Leicester director of rugby Marcelo Loffreda hailed Andy Goode's "outstanding performance" after the defending champions beat Wasps 34-24 in Cardiff.

Goode scored one try, created another and kicked 14 points in Leicester's 34-24 victory at the Millennium Stadium to steal some of the limelight from England's man of the moment Danny Cipriani.

"Andy Goode's was an outstanding performance," said Loffreda. "His challenge is to be consistent, that is something I have been talking to him about and today he was 95 per cent consistent.

"Goode is a very professional player. He is a decision maker, he understands our game plan and knows the best way to play. With these kind of performances he demonstrates he is a real gentleman and a real professional."

After working a narrow half-time lead, Leicester pulled clear with tries from Seru Rabeni, Dan Hipkiss and Martin Castrogiovanni.

Cipriani and Paul Sackey carried the Wasps fight with two tries apiece - Cipriani's first was a brilliant solo effort, his second came late in the day when the game was already up.

Boss Ian McGeechan said: "I have no complaints about the result. It is frustrating to be able to score four tries and not come out the winning side. I think it shows one thing we have been doing well is attacking. We have been scoring a lot of tries.

"I thought our scrummaging was good today but in the other phases we were second best. When you give Leicester that amount of ball it becomes a tough ask. They deserved it today. I can't argue with that."

Ospreys captain Ryan Jones hailed the "world-class" Shane Williams after the wing scored two tries as his team booked a place in this season's EDF Energy Cup final with a 30-3 victory against Saracens.

Jones said: "Shane is world-class. Shaun Edwards [Wales defence coach] calls him a predator, which is a perfect description. When Shane gets just half-a-chance, he jumps on it."

Man-of-the-match Gavin Henson scored the game's critical try on 50 minutes, before replacement back-row forward Filo Tiatia and Williams killed Saracens off. Fly-half James Hook added two penalties and two conversions.

Captain Jones added: "It was hugely disappointing to lose to Leicester 12 months ago. But we have come a long way through the experiences we've had, and I am extremely confident in this group of individuals."

Saracens rugby director Alan Gaffney had no complaints about the Ospreys' emphatic success, with his team restricted to a solitary Glen Jackson penalty.

Gaffney said: "We didn't need more luck - we needed about five players on the pitch! They are a classy team, and we've not experienced such a hammering since I have been at Saracens."

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