LEICESTER COACH Richard Cockerill had mixed feelings after his side beat London Irish 41-32 to move up to third in the English Premiership yesterday.
Irish looked on target to record a famous victory when they led 32-31 with two minutes to go, but Toby Flood’s penalty and a Tom Croft try from the last movement of the game proved heartbreaking for the hosts.
“We played some good stuff but some horrendous stuff,” Cockerill said. “We soaked up early pressure and then I thought we were going to take control, but we were too inaccurate against a side who have the pace and power to punish you.”
Leicester certainly had the dominant scrum and Flood’s last-ditch penalty, which give him an impressive match tally of 26 points, came from Irish conceding a penalty in that area.
Cockerill said: “We were aware that their scrum had been weak all season. We came with a plan to dominate the set-piece which we did, but apart from that we didn’t play particularly well.”
Leicester did lose Ben Youngs with a minor shin injury midway through the second half, but the England scrumhalf may have further problems as he could be cited for what appeared to be a deliberate kneeing of an opponent while he was on the floor.
Irish were unlucky not to have secured at least a share of the spoils after being the more creative side, with Tom Homer unfortunate to be on the losing side. The fullback scored a splendid try and kicked three late penalties to put his side in sight of victory.
