Tigers are Goode for further French tilt

A scrambled home victory over Toulouse will prove to be nothing more than a brief stay of execution should the English champions fail the supreme test of their collective resistance in Sunday's re-match between the most successful clubs in Heineken Cup history. For Corry, an old hand in defusing high pressure occasions, it will be like the World Cup revisited.

Making a dash: Ollie Smith goes in for the only try

One of the few constants throughout his country's incredible campaign, he at least has the advantage of not being short of practice. His team's losing start against Leinster in Dublin last month leaves them needing to dredge up every ounce of their formidable defiance if they are to fight their way out of the tightest of corners.

The Tigers have won all over France in their time, at Perpignan, Beziers, Clermont-Ferrand, Bourgoin, Pau and Toulouse, albeit 10 seasons ago during Martin Johnson's first year as captain, but not before the French giants had beaten them at Welford Road.

Corry's team, spared the same misery by Welsh referee Nigel Owens blowing for the forward pass which cost Vincent Clerc a late try behind the posts, cut it too fine for comfort.

"We rode our luck at times in terms of living off their mistakes," Corry said with typical candour. "We are a mentally-tough squad and that will be the most vital ingredient of all going to Toulouse. Time after time, this squad has answered those calls. Now we've got to do it again.

"It will be a fast track and a completely different atmosphere. We have to find ways of stopping them playing, or preventing them getting their offload game going. We didn't play our best rugby — we know we have more to give."

They got away with this one because of the one mistake which made all the difference. Clement Poitrenaud, whose breathtaking brilliance tends to be undone by accidental use of the self-destruct button, pushed it hard enough in the 12th minute for Ollie Smith to turn the gift of a loose ball into the game's only try.

Leicester's sheer pride and Andy Goode's kicking, his monstrous touch-finders as much as his three penalties, pulled them through. The weather did its dirty best to help them get there. And yet, Toulouse stayed true to their tradition, refusing to abandon the dexterity of their high-speed handling — which would have brought them a try within 45 seconds had Yannick Nyanga not passed inside with Cedric Heymans unmarked on the outside.

Hindsight told them they ought to have taken a more pragmatic attitude. 'Leicester played smarter than we did in the conditions,' Byron Kelleher, Toulouse's All Black scrum half, said of a match during which his compatriot, Aaron Mauger, touched the ball twice in Leicester's midfield.

"We didn't adapt to play wetweather rugby. C'est la vie. Corry is a real inspiration to them so we'll be praying for a dry day on Sunday."

The duel can only be judged on the aggregate score. Should Toulouse win by six points or more, they will also most certainly top the pool by capitalising on the losing bonus points wrung out of Welford Road. Leicester, who have not built their monumental achievements on self-delusion, realise they have no margin for further error.

"We have to win all our remaining games to get out of this pool," said coach Richard Cockerill. "Finishing second is not going to be good enough to qualify for the last eight. They're a world-class team but we also class ourselves as one of the big teams in Europe and we should have been a bit better. We looked very lackadaisical at times in the first half. And the weather was a factor because they looked dangerous.

You let them counter-attack, you give them opportunities with poor kicking and they will cause real problems.

"Even right at the end we were hanging on so we've got a lot to think about. Their disallowed try near the end was a marginal decision point, I've seen them given and we rode our luck a bit.

"It was a good win but the boys were quiet in the dressing room. They feel they didn't play as they should have. We need to get some other bodies back on the field."

Two of their World Cup absentees, Lewis Moody and Geordan Murphy, are expected to return from injury.

Corry and his troops will need everything they have if Toulouse is to become the Tigers' biggest conquest on a French battle ground since the 2001 final against Stade Francais in Paris.