Leicester take their time to beat Aironi while Clermont knock them out

No more Europe for Leicester this season. We knew that was going to be the case, even before the Welford Road 20,000 braved the bitter cold in the hope of enjoying a heron-shoot. Ulster would have had to have beaten Clermont by more than seven for Leicester just to have stood a chance of gaining a best-runners-up spot in the Heineken Cup quarter-finals. Even then they would have needed Munster, London Irish or Racing to have done them a favour, or for Biarritz and Ospreys to contrive to draw. Too much in anyone's book, and rather depressing if you're a Leicester fan, or even just an England one.

Meanwhile, at Welford Road, Leicester finally fulfilled their side of the bargain by winning with a bonus point, but they took their time and were far from exhilarating. A 33-6 win may sound all right, but you would expect more when the Tigers are welcoming into their lair the Herons (which is what Aironi would call themselves if they were English). In the context of the 82-0 shellacking the long-legged birds took on their own pond last weekend, 33-6 suddenly comes across as a bit weak. Certainly, the 9-6 half-time lead seems undercooked, not to mention the 0-3 and 3-6 scorelines by which Leicester trailed for parts of the first half.

Billy Twelvetrees is the centre of attention at Leicester just now, and not all of it for good reasons. Twelvetrees let it be known last week that he is off to Gloucester next season, where he has been guaranteed lengthy game-time in his favourite position of inside-centre, not to mention a healthy pay rise. Richard Cockerill, his current head coach, had some choice words on the matter earlier in the week but adopted a more philosophical approach after the game. "On Monday, Billy told me he wanted to stay; on Wednesday his agent told me he was signing for Gloucester. We'll survive without him. This club's been around for 135 years; Billy's been around for the last three."

Nevertheless, Twelvetrees was entrusted with goal-kicking duties. As such, the poor fellow was booed on the three occasions he took a shot in the first half, but that was because Leicester's earlier policy had been to kick each of their penalties to the corner in search of extra heron blood. None had been forthcoming. Indeed, the Italian side led twice, courtesy of two long-range penalties by Naas Olivier, the second from his own half on the angle.

Having been shamed into taking their kicks at goal, Leicester finally took the lead only with the last kick of the first half, Twelvetrees's third successful penalty. Thereafter, something like normal service was resumed. Tom Croft enjoyed an athletic afternoon (some cheer for England there), and his break paved the way for Thomas Waldrom to score the Tigers' first try, two minutes into the second half. Ben Woods followed him over for the second a few minutes later, and Geordan Murphy ghosted through for the third just shy of the hour.

Further cheer for England came in the shape of young George Ford's elegant show and go for the bonus-point try in the last 10 minutes. But that is cheer for another day. Leicester's immediate future is Europe-less, and the atmosphere is as heavy as their pitch and the physio's creaking couch.