Meyer New South Africa Coach

Heyneke Meyer has been appointed as the new coach of South Africa.

The 44-year-old former Leicester Tigers coach has agreed a four-year deal with South African Rugby Union.

He said: "I know the importance of rugby in the South African psyche and will do everything in my power to ensure the Springboks remain among the pace setters of world rugby.''

Meyer succeeds Pieter de Villiers, who took the Springboks to the quarter-finals of last year's World Cup.

He was favourite for the job in 2008 when De Villiers was appointed, and then quit rugby before joining Leicester in June 2008, a position he resigned from the following year for personal reasons.

Meyer led the Blue Bulls to four Currie Cup titles and one Super Rugby crown during his time as director of rugby between 2002 and 2007.

Ulster Demolish Dismal Tigers

Ulster took a massive step towards the Heineken Cup knockout stages and left a dismal Leicester facing an early exit from the competition at Ravenhill.

Andrew Trimble's try helped Ulster lead 10-0 and while Geordan Murphy responded with a Leicester score, Trimble's second try made it 18-7 at the break.

Ruan Pienaar put the game out of reach with three further Ulster penalties.

As Leicester imploded, Craig Gilroy and Paul Marshall scored late tries to earn the Irish province a bonus point.

Ulster now head the pool by seven points, although Clermont will be expected to move within two points of the Irish outfit by earning a bonus win over Aironi on Saturday, before next weekend's game in France against Brian McLaughlin's side.

The home team showed their intentions right from the off as they produced sustained pressure after Chris Henry's step inside broke the gain-line.

Further forward charges from John Afoa and Stephen Ferris culminated in Pedrie Wannenburg setting up Trimble for a close-range finish in the corner as he held off Alesana Tuilagi.

Pienaar landed the difficult conversion to further boost the large home crowd's morale.

Leicester looked set to respond almost immediately as Tuilagi's kick infield was gathered by a charging Murphy on the edge of the Ulster 22 but Ferris's massive hit on Anthony Allen averted the danger.

Pienaar added to Ulster's lead in the 12th minute with a long-range penalty after Ben Youngs had kicked the ball away when it was still inside the Ulster scrum.

However, Leicester were back in the game two minutes later as Murphy charged over the line after Trimble's unwise attempt deep in his own 22 to intercept a slick Youngs pass.

With Twelvetrees landing the conversion, Leicester were only three adrift.

But with Pienaar orchrestrating proceedings and the Ulster pack winning the vast majority of the collisions and generating quick ball, the home side quickly re-established control.

Pienaar's impeccable kicking was maintained as he landed another three points from just shy of halfway and it was to get even worse for Leicester before the break as Trimble notched his second try.

Horacio Agulla was far too casual as he ran back to gather possession just short of the Leicester line and his concession of a five-metre scrum was punished as Trimble once again scored right in the corner.

For once, Pienaar failed with the kick but Ulster were firmly in control, 18-7 ahead at the break.

Leicester should have responded with quick points after the break but Twelvetrees missed a penalty from in front of the posts and a further series of errant kicks saw him replaced by Jeremy Staunton before the hour mark.

By that stage, Ulster's lead was 17 points, Pienaar having landed two more long-range penalties.

Stefan Terblanche thought he had scored a third Ulster try on 61 only for Chris Henry to be adjudged to have crossed earlier in the move but Pienaar's fifth penalty soon left 20 points between the teams.

Leicester's dismal evening went from bad to worse as replacement prop Dan Cole was sin-binned for dissent.

The Tigers were down and out as Gilroy and Marshall ran in further converted tries in the final 10 minutes to secure Ulster's bonus-point.POST-MATCH VIEWS

Leicester coach Richard Cockerill:

"We are out. We will be third in our group. We are done.

"We've got some key guys missing, but that is not an excuse and I don't want to use it as an excuse. We should have played better tonight."

Ulster skipper Johann Muller:

"That was definitely one of our best performances in terms of taking our chances and the passion we showed.

"Ravenhill is always a good place for us to play, and the atmosphere tonight was outstanding. The boys delivered a great performance."TEAM DETAILS

Ulster: S Terblanche; A Trimble, D Cave, P Wallace, C Gilroy; I Humphreys, R Pienaar; T Court, R Best, J Afoa; J Muller (captain), D Tuohy; S Ferris, P Wannenburg, C Henry.

Replacements: I Whitten for Cave 57, P Marshall for Humphreys 65, N Brady for Court 76, C Black for Best 76, A Macklin for Afoa 76, L Stevenson for Ferris 71, W Faloon for Wannenburg 71.

