FLOOD TARGETS OSPREYS' HOOK
England fly-half Toby Flood is relishing the chance to go head-to-head with Wales No10 James Hook when Leicester Tigers take on Ospreys on Saturday in the decisive match in Pool Three of the Heineken Cup.
On Saturday Flood inspired the Tigers to a 52-0 mauling of Italian side Benetton Treviso while Hook’s team fell 17-15 to Perpignan in the south of France.
The defeat leaves the Welsh club four points behind the Tigers, who won the European Cup in 2001 and 2002.
If the Ospreys are victorious against Leicester they could book their place in the last eight of the competition – and Flood is determined to not let that happen.
“We know what a tough test it will be – they have pretty much a full international side,” said the 23-year-old. “It is massive for us.
“After the Treviso game we were listening to the Ospreys game and we were thinking ‘happy days’ when Perpignan were 17-0 up. Then the Ospreys did really well to come back 17-15 and get the losing bonus point.
“We need to go there and do the same thing, but of course we are going there for the win. With the quality that they have got it will be good preparation for the Six Nations.
“It’s going to be difficult, a big challenge mentally for us – it is a tough place to go to. It is fantastic that it comes down to one-off games. We need to deal with the noise and the ferocity which will almost be like a Test match.”
Flood reasons that Hook, 23, will be the man Leicester have to stop. He added: “He is a fantastic player, I have to admit.
“He has everything you want from a 10/12 – like me he has played a lot at 12 as well. He is a good distributor, has a great step, a good fend and he is a good defender, too.
“He is the type of player that you realise is great on and off the ball. So it will be difficult. You never want to talk someone up when you are playing them next, but you have to give credit where it is due and he is a world-class player.”
England fly-half Toby Flood is relishing the chance to go head-to-head with Wales No10 James Hook when Leicester Tigers take on Ospreys on Saturday in the decisive match in Pool Three of the Heineken Cup.
On Saturday Flood inspired the Tigers to a 52-0 mauling of Italian side Benetton Treviso while Hook’s team fell 17-15 to Perpignan in the south of France.
The defeat leaves the Welsh club four points behind the Tigers, who won the European Cup in 2001 and 2002.
If the Ospreys are victorious against Leicester they could book their place in the last eight of the competition – and Flood is determined to not let that happen.
“We know what a tough test it will be – they have pretty much a full international side,” said the 23-year-old. “It is massive for us.
“After the Treviso game we were listening to the Ospreys game and we were thinking ‘happy days’ when Perpignan were 17-0 up. Then the Ospreys did really well to come back 17-15 and get the losing bonus point.
“We need to go there and do the same thing, but of course we are going there for the win. With the quality that they have got it will be good preparation for the Six Nations.
“It’s going to be difficult, a big challenge mentally for us – it is a tough place to go to. It is fantastic that it comes down to one-off games. We need to deal with the noise and the ferocity which will almost be like a Test match.”
Flood reasons that Hook, 23, will be the man Leicester have to stop. He added: “He is a fantastic player, I have to admit.
“He has everything you want from a 10/12 – like me he has played a lot at 12 as well. He is a good distributor, has a great step, a good fend and he is a good defender, too.
“He is the type of player that you realise is great on and off the ball. So it will be difficult. You never want to talk someone up when you are playing them next, but you have to give credit where it is due and he is a world-class player.”
Labels: Heineken Cup, James Hook, Leicester Tigers, Ospreys, Toby Flood
