Warriors looked to respond and a brilliantly taken try from Marcel Garvey saw the lead cut back to seven points.

But a try from visiting skipper Louis Deacon extinguished any comeback hopes before Horacio Agulla scored in the last minute to secure the try bonus point for Leicester.

Head Coach Richard Hill made changes as Matt Mullan and skipper Chris Pennell returned while Ravai Fatiaki was named among the replacements.

Tigers got the game underway to a huge ovation and Pennell was immediately involved as he collected a high up and under from Shaun Perry as he tussled with Scott Hamilton for the high kick.

The visitors went into early phase play across the field before breaking away to score after four minutes as Flood threw a delightful dummy to open up space and wing Smith popped up on his left shoulder burst clear to beat Perry and slide over.

Pennell showed invention to chip ahead and feed Benjamin before Tevita Taumoepeau arrived on the overlap, after Chris Jones flipped a pass out of the tackle, but the big prop failed to find Marcel Garvey in support.

A penalty this time against Joe Carlisle for not rolling away, after he initially did well to wrap up his man, saw Flood extend the lead to ten points after just seven minutes as Leicester made a lightning start to the festive fixture.

Tigers were working hard on the floor in the opening quarter to turnover ball repeatedly as Warriors were guilty of holding on as they looked to protect possession.

The home side secured a penalty of their own when Leicester this time infringed at the breakdown. Carlisle opted to kick for possession before tempers flared when Ben Youngs repeatedly refused to roll away and referee JP Doyle reversed the penalty against Worcester.

Leicester looked to showcase their forward power with a driving lineout, but Tom Croft spilled a pass from Flood and handed ball back to the hosts.

Alex Grove droved Smith back ten metres with a huge hit before Perry collected a high hanging kick and spun away under pressure from the marauding Manu Tuilagi who rattled into contact.

A scrum against the head saw Leicester launch an attack from deep again with Horacio Agulla making big yards before the ball was spun back in field and Flood spotted a gap to power over and add the conversion for a 17-0 lead.

Tigers were controlling the game with the forwards winning a penalty as they shunted Warriors back, allowing Flood to again kick to the corner only for Leicester to infringe at the lineout.

Taumoepeau and Mullan injected some power of their own as they rumbled past men down the middle of the field, but as Warriors looked wide the final pass from Grove to Benjamin just failed to find hands and the chance was gone.

Worcester sprung an attack as Carlisle twice fired passes to Chris Jones and Dale Rasmussen before Grove cut back in field and Warriors claimed a penalty for offside. Carlisle slotted the kick to register the first home points of the afternoon.

Leicester looked to work it down the short side from a driving lineout, but a combination of Garvey and Ed Shervington put the Tigers into touch. George Chuter then looked like he was away but knocked on as he was tackled by Garvey down the left wing.

Mullan secured a penalty at the scrum off Dan Cole as the England man crashed to the floor under pressure from the Sixways man.

Abbott produced a sublime run to make 30 metres from deep as he picked off a stray Leicester lineout and ran away from Tuilagi. The resulting backs move, though, broke down before it started.

Tigers mounted one final attack before the break and a yellow card to Chris Jones, for an offence at the lineout, saw Flood line up and convert a penaly for a 20-3 lead at the break.

Worcester, still a man down, came out firing in the second half and an early penalty from Carlisle struck the right upright and was carried over by Tigers.

The resulting five-metre scrum saw the home pack power up close before Rasmussen and Grove battled up to the line before a knock on denied the hosts to groans around Sixways.

Carlisle was given another kickable penalty for Leicester when they strayed offside and this time he made no mistake as he drilled the ball over.

The game was swinging end to end as Benjamin and Pennell looked to lead a breakout down he left before back came Tigers from a quick lineout as Grove produced a brilliant tap tackle to stop Billy Twelvetrees.

Abbott latched onto a brilliant pass from Rasmsusen before another super offload fed the returning Jones into contact. Worcester rattled down the right and Pennell flicked to Garvey who dotted down as referee Doyle went to the TMO before awarding the try that Carlisle converted.

Tigers took the restart and Hamilton took the ball clean off the kick-off before quick hands released Tom Croft who galloped down the left and went for the corner but knocked on as he looked to ground the ball.

Leicester, though, were not finished and a series of pick and goes from the forwards saw them slowly edge up close before Louis Deacon crashed over for a third Leicester score.

The visitors now sensed a try bonus point and a penalty for not releasing allowed Flood to kick for the corner.

Hill made a trio of changes to try and instill new confidence with Goode on to face his old club and Fatiaki in for his senior debut.

Worcester bravely kept going forward and barging into some huge hits looking for a way through before they won a scrum just inside the Leicester half. Arr then showed good game management to pin Tigers back with a spitting low kick in behind.

Tuilagi broke clear in midfield and fed Waldrom on his shoulder. Twelvetrees then popped up and looked to fire a pass wide only to float his effort forward and to the turf.

The pressure was building from Tigers as crossing held them up just short of the line before Flood again kicked for territory with less than five minutes remaining and possession now firmly in the favour of the visitors.

Oliver Tomaszczyk was yellow carded for an off the ball infringement but it was Warriors who looked to finish the stronger as they won a penalty for holding on.

Goode smashed a kick long but the ball was lost on the floor and Leicester broke from deep to work the ball right and feed Agulla who showed great skill to chip ahead and then collect his own kick to touch down for the try bonus.

Timeline:

04m Smith t Flood c 0-7

07m Flood p 0-10

22m Flood t Flood c 0-17

30m Carlisle p 3-17

40m Flood p 3-20

46m Carlisle p 6-20

51m Garvey t Carlisle c 13-20

56m Deacon t 13-25

78m Agulla t Flood c 13-32

Worcester Warriors: 01 Matt Mullan, 02 Ed Shervington (Lutui 57), 03 Tevita Taumoepeau (Tomaszczyk 62), 04 James Percival, 05 Craig Gillies, 06 Sam Betty (Douglas 79), 07 Jake Abbott (Kvesic 57), 08 Chris Jones, 09 Shaun Perry (Arr 50), 10 Joe Carlisle (Goode 62), 11 Miles Benjamin, 12 Dale Rasmussen, 13 Alex Grove (Fatiaki 62), 14 Marcel Garvey, 15 Chris Pennell

Replacements: 16 Bruce Douglas, 17 Aleki Lutui, 18 Oliver Tomaszczyk, 19 Ben Gulliver, 20 Matt Kvesic, 21 Jonny Arr, 22 Andy Goode, 23 Ravai Fatiaki