Whenever the debate over the relative merits of prospective England fly halves is raised, the name of Toby Flood is routinely overlooked. Given the column inches they generate, a Martian landing here could be forgiven for assuming that the only contenders for the No 10 shirt were Jonny Wilkinson and Danny Cipriani. Now that the former is again cursing his increasingly fragile body for the next five months, the latter, especially after his startling recovery, is the only person to be mentioned in dispatches. Yet Flood, without fanfare and away from the long shadow cast by Wilkinson at Newcastle Falcons, has unobtrusively but effectively settled in at Welford Road and is fast earning his club’s respect.

Yesterday he put up his hand and won the match for Leicester. Heyneke Meyer, the Leicester head coach, had put his faith in Flood and was amply rewarded in a fiercely competitive but ultimately low-scoring affair.

“Toby was brilliant,” Meyer said. “I wanted him to step up to the next level today and he did.” Martin Corry, the captain, added: “Toby was first-class. He has an air of confidence but not arrogance. He knows what he can do. Today he delivered.”

Flood, who is in the elite player squad for the autumn internationals, is not worried by the attention focused on Cipriani or Wilkinson. “It is great for me. I am not one to shout about what I do. I just keep my head down. All I care about is that we won,” Flood, who sent Wilkinson, sidelined with a dislocated left kneecap, a text of condolence, said.

The 23-year-old was forced reluctantly to retire in the 57th minute with a minor buttock strain, which he does not think should keep him out for long. He had been injured 15 minutes earlier, but played on in some discomfort and Meyer decided against exposing him further, sending on Derick Hougaard.

Before that, Flood had revelled in the warm autumn sunshine. He was prominent in attack, making several cutting breaks, while solid in defence. His goalkicking was flawless, converting each of his four penalty-goal attempts, three of them from beyond 45 metres. It was fortunate that he did so, because elsewhere, Leicester made heavy weather of their dominance, especially in the first half when at least two clear opportunities were carelessly thrown away. Their failure to translate possession into points threatened to cost them dearly.

With five minutes to go, the Ospreys won a penalty and, trailing 12-6, went for victory and a five-metre scrum. But under pressure from Harry Ellis, Filo Tiatia and Rhys Webb, the replacement scrum half, muddled their lines of communication. Ben Woods, the Leicester open-side flanker, snatched the ball and to a collective roar of relief from the majority of the 17,498 crowd, Hougaard cleared to safety.

Although the margin of victory was scant, Leicester were satisfied to have kick-started their twelfth Heineken Cup campaign with a crucial home win, especially as in each of the past two seasons they have lost their opening game in the tournament. “I would like to have beaten them by 50 points, but that only happens in the movies,” Meyer said.

In a lively first period, Leicester were aggressive at the breakdown, with Woods and Tom Croft prominent, superior in the scrum and, but for some wayward passing when the Ospreys defensive line had been busted, they should have been well ahead. However, Johne Murphy twice fired bullet passes into touch behind the prowling Geordan Murphy.

All the Ospreys had to show for their endeavours was a penalty goal by James Hook and a dropped goal by Shane Williams. Hook missed two from more than 40 metres, a distance ready-made for Gavin Henson, who was dropped for this game for disciplinary reasons. Sean Holley, their head coach, batted away questions about the Wales icon. “The case is closed,” he said, adding that Henson would be considered for Saturday’s home game against Perpignan.

Scorers: Leicester: Penalty goals: Flood 4 (8min, 20, 22, 34). Ospreys: Penalty goal: Hook (57). Dropped goal: Williams (38).

Scoring sequence (Leicester first): 3-0, 6-0, 9-0, 12-0, 12-3 (half-time), 12-6.

Leicester: G Murphy; J Murphy, D Hipkiss, AMauger, M Smith (rep: A Tuilagi, 57); T Flood (rep: D Hougaard, 57), H Ellis; M Ayerza, B Kayser (rep: GChuter, 61), J White (rep: D Cole, 66), MCorry (rep: M Wentzel, 74), B Kay (rep: R Blaze, 68), TCroft, B Woods, J Crane.

Ospreys: L Byrne; N Walker (rep: D Biggar, 49), TBowe, A Bishop, S Williams; J Hook, R Wells (rep: R Webb, 71); P James (rep: D Jones, 60), R Hibbard (rep: H Bennett, 44), A Jones, A-W Jones (rep: IGough, 65), I Evans, J Thomas (rep: F Tiatia, 52), MHolah, R Jones.

Referee: A Rolland (Ireland).

Attendance: 17,498.