A nonplussed Watson said: "On the face of it, putting 80 points on the scoreboard is all that matters, but I'm disappointed in the completion rate.

"I know the conditions were not good but you have to play to them and we didn't do that," added the hard-to-please Bears' taskmaster.

Watson rested several regulars in fielding six new players and the side took time to settle as Phoenix mounted early pressure on the Bears try-line for the first five minutes before a handling error allowed Coventry winger Ben Powis to hack on and race the length of the pitch to score beneath the posts to open the flood gates. From then on the result was never in doubt as the lead grew to 40-0 by the interval with the duo of second row Tim Farndon and Matt Cooper grabbing two tries apiece while Matt Allsopp, Scott Clendenning-Fenton and Graham Healey also contributed.

The trend continued with the Phoenix being buried beneath a spate of more tries as centre Chris Brown went over and Powis scored his second of the afternoon before debutant Matt Fielder opened his account.

However, to their credit, Leicester persevered and were rewarded for their grit with scrum half Jamie Howe breaching the Bears line for the only time in the tussle.

Almost immediately, play switched to the opposite end, and Bears stalwart Alan Robinson broke through the middle to put his name on the try list, leaving Peter Parker and Fielder to complete the rout.

Coventry: Whitehouse, Powis, C Brown, Wildsmith, Chamunokara, Healey, Clendenning-Fenton, Stevens, A Brown, Farndon, Ashford, Cooper, Booth, Nicholls, Allsopp, Tipton, Molloy, Parker, Fielder.

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