Leicester fly-half Toby Flood says lessons have been learnt from England's defeat in Dublin ahead of Leinster test

Leicester fly-half Toby Flood says lessons have been learnt from England's defeat in Dublin ahead of Leinster test

Leicester fly-half Toby Flood has declared that England’s 24-8 flop against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium has not caused him to doubt his own ability but warned his Tigers team-mates to expect a similar onslaught when they face Leinster at the same venue in Saturday’s heineken cup quarter-final.

Flood warning: Leicester fly-half Toby Flood says lessons have been learnt from England's defeat in Dublin ahead of Leinster test Photo: GETTY IMAGES

By Mick Cleary 6:54PM BST 05 Apr 2011

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Flood was one of five Leicester players to suffer in England colours that day, his own partnership with scrum-half Ben Youngs proving particularly fallible. Lessons have been learnt.

“Yes, they have, although it hasn’t led to me lying awake at night questioning myself as to what I’m about,” said Flood. ”Of course, it was a huge disappointment and questions arose around myself in terms of what I’m doing. But you have to accept it and move on.

"Everyone told us that Ireland would come out firing and tear us to bits. That’s exactly what happened. And it’s going to be like that this weekend. It’s good knowledge to have, a sense of the ferocity of it all, the aggression.

"Leinster [who provide more than half the national side] are similar to Ireland. They want to hold you up in the tackle, win that collision. We’ve got to be ready for that physical challenge.”

Flood acknowledged that he may well need to adopt a more conservative approach if Leinster create as much mayhem as Ireland managed to do. One of the criticisms levelled at the England half-backs was that they didn’t adapt to what was happening around them.

“That match did teach us that it’s important to try to rein a game back in, maybe to try and calm things down for 20 minutes or so,” said Flood. “Our aim with Leicester is to keep it a one-score game and then turn on the pressure in the last 15 minutes.”

Flood has no concerns about his half-back partner being able to cope with a return to the scene of what was his poorest game in an England shirt. Youngs’s frustrations spilled over just before half-time when he was sin-binned for throwing the ball into the crowd. That was the end of his involvement, Martin Johnson replacing him with Danny Care.

“Ben is incredibly strong-minded,” said Flood. ”Either that or he’s not got a clue about what’s going on. No, his instincts are so strong. He just lights up the park.”

As can the Leinster back line. England never did get to grips with the self-same players who will line up opposite Flood, Leinster supplying both half-backs and centres. Leinster fly-half Jonathan Sexton was man of the match against England.

“He links so well with the group around him,” conceded Flood. “He loops, runs dummy lines, throws shapes and his outside backs are fantastic. He’s got a good all-round game if you let him drive the game. He can be a huge influence. So you’ve got to close down his time and space, cut him off at source.”

So much rests of the Leicester pack performing. Director of rugby Richard Cockerill revealed that there will be no appeal against the two-week ban handed out on Monday to Marcus Ayerza for headbutting Harlequins' Joe Marler in last weekend’s Premiership match.

“We’ve got no grumbles on that account,” said Cockerill, who feels that the recent experiences of his England players will only serve to help them. “It’s only human nature to want to go back and prove that you can do a job, to show that there’s no reason why you should get caught cold again by the physicality, by the atmosphere or by the stadium.”

It’s almost a decade since Cockerill was part of a Leicester squad that won back-to-back Heineken Cup titles. More recently they lost the 2009 final, 19-16, to Leinster. The restrictions of the salary cap (£4.2 million) on English sides lead Cockerill to believe that it would be a notable moment if Leicester were able to go all the way.

“Yes, given the difference in squad sizes, then it would be some achievement,” said Cockerill, who added one important rider. ”But you can only put 15 on the field at any one time. And our 15 blokes, if they get it right, are as good as any.”

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