Leicester 29 Leinster 18
Heineken Cup holders Leicester remain the team to beat after overpowering a resilient Leinster side in their quarter-final clash at Welford Road this afternoon.
Defeats to Llanelli and Harlequins had led many to question whether the Tigers' dominance at home and abroad was at an end, and the arrival of the Celtic League Champions only increased the pressure on director of rugby Dean Richards.
But Leicester's emerged comfortable winners, despite Leinster taking a 10-point start after responding with four tries in 15 first-half minutes which changed the face of the game.
Fly-half Nathan Spooner opened the scoring for Matt Williams’ side after just two minutes with an easy penalty, before Denis Hickie grabbed the first try of the game, albeit a dubious one.
With little support, Leicester's Irish full-back Geordan Murphy failed to gather Spooner's long clearance downfield. Hickie hacked the loose ball on and led the chase to the line.
At one stage, Hickie was clearly pulled back illegally, but play was allowed to continue and in a despairing dive to touch down, Hickie was challenged for the ball by Austin Healey.
However, after consulting his touch-judge, referee Joel Jutge awarded the try to Healey's obvious anger.
But when Leicester hit back, it was Leinster who had cause to feel aggrieved Leicester were awarded a penalty at a ruck, despite a clear stamp on Brian O’Driscoll’s face, and the resulting kick to the corner appeared to go dead.
However, a line out was awarded and Martin Corry collected clean line-out ball from which Neil Back peeled off to score.
Suddenly Leicester laid siege to the Leinster line and when they swung the ball wide, Lloyd took Healey's long pass and sped into the corner to level the scores.
Healey skipped over shortly afterwards after more Leicester forward pressure before Murphy made it four tries in 13 minutes, taking advantage of a four-man overlap after Freddie Tuilagi had linked with Back down the left wing.
Spooner offered his team some hope with an injury-time penalty, but Leicester maintained their dominance after the interval, Back scoring a replica of his first effort after 51 minutes.
Now it was Leinster's turn to find themselves heading for defeat, but like their opponents, the Celtic League winners have champion qualities.
Scrum-half Ben Willis dived over in the corner just before the hour to cut the deficit but Spooner failed with the conversion, then a long-range penalty as Leicester clung to an 11-point lead.
Leinster had their chances, but a combination of elementary mistakes and Girvan Dempsey's failure to evade Kronfeld's attentions down the left wing ensured not even one of the two tries they required was forthcoming.
Scorers: Leicester
Tries:Back 24', 50', Lloyd 29', Healey 34', Murphy 37'
Conversions:Murphy 35', 37'
Penalties:
Drop Goals:
Scorers: Leinster
Tries:Hickie 13', Willis 57'
Conversions:Spooner 14'
Penalties:Spooner 2', 40'
Drop Goals:
LEICESTER: Murphy, Smith, Lloyd, Kafer, Tuilagi, Healey, J. Hamilton, Rowntree, Cockerill, Garforth, M. Johnson, Kay, Moody, Back, Corry. Replacements: Booth for J. Hamilton (60), Kronfeld for Back (69), Balding for Corry (71). Not Used: Chuter, Nebbett, Ellis, Goode
LEINSTER:Dempsey, D. Hickie, O'Driscoll, Horgan, Darcy, Spooner, Willis, Corrigan, S. Byrne, Wallace, Cullen, Casey, Miller, Gleeson, Costello. Replacements: Magro for Horgan (50), Keogh for Darcy (71), G. Hickie for S. Byrne (80), Coyle for Wallace (73), McCullen for Cullen (50), Brennan for Miller (80). Not Used: Governey
Referee:Joel Jutge (France)