Not Used: D'Arcy.

Leicester: G Murphy; H Agulla, M Smith, A Allen, A Tuilagi; B Twelvetrees, B Youngs; M Ayerza, R Hawkins, M Castrogiovanni; S Mafi, G Parling; T Croft, J Salvi, T Waldrom.

Replacements: J Staunton for Smith 59, S Harrison for Youngs 76, G Chuter for Hawkins 66, D Cole for Castrogiovanni 55, E Slater for Mafi 57, B Woods for Waldrom 75.

Not Used: Stankovich, Hamilton

Murphy Try Puts Tiger's Top

Leicester moved into the Premiership top four with victory over Sale in an enthralling contest at Welford Road.

Tigers dominated early on and ran up a 17-point lead with a penalty try and a score by skipper Geordan Murphy.

Fraser McKenzie rounded off a fine Sale move as they clawed their way back.

After the break Alesana Tuilagi's stretched Tigers' lead but a sublime Rob Miller try put Sale back in it and they secured a bonus point at the death with Nick Macleod's drop-goal.

The game was less than a minute old when the visitors lost flanker Dave Seymour to a terrible head injury after clashing with his team-mate Henry Thomas in a tackle.

Things got worse for Sale when they conceded a series of scrum infringements which resulted in a penalty score.

Flood converted from under the posts and his deft step, after Ed Slater's turnover, created Murphy's try when he put Billy Twelvetrees into space who found the Ireland full-back outside him.

Flood converted with ease and added three more points from the boot to make it 17-0.

But the Sharks responded with a break by the fantastic Onosa'i Auva'a - in as Seymour's replacement - and some superb hands by Kearnan Myall to put McKenzie over.

Macleod converted to make it a 10-point game with half-an-hour gone and added a penalty two minutes later.

Thomas was carried from the field just before the break with a knee injury and as heavy rain fell Sale refused to veer from their offloading came.

The conditions eased after the break and Macleod was again on target with an early penalty which was quickly cancelled out by Flood.

Slater came close to scoring after charging down Dwayne Peel's attempted box kick but the rebound ran out of play.

A minute later Tigers fashioned a try in tight space after James Gaskell's leap out of defence gave Twelvetrees room to attack and some crisp handling saw Tuilagi race over.

But Sharks hit back with Miller's sensational try as Gaskell and Andy Powell produced sublime offloads to put their full-back over in the corner.

Macleod slotted the conversion to make it 25-20.

Flood, who had failed to convert Tuilagi's score, established an eight-point lead for Tigers with 10 minutes to go.

Sale refused to lie down as they continued to run everything and their valiant pursuit of a bonus point was rewarded at the close when MacLeod's 30-metre drop-goal sailed through the posts.POST-MATCH VIEWS

Leicester head coach Richard Cockerill: "We would have liked to have got a bonus point but it's a job done, nine points in two league matches over the holiday period with a quick turnaround and seven changes to our side.

"The breakdown area today was a farce. We are the team trying to play rugby but they are lying all over the tackle area and it has to be penalised.

"The officials didn't get it right today and a large holiday crowd deserve better."

Sale coach Tony Hanks:"The boys managed so well to deal with two late drop-outs and two early injuries. It will do a lot for their confidence.

"We kept at it and we never gave up, we just ran out of time but we definitely deserved something out of the game.

"Dave Seymour looked very bad when he came off but he seems okay now. I'm disappointed for the lad as he is the form number seven at the moment and could have displayed his talents on TV.

"Henry Thomas is on crutches, he turned a knee but hopefully it is not as bad as first feared."

Leicester: Murphy; Agulla, Smith, Twelvetrees, A Tuilagi; Flood, B Youngs; Castrogiovanni, Hawkins, Cole, Slater, Kitchener, Mafi, Salvi, Waldrom.

Replacements: Hamilton for Murphy (73), Young for Youngs (73), Stankovich for Castrogiovanni (28), Chuter for Hawkins (65), Croft for Slater (65), Woods for Salvi (40).

Sale: Miller; Brady, Leota, Tuitupou, Tuculet; MacLeod, Peel; Dickinson, Jones, Thomas, McKenzie, Myall, Gaskell, Seymour, Powell.

Replacements: Auva'a for Seymour (1), Titterrell for Jones (66), Cobilas for Thomas (37), Easter for Powell (66).

Att: 23,132

Ref: Andrew Small (RFU)