Andy Goode scored 32 points as Leicester got their Heineken Cup campaign under
way with a convincing victory over French visitors Clermont Auvergne.
Goode kicked five penalties from six attempts and also converted all six
Leicester tries, securing what could prove an important bonus-point win.
Irish full-back Geordan Murphy was instrumental in putting Leicester in the
driving seat after a string of unforced handling errors marred their early
efforts.
Murphy grabbed an interception and his deceptive turn of pace took him past
three opponents on a 50-metre run before he sent England scrum-half Harry Ellis
over near the posts.
Seven minutes later Murphy looked odds-on to score with a kick and chase but
he was blatantly obstructed by Clermont full-back Jean-Baptiste Dambielle.
There was a strong case for a penalty try but referee Alan Lewis settled for
issuing a yellow card to the French full-back and a penalty for Tigers.
Leicester's second try was a classic. Hooker George Chuter found England
captain Martin Corry with a reverse flick before teenage left-wing Tom Varndell
sent right-wing Leon Lloyd racing in.
The French side could only muster two penalties from Dambielle and, while he
was in the sin-bin, one from their former Leicester fly-half Craig McMullen in
reply in the first half.
Varndell almost scored a third Tigers try just before half-time when he kicked
ahead and narrowly failed to touch down but it took him only three minutes of
the second half to get on the scoresheet when he snatched an interception and
raced in from 40 metres.
Clermont hit back when South African winger Breyton Paulse split the Tigers
defence with a sizzling burst of speed to send Tony Marsh, their French
international centre, in for their first try in the 48th minute, with Dambielle
adding the conversion.
But it took Leicester only a minute to rally with their fourth try when Goode
picked up a loose ball and set off unchallenged to run 30 metres to the line.
The visitors refused to lie down and a huge push and drive by their forward
took prop Martin Scelzo over the line, with Dambielle again converting to peg
the Tigers lead back to 20 points.
Leicester rang the changes in the final quarter but it did not disrupt their
scoring spree.
A superbly worked fifth try off a 63rd-minute lineout saw Leo Cullen leap high
to take Chuter's throw and, in one movement, return the ball to the hooker who
took advantage of some poor defensive marking to dive over in the right-hand
corner.
Leicester's sixth and final try came when Varndell burst down the left wing
before throwing a flamboyant high pass inside for Murphy to round off a superb
display with a try of his own.
The near-perfect Goode again converted to finish just five points short of the
Heineken Cup individual match scoring record held by Ulster's David Humpreys.
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