Borthwick: Tigers must 'learn' from every game
REACTION: Although he praised the work rate of his team in their 13-26 defeat to Exeter Chiefs on Saturday, debutant head coach Steve Borthwick maintains they must learn from every game.
After a long five-month lay-off due to COVID-19, the Tigers returned to action in Round 14 of the Premiership with a bang against table-topping Chiefs as George Ford started by kicking a penalty followed by a drop goal.
However, the penalty count against the Tiger started to mount up and Chiefs turned up the heat in the middle third of the game scoring a whirlwind four tries in the space of 25 minutes. Tigers could only reply with a lone penalty just short of the 60-minute mark.
“We are not happy we lost,” said Borthwick after his first game in charge. “We hate losing.
“In terms of our performance, we asked right at the start for effort from the players and that was unquestionable,” said Borthwick as Tigers finished the game on attack and pushing for a try. However, Exeter walked away with the full five points leaving the hard-working Tigers with a zero in the points column for their efforts.
Which of course leads one to question why Borthwick would select such an inexperienced side in his first outing as head coach?
“We made mistakes and there are things to learn but the effort and attitude were outstanding.
“Credit to Exeter for the way they played. We gave them a few opportunities and a side like that will put you under pressure and take those opportunities.”
Tigers return to action in Round 15 of the Premiership at home this weekend with a fixture behind closed doors while Bath makes the 130 mile trip to Leicester.
Source: leicestertigers.com
