Loffreda leads Tigers to victory

Back in November 2006, it was Loffreda's Argentina who pushed then England head coach Robinson towards another exit by securing their first ever victory at Twickenham, a seventh successive defeat eventually leaving the World Cup-winning coach just another fortnight in the job.

This time Loffreda, in full charge of Leicester for the first time, enjoyed another victory, and a crucial bonus point courtesy of their four tries. A second defeat to follow last weekend's at Leinster would have virtually ruined the chances of last season's runners-up making it beyond the group stages.

Instead, this is now the likely fate of Robinson's Edinburgh, who should have beaten Toulouse at home in their first game, but will need to win their remaining four group games, including daunting trips to Toulouse and Leinster, to stand any chance of reaching the quarter-finals.

If the enforced lay-off was supposed to have relaxed England's former coach, there was little evidence of it yesterday afternoon.

As Leicester increased their lead, so Robinson's patience dwindled until,by the end, his voice could be heard piercing the chill November wind, while his hand slammed constantly down on the desktop designed for the media but afterwards, grinning ruefully, he conceded it was just good to be back.

"I loved it, even if I'm not happy with the result," said Robinson. "The truth is we were completely bullied by a Leicester team who showed how great teams respond to a defeat.

"We knew there'd be a backlash and we'll have to be prepared for some pain over the next few months as we make our journey. Coming to Leicester is always tough, and I'm more disappointed about missing out on beating Toulouse last week."

When it was pointed out to Loffreda that Robinson must be sick of playing his teams, the former Pumas coach laughed. "No, no," he pleaded, in broken English. "I have a huge amount of respect for Andy as a coach. But I'm very happy with the team.We wanted a bonus point, and we know we have to win every game now in the Heineken Cup after losing last week. It was a good start."

Indeed it was, although it is still not going to be easy for Leicester. Last year they lost their first group game — at home to Munster — but went on to win their next five on their way to losing the final to Wasps.

They will need to do exactly the same again this time after the setback in Dublin last Saturday, but at least they have started in the right manner, putting the Scots to the sword so early that by half-time the game,as a meaningful contest,was already over.

Along the way some landmarks were reached. Captain Martin Corry made his 250th appearance for the Tigers, Andy Goode passed Tim Stimpson's club points record in the Heineken Cup of 359 points, and Geordan Murphy equalled Leon Lloyd's club record of 19 tries scored in the competition.

It took only five minutes for Leicester to be on their way. David Blair, the Edinburgh stand-off, saw his attempted clearance charged down by Goode, who then had the simple task of falling on the ball to score, then convert his own try from under the posts.

A subsequent Goode penalty followed three minutes later, then Leicester's second try on the quarter-hour mark when Frank Murphy fed Goode and his long pass put Tom Varndell away in the corner.

Goode converted, added a further penalty two minutes from the break and then provided the final pass to Geordan Murphy in the fourth minute of injury time for the Irish international to score Leicester's third try.

At 27-0, that was more or less that, but Leicester had two final goals.

The first was to clinch the bonus point for the fourth, which they did in the 46th minute when referee Romain Poite awarded a penalty try.

Corry sealed a captain's performance by barging over to add some gloss to the score.

The second was to not concede a point,which they achieved with consummate ease.

LEICESTER: G Murphy; Varndell, Smith (J Murphy 62min), Hipkiss, Tuilagi; Goode, F Murphy (B. Youngs 66); Ayerza, Kayser (Davies 73), Castrogiovanni (White 45), L Deacon (Hamilton 58), Wentzel, Corry, Moody (Abraham 73), Crane.

EDINBURGH: Southwell; Turnbull, Cairns, De Luca, Houston; D Blair (Godman 41), M Blair (Meyer 69); Jacobsen, Ford (Kelly 46), Kerr (Smith 46), Hamilton, Gissing, Cross (Rennie 46), Hogg, Callam. Sin Bin: Hamilton (50min), Jacobsen (53).

Referee: R Poite (France).