Toby Flood keeps his England colours flying as resurgent Tigers target a home Premiership semi-final His first try, in the 15th minute, did have a dollop of good fortune, following Anthony Allen charging down Ryan Lamb's kick, but his second, four minutes into the second half, was a classic break by a fly-half through a defence shattered by an intense period of pressure. On that evidence Flood would give England far more of an attacking edge than the Saracens duo of Owen Farrell and Charlie Hodgson who limited him to only one appearance as a substitute, against Wales, in the Six Nations. Who wins the fly-half spot for England's tour of South Africa is a debate that will rage for the next two months, though Flood refuses to be critical of the decisions made by head coach Stuart Lancaster and is disappointed that Andy Farrell has rejected a full-time appointment. A twisted knee ruled out Flood from England's first two games and by then Farrell junior had grabbed the jersey off Hodgson. It meant Flood had to be content in helping Leicester back to form. Injuries happen and it put me on the back burner for the Six Nations. But the good thing was that I had spoken to Stuart and knew where I was. I just had to crack on with playing for Leicester. Leicester certainly cracked into Northampton after Lamb had rewarded a bright home start by kicking two penalties in the first 12 minutes. From then on, the Tigers assumed command, taking advantage of their rivals" loss of four England forwards in the injured Tom Wood and Courtney Lawes plus the suspended Dylan Hartley and Calum Clark. Jim Mallinder, Northampton's director of rugby, hopes Wood (foot) and Lawes (shin) may yet be fit to play some part in the final month of the season, though he was unable to say whether they would ready to face fourth-placed Exeter next Sunday in a clash which could decide a play-off place. Northampton are now fifth, two points behind Exeter. Mallinder, despite a defeat which must have left him shaken, remained his measured self. "Next week is a massive game for us and we are going to have to dust ourselves down and get ourselves back on track," he said. In contrast, his Leicester counterpart, Richard Cockerill, and his assistant, Matt O'Connor, remain the Premiership's most talkative couple. A running commentary on referee Dave Pearson's decisions thoroughly irritated Northampton supporters, ending in one of them putting an arm on the shoulders of the former England hooker in an attempt to reduce his comments. Leicester's dominance had defused the situation by midway into the second half. By then they led 32-9 following Horacio Agulla finishing off another sustained spell of pressure for his team's fourth try. It capped a memorable afternoon for the Argentinian had made a first-half touchdown for Alesana Tuilagi through a neat chip and catch followed by a quick pass to the Samoan. To the credit of Northampton they did respond to placate their unsettled fans in a full house of 13,475. Tries by Lee Dickson and Chris Ashton, who had not scored since the teams met in December, gave Mallinder and his Saints hope for next week at Exeter.