeechan.

“Castres were working hard. They are a big pack and we had to get things right today and we did.

“I thought it was a good defensive performance and offensively I thought we were very slick today.

“The experienced players had to take a lead and show up for real. I thought all of them did today. They delivered big time.

“It was obvious it meant a lot to everyone today. Honesty is what this club is about and I thought the honesty came out today. A lot of hard work went in and we got the benefits.”

Cipriani, making his second start after recovering from a fractured dislocation of the ankle, kicked 10 points and completed the full 80 minutes.

He created the third try for Lewsey and the pair then poked fun at the furore created by their training ground bust-up on Tuesday.

Lewsey had criticised Cipriani for missing tackles during a one-on-one defensive drill and, with passions high, he ended up punching the Wasps and England fly-half.

It became front page news but training-ground flare-ups are not uncommon in rugby. Cipriani and Lewsey celebrated the try with a bit of good-humoured shadow boxing before embracing.

“The problem is we need to stop them kissing each other at training as well,” laughed