Two Manu Tuilagi tries helped Leicester Tigers to a 36-8 victory over Northampton Saints in the East Midlands derby this afternoon.

Niall Morris and Mathew Tait also went over for the visitors in the second half while Stephen Myler scored the hosts' only try.

The away side were the first to get points on the board, when Toby Flood put a penalty between the posts to give the Tigers the lead.

However, the hosts were quickly level through a Myler penalty after Ben Youngs's kick was charged down.

Leicester went back in front on the 18-minute mark as Flood beat the wind to convert another penalty, before doubling their lead nine minutes later to make it 9-3 to the away side.

Things went from bad to worse for the Saints as Courtney Lawes was sin-binned for a deliberate knock-on, which led to Flood adding another penalty just before the break, giving the Tigers a 12-3 half-time lead.

It took just three minutes into the second half for Leicester to add to their lead when Manu Tuilagi raced over following a nice break from Julian Salvi and a neat exchange involving Jordan Crane and Marcos Ayerza to make it 17-3.

With 20 minutes remaining Tigers were reduced to 14 men when Morris were sent to the sin bin for a deliberate knock-on.

The home side immediately made the most of their extra man, as they stretched Leicester and allowed Myler to go over for the try.

However, the visitors quickly resumed their dominance when Tuilagi scored his second try of the afternoon before Flood successfully converted to give the Tigers a 16-point lead.

Leicester extended their lead through Morris, just three minutes after returning from the sin bin before Flood added the extras.

The away side added a fourth try with four minutes to play, as Mathew Tait went over to secure a bonus point.