Cockerill braced for tough fixtures

Richard Cockerill insists Leicester must not take qualification for the knockout stages of the Heineken Cup for granted.

The Tigers crushed the Scarlets 46-10 at Welford Road on Sunday to take a tight grip on top spot of Pool Five. Two maximum five-point hauls from their games against the Welsh region and Treviso have identified them as the pacesetters after two rounds of the competition. Their next European fixtures are successive meetings with Perpignan in December and director of rugby Cockerill knows they must not take their foot off the gas.

"We have to go to Scarlets and Perpignan. Treviso also have to come here and there are lots of games to play," he said. "Scarlets are a good side and if winning the pool depends on winning at Llanelli we know it will be a tough day."

He added: "But the challenge was laid down for us and we accepted it. I'm delighted."

Leicester were 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 proved too much for the Scarlets, with Ben Youngs, man-of-the-match Thomas Waldrom, Tom Croft (2) and Matty Smith all crossing.

Scarlets coach Nigel Davies said: "We were too inaccurate, they seemed to have all the ball and were very effective at the breakdown, that was a key area and we lost a lot of ball there.

"At half-time it was only 13-10 and we hadn't had much of the game. It was a case of trying to keep hold of the ball but the pressure and intensity they brought did not allow us to do that.

"You have to get the basics right if you want to come to a place like Leicester and win. We have got to be more composed. They were ruthless and it was big, big lesson for us."