Toby Flood will attempt to haul Leicester back to the top of the Premiership this evening when the Tigers take on Sale at Welford Road but his sporting loyalties will be split today. The former academy player at Sunderland and Newcastle may be a devoted Tiger but his first love is the Magpies, who will welcome Alan Shearer back earlier in the day. "You look at the fixture-list and it doesn't look good, does it?" says England's fly-half. "Still, I suppose one consol­ation is that I could go and watch Newcastle when they play at Leicester City. But that doesn't really bear thinking about."

Flood's move last summer from a football-mad city to one where the oval ball gives the round ball a run for its money hit home soon after his arrival in the East Midlands. "I was walking through Leicester market and an elderly lady wished me luck. I thought that was a bit of a novelty as I wasn't exactly a recognisable face in Northumberland. Then a couple of minutes later I was stopped by someone else andthen I realised what the rugby club means aroundhere. In Newcastle, rugby will never be the No1 sport. You would never get 52,000 out for the Falcons.

"In many ways the clubs are similar, there are 30-odd guys trying to find their place in a group. But the culture here is different. You look around at the pictures on the walls, there are the ghosts of the past everywhere at Leicester, the expect­ations are huge and the players are aware of this. Because of the history of the club and because the supporters care so much, there is no margin for error because there is always someone challenging for your place. Both clubs want to win, but here there is such a depth of knowledge and experience surrounding you."

And so, while the 23-year-old Flood was helping to orchestrate England's revival in the Six Nations this spring, back in Leicester the Tigers, under the regime of the caretaker coach Richard Cockerill, moved serenelyfrom sixth spotin the Premiership to top. Just to illustrate Flood's point, the man who was supposedlykeeping wearing the No10, Sam Vesty, was playing out of his skin. Cockerill, the former England hooker, has been overseeing a more expansive game and the Tigers Kiwi inside-centre, Aaron Mauger, has been talking about Ves­ty in terms usually reserved for Dan Carter.

"Exactly," says Flood, when it was put to him that some pundits were suggesting England's fly-half may not be the best No10 at Welford Road. "I was well aware of what was happening at the club while we were holed up with England. I share a house with Ben Woods [the flanker who also moved from Newcastle last year] and he told me what a buzz there was around the place and it's really great. The club has two good players for every position. You have three international locks here and a fourth,Richard Blaze, who's a future international.

"Appearances can be deceptive because Cockers is a real student of the sport and under him we are playing really good rugby, not just grinding results out as we may have earlier in the season. I am really enjoying it because I have a licence to do things and that is really liberating"

Newcastle are a form team and Flood's return to the Tigers line-up last Friday was for a trip to Kingston Park, where Leicester's winning run was brought to a halt. "That wind off the North Sea never gets any warmer," joked Flood. But he is now experiencing another novelty with his new club and the man whose grandfathers were both successful actors is relishing centre stage. This is a defining week for Leicester, with today's match followed by a Heineken Cup quarter-final at Walkers Stadium against Bath next weekend. "I never won anything at Newcastle and this is a new experience for me, being in contention for trophies."

Leicester are timing their run of form like an experienced long-distance athlete and in recent weeks so is Flood, who this evening will be without Mauger, nursing a back strain, alongside him in the Tigers' midfield. The Six Nations began with a calf injury forcing Flood to give way to a former Tiger, Andy Goode, but amid the endlessdebate about Danny Cipriani and Flood's old Newcastle mentor Jonny Wilkinson, the Leicester playmaker returned to the England side against Ireland and has improved so much a Lions place beckons.

This week's injuryprognosis for Gavin Henson may leave Flood fighting it out with James Hook for the 10/12 berth in the squad for South Africa. "It's tempting fate to think about the Lions, I can't get embroiled with that. I can only get my head down here," says Flood. He has enough to worry about with Chelsea's visit to St James' Park today.