Mauger’s moment

LEICESTER bade farewell to departing coach Aaron Mauger in style on and off the pitch on Saturday.

The team locked themselves in the dressing room after the 36-31 win over Northampton to toast the New Zealander, who lost his job last Monday.

Mauger, above, was given the option to carry on until after the East Midlands derby and, amid emotional scenes at Franklin’s Gardens, two late penalties from Owen Williams got the Tigers over the line.

Matt O’Connor, a former assistant at Welford Road, takes over this week, but Mauger is out of a job despite Leicester creeping into the top four.

Captain Tom Youngs said: “It’s obviously sad to see Aaron go but we will welcome back Matt and all his experience.

“We always had a social after this game. We have a few days off so it’s nice to go away from here with a win and enjoy the night and send Aaron out on the high he deserves. He was a bit choked up but he will go on to bigger and greater things.

“We are not ones to shirk responsibility. We have not been good enough through the season – we have lost a lot of points and home defeats have been heavy, which is always hard to take.”

Chris Robshaw made a triumphant return to action after 12 weeks out with a shoulder injury as Harlequins beat Newcastle 53-17 at the Stoop.

Robshaw played the full 80 minutes to boost his bid for a place on the Lions tour as Quins, with all of their England contingent back in action, ran in seven tries.

At Sandy Park, Exeter recovered from 19-5 down to beat Sale 30-25 but director of rugby Rob Baxter was still not happy.

He said: “I don’t know how hard we were really prepared to work for the scores to start with.”