Tigers missed chance to seal victory – Wells
HARRY Wells says Leicester Tigers’ 13-10 defeat by Bath at The Rec in the Gallagher Premiership was a “missed opportunity”.
Tigers held a slender lead heading towards the final 10 minutes but were beaten by Tom Homer’s second try on an afternoon of attrition in the heavy going.
Tigers travelled back home, however, knowing that they had enjoyed the possession and territory to have taken more from the match against their old rivals.
“The last few visits have always been a closely contested games,” said Wells, who slotted into the Leicester back-row at blindside on Saturday.
“It is very disappointing to be on the wrong side of that and we will look at it as a missed opportunity.
“We lost a couple of really key moments and it’s down to us to put them right going forward.
“Bath got the score in the corner which was difficult and we couldn’t come back from that.
“I think defensively we were pretty sound.
“We defended really well and put in some really good shots but it is a hostile place to come and they kept coming and kept coming and just pipped us at the end.”
Tigers’ players take a break now with no Premiership fixture until the visit of Wasps to Welford Road on February 15.
And Wells says Leicester have to take the good things they have done over the past month into that game – and beyond.
“There have been a lot of positives for us over the last few weeks,” he said.
“Making the quarter-finals in Europe is really good for us.
“We were on the wrong end on the scoreboard at Bath but there were a lot of positives we can take forward and we can look back on them and try and replicate them in the following weeks and right the wrongs.”
Since it was confirmed that Saracens will be relegated at the end of this season, there has been much speculation about how sides in the lower half of the table will approach the remainder of the campaign.
Wells says the decision to punish Saracens and relegate them from the top flight does not come into the thinking of the Leicester squad.
“It is completely at the back of our minds. It doesn’t come into it,” he said.
“There is always going to be a tough rivalry between Leicester and Bath and there are points to be scored.
“We want to be looking up the table and whatever happens at the bottom doesn’t really concern us.”
KEY MOMENT: Tom Homer dives over to score his second try for Bath