Leicester's Flood did his England chances no harm with a fine game at fly-half
Leicester strengthened their grip at the top of the Guinness Premiership with a classy win against battling Gloucester at Welford Road.
In-form Australian Lote Tuqiri and the returning Geordan Murphy crossed either side of the break for the hosts.
England under-20 centre Jonny May grabbed a try to bring Gloucester back into the match on the hour mark.
But the reliable boot of Toby Flood and a late try from scrum-half Ben Youngs allowed Leicester to cruise to victory.
England team manager Martin Johnson will be relieved fly-half Flood came through the clash without injury, as did lock Louis Deacon.
Indeed Flood was given an easy ride as Leicester's pack dominated their opponents throughout the afternoon.
It was a sixth successive Premiership victory for the Tigers.
However, it took the hosts over half an hour for their first score, with Flood providing a neat inside pass to Tuqiri.
The victory route seemed to have disappeared for Gloucester when they went 23-6 down within three minutes of the re-start, as Murphy crossed and Flood converted.
Centre May, who was a late replacement for the in-form Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, stepped inside the home defence to hand Gloucester a lifeline.
But the boot of Flood kept their rivals well at bay, with Youngs' touchdown in the dying minutes adding the gloss for Richard Cockerill's in-form side.
Leicester head coach Richard Cockerill: "I think we played a little too much in our own half in the first period. We tried to play and put ourselves under pressure.
"Overall, I'm very pleased. The boys did some good things and it's a good result.
"Our tries were well taken although we will have to have a look at some of the penalties we gave away."
Gloucester assistant coach Denis Betts:
"The beast got us, the Leicester beast. They are top of the league and played very well.
"We came here with confidence. We have been working exceptionally hard recently to get the results and get us back into some form.
"Then you come to this place, you come with hope and with ambition but you have to perform and today they outperformed us."
Leicester: G. Murphy, Hamilton, Hipkiss, Allen, Tuqiri, Flood, B. Youngs, Ayerza, Davies, Castrogiovanni, L. Deacon, Parling, Newby, Woods, Crane. Reps: Stankovich for Castrogiovanni (71), B. Deacon for Newby (62), Staunton for Hipkiss (30), Tuilagi for Hamilton (71). Not used: Chuter, R. Harris, Green, Grindal.
Gloucester: Morgan, Voyce, May, Molenaar, Vainikolo, Robinson, R. Lawson, Wood, Azam, Somerville, Attwood, Brown, Narraway, Qera, Delve. Reps: S. Lawson for Azam (48), Dickinson for Wood (57), Capdevielle for Somerville (63), Eustace for Narraway (68), Hazell for Qera (57), A. Williams for Lawson (70), Taylor for Molenaar (72), Sharples for Voyce (60).
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