Seven-try Leinster eye European Cup last eight

Defending champions Leinster ran in seven tries in a 52-27 demolition of Bath in Dublin on Saturday to go six points clear at the top of Pool Three and move closer to a European Cup quarter-final spot. A week after beating the English side 18-13 in Bath, the Irishmen ran rampant, making sure of a bonus point after Rob Kearney, Luke Fitzgerald (2) and Jonathan Sexton had all scored tries. Scrum-half Eoin Reddan, Rhys Ruddock and Ian Madigan piled on the agony for the visitors, while Bath battled to score three second-half tries through Stephen Donald, Dave Atwood and Ben Williams. In the group's other match, second-placed Glasgow drew 13-13 at Montpellier, with Rory Lamont, back in Scottish rugby after a spell with Toulon, scoring his team's only try. "We are obviously delighted to get the five points and with the tries and also some of the running lines," said Leinster coach Joe Schmidt after Bath suffered their heaviest ever defeat in the history of the tournament. Leicester relaunched their bid for a place in the quarter-finals with a gritty 23-19 win over French heavyweights Clermont. Leicester, the 2001 and 2002 champions, suffered their first defeat in Pool Four last week when they succumbed 30-12 in Auvergne. However, a solid second-half defensive performance, combined with the boot of England fly-half Toby Flood, kept the Tigers on course for an 11th quarter-final appearance in 15 years of European Cup competition. Leicester coach Richard Cockerill targetted victories in their remaining two matches -- in Ulster and at home to Aironi -- when the tournament resumes in the new year. They are currently two points behind Ulster and one above Clermont. "To qualify from these pools, you need to win five of your six games," said the former England hooker. "So we know exactly what we need to do, which is beat Ulster in Belfast and Aironi at home." After David Skrela and Morgan Parra had put Clermont 6-0 up inside 14 minutes thanks to two drop-goals, Leicester hit back two minutes later when England centre Manu Tuilagi broke through unopposed to touch down, with Flood converting. The prospect of an early exit from the competition loomed for the Tigers as Clermont dominated the rest of the half, with a Parra penalty, a superb try by ex-New Zealand wing Sitiveni Sivivatu and a Parra conversion giving the visitors a 16-7 half-time lead. Leicester came out flying after the interval, however, a Flood penalty being followed in the 47th minute by a Julian Salvi try, which the England man converted. Clermont struggled to find the same pace and punch they had enjoyed in the first half and found their scoring chances restricted to Parra, who hit a penalty between the posts in the 55th minute for their only points of the half. Leicester finally made a decisive break with 19 minutes remaining when another Flood penalty gave the hosts a 20-19 lead. With seven minutes on the clock, Flood put the chances of a Clermont upset further beyond reach when he sent his third penalty through the posts. Australian fly-half Brock James came close to helping launch a late fightback but his long-range penalty sailed just wide of the post in the 75th minute. After narrowly avoiding suffering a first European Cup defeat at home for five years, Leicester are now in a three-horse race for top spot, which gives automatic entry to the quarter-finals. Ulster stayed top of the group after a six-try 46-20 rout of Aironi, a bonus point win that kept them two points ahead of Leicester. Andrew Trimble, Tom Court, Craig Gilroy and replacements Robbie Diack and Adam Macklin were all on the mark for the visitors, while a first-half penalty try added to Italian misery.