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Howard happy with Tigers efforts

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Clinical finishing and sound defence were at the root of a 40-21 victory for Leicester Tigers over Worcester Warriors at Welford Road. Tigers ran in six tries through Jordan Crane, Brett Deacon, Tom Varndell, Martin Castrogiovanni, Dan Hipkiss and Shane Jennings, together with two penalties and two conversions from Paul Burke.

Head coach Pat Howard was delighted to pick up the bonus-point victory despite the absence of six England internationals and Irishman Geordan Murphy.

"We keep talking about the depth of ability at this club and this is the time to prove it," said Howard.

"I thought we were very clinical in the first half and defensively we were very, very good. There was the 40-60 minutes period when we lost a bit of momentum but we are going to dwell on the positives in the game. We scored some lovely tries.

"Worcester are having a tough time this season but testament to them was the way they did not give up the game at 30 points down.

"For us, I thought Leo Cullen really stepped into the captaincy role and dealt with it very well, and the guys who came in did well. Some of the players in there have not been playing regularly but we know they are good players. What we are looking for is how they perform as individuals and how they gel as a team."

While Crane and Castrogiovanni celebrated their first Guinness Premiership scores, the most eye-catching try came from Varndell.

"I was pleased for him to get the try like that," said Howard. "When you have a reputation for scoring on outside breaks, it is good for him to score one coming into the attack on the inside and finishing well."

Varndell left the action at half-time, but Howard confirmed it was more of a precautionary measure than anything serious.

"It is the same knee injury he picked up while he was at Bedford, but it was a precautionary thing. If the game had been tighter at that stage we may have left him on a bit longer," he added.