Tigers competitive but the chance to upset champions Exeter slips away
BORTHWICK RUES MISSED OPPORTUNITY THAT JUST ELUDED HIS SIDE’S GRASP
LEICESTER Tigers boss Steve Borthwick rued an agonising missed opportunity that could have helped secure a phenomenal victory over Exeter Chiefs.
Kobus van Wyk’s 13th-minute red card saw the Premiership champions canter to a 28-0 lead inside 32 minutes. But the spirited visitors rallied to trail by just nine points with 13 minutes remaining.
It was then that replacement fly-half Johnny McPhillips produced a crossfield kick that dropped inches over the leaping Freddie Steward and into touch.
With it went Tigers’ hopes of a famous win or a losing bonus point, as Rob Baxter’s men tidied up their act and scored their seventh try with six minutes to go to secure a 47-31 win.
“Leicester Tigers were a team that went away,” said Borthwick. “That’s the reality. You chat to the players about if you’ve been in situations similar to that, what would’ve happened.
“Ultimately, people observed that Leicester Tigers were a team that went away.
“We work hard as a club to ensure we stay in every battle. Work exceptionally hard to ensure we’re a team that never goes away.
“That in itself is not good enough. Because we want to be a winning team, not just a team that competes. We know we’ve got a lot of work to do, because we want to be in winning positions.
“If you look at the way the players led through that, to get back to a point where that crossfield kick from Johnny McPhillips was one metre too long.
“If it was one metre shorter, Freddie Steward catches that and scores in the corner and Exeter would be pretty worried about us – the European champions pretty worried.
“I think there’s a lot to learn from it. We’ve got a lot of young players in the team who would’ve learned an awful lot and it’ll be very good for them in the longer term.”
Tigers managed to close the half-time gap by 12 points as Tomas Lavanini and Jack van Poortvliet crossed the line in the space of five minutes.
Further tries after the break from Matt Scott, Charlie Clare and Hanro Liebenberg did more than restore pride for Tigers, it earned them just a third bonus point of the season that is now 14 rounds old.
“I’m not sure some people would’ve expected us to come away with anything,” said Borthwick.
“That’s the nature of it. People wouldn’t have expected Leicester Tigers to get anything from the European champions. They’re an excellent team.
“Gradually we’ve got to raise the expectations around ourselves.”
As well as the setback of losing van Wyk early doors, Tigers also lost Dan Kelly to a yellow card and were forced to replace Cyle Brink after 13 minutes and Nephi Leatigaga at half-time with injuries.
“Both of them obtained knocks to their knees,” explained Borthwick.
“We will get them assessed, it’s too early to say right now about the extent of any injuries.
“It was the right thing for both to come off the field.”