Howard: 'Ospreys win helped'

Apr 22 2007 Bram Humphries, Wales on Sunday

LEICESTER admitted the Ospreys knocked them into shape to seal an all-England Heineken Cup final at Twickenham.

The Tigers roared into their record fourth European Cup showpiece where they face the winners of today's second semi-final between London Wasps and Northampton.

Tries from Andy Goode, Shane Jennings and Louis Deacon sank the Scarlets at the Walkers Stadium yesterday - just six days after claiming the EDF Energy Cup.

And Leicester coach Pat Howard reckons the Ospreys' stunning fight-back at Twickenham last week taught them a valuable lesson for the Anglo-Welsh clash.

"We're obviously delighted with the win and I was particularly pleased with our defence," said Howard.

"We knew Llanelli are a good side and they asked a lot of questions of us, but our defence stood up and held firm.

"We put a lot of emphasis on that after conceding four tries against the Ospreys last week. "That was unusual for us, but we spent time on it during the week and it worked."

Guinness Premiership leaders Leicester remain on course for an unprecedented treble this season, having already bagged one trophy and they now have another final to come. Skipper Martin Corry gave a man-of-the-match display as they also eyed equalling Toulouse' record three European titles with an efficient display against Llanelli.

"This game was not about the performance, it was about the result, and the main feeling at the end was relief more than anything else," said Corry (pictured celebrating with Andy Goode). "There were a lot of mistakes from both sides but we probably made the fewer and when there were opportunities to score points we invariably did.

"We were disappointed to let Llanelli back in it with a soft try after leading 10-3, but we maintained our composure and got the crucial scores. I'm proud of our players but the job is not done yet."