Round-up: Toby Flood's response to Cardiff wins Richard Cockerill praise

The Leicester director of rugby, Richard Cockerill, was delighted with his returning players in his side’s 12-9 victory at Exeter on Saturday.

Toby Flood was one of six England players who started for the Tigers, and kicked all their points. “When you have a poor experience with the national side you want to come back to your club and get straight back into it,” Cockerill said.

Lyn Jones, the London Welsh coach, urged his players to “keep believing” after their 15-14 defeat at Gloucester. The basement club await the result of an appeal against a five-point deduction for fielding an ineligible player, but Jones said: “We just try to keep our focus on what we can influence”.

In contrast, London Irish were able to push away from relegation danger with a 26-6 victory over Worcester, which led director of rugby Brian Smith to claim: “There’s no reason why we can’t finish as high as eighth.”