Toby Flood insists wounds have healed after mauling in Dublin

Published on Friday 8 April 2011 20:25

Toby Flood has denied the Aviva Stadium holds any fears for him or his England team-mates at Leicester as they prepare for their Heineken Cup quarter-final against Leinster tonight.

England's Grand Slam bid came crashing down at the Dublin venue last month when they were beaten 24-8 after wilting under the pressure of an all-action Ireland display.

Flood and his Tigers half-back partner Ben Youngs were notably subdued as the space and time they had been afforded in earlier matches was denied to them.

While the 25-year-old former Newcastle fly-half admitted the 19 March mauling had initially knocked him out of his stride, he believes the lessons learned from that match will stand him in good stead ahead of another crunch encounter in the Irish capital.

"You have a huge amount of disappointment and you ask questions about yourself in terms of what you are doing," he said. "We had been playing some nice stuff and I just think we let ourselves down in that game.

"It was our first taste of that for a long time and we let ourselves down, myself included. But you have to deal with it - you have to move on. There's not been a question of me lying awake at night questioning what I'm about, though. If anything, it's made me determined to be better. It's nice to go back. Sometimes it's good to get back and get involved."

Flood is expecting another physical encounter in what is a rematch of the 2009 final when Leinster won 19-16, and has called on his side to withstand the early challenge.

"Leinster are very similar (to Ireland], having seen the videos this week of how they play," he added. "They have got the same sort of defensive strategy of how they hold you up in the tackle and try to win the collisions. We have to be ready for that physical challenge because it is going to be pretty hectic in the first 25 minutes. We want to make this game really tight and try and win a one-score game. That is our ambition.

"We want to keep it really tight and really try and turn the pressure on in the last ten minutes."

Flood is under no illusions how difficult that task will be, however, against a Leinster side that has lost just one of their past 16 Heineken Cup matches in Dublin. The Magners League side boast a wealth of talent in their backs, with the likes of Irish stars Brian O'Driscoll, Johnny Sexton and Gordon D'Arcy and, as a result, Flood believes his side will have to be at the very peak of their powers.

"I think you have to be in your top five per cent in terms of the way you are doing things, it can't be below that," he added. "It's about the intensity you bring. Collision-wise, you have to win those battles.

"The big thing is also to make the breakdown difficult for them, slow the ball down and make it a real dogfight around there because they thrive on (quick ball].

"The way they've been playing when the guys get going, like Sexton, D'Arcy and O'Driscoll, then they look fantastic going forward."

In today's other quarter-final, Perpignan play host to Toulouse.

Tomorrow, Biarritz will be without France international centre Damien Traille for their match against Toulouse in San Sebastian. Traille, who has won 81 caps, misses out because of a bruised heel and is replaced by Charles Gimenez.

The quartet of cup ties is completed by Northampton v Ulster, which is being played at Milton Keynes rather than at Franklin's Gardens.

Under-18s make eight changes

SCOTLAND'S under-18 squad travel to Swansea RFC to take on their Welsh counterparts tomorrow (kick-off 2pm) in a stand-alone international prior to participation in the FIRA/AER Tier 1 competition in France. The side, captained by Chris Auld, sees eight changes to the team who lost to Ireland last week. Robby Wilson and Johnny Matthews start at prop and hooker respectively; Adam Sinclair comes in at lock with Stuart Graham at flanker. Scott Steele is at scrum-half, with Tommy Allan at stand-off, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne moves from the No10 spot to full back and Matthew Lamb is on the left wing.

Scotland Under 18s: S Hidalgo Clyne (Merchiston); J Farndale (Edinburgh Acad), R Fergusson (Ayr), C Auld (Dumfries/Austin Friars capt), M Lamb (Stirling County); T Allan (Wasps/RGS High Wycombe), S Steele (Dumfries/Merchiston); R Wilson (Boroughmuir/Dunbar GS), J Matthews (Leeds/Prince Henry's Otley); Colin Hutton (Stirling County), C Templeton (Dumfries), A Sinclair (Stirling County/Loretto), S Graham (Hawick PSA), W Bordill Sale/Sandbach), A Ashe (Stirling County). Substitutes: R Anderson (Langholm), C Maguire (Berwick), J Bhatti (Stirling County), A Barnett (GHA/Mearns Castle), A Henderson (Strathallan), C Venus (Leicester/Leicester College), A Glashan (Edinburgh Acad), D Kennedy (Congleton), R Hughes (GHA/Glasgow MET College), K Buchan (Strathallan), J Welsh (Selkirk).