Planet Rugby

Magic moments for Cockerill

20th January 2013 19:07

Leicester lock Geoff Parling on a run

Carrying for Leicester: Parling

Leicester Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill was understandably a happy boss after watching his side battle past Toulouse at Welford Road.

The Tigers held out to overhaul the French giants at the top of Pool 2 and book a quarter-final spot against Toulon, which is scheduled for April.

"It was a game when it was almost easier to play without the ball," Cockerill told Sky Sports 2.

"They missed some kicks at goal, and to be fair to Toby (Flood), he kicked that one just before half-time to give us a nine-point cushion.

"The effort at the end, those last two minutes with the crowd on their feet, they are magic moments.

"This team wants to make its own history. This club has a rich history and there is a lot said about players in other eras. Today, this team knocked Toulouse out of the Heineken Cup.

"We won a really tough pool, the players should be congratulated for that and we should get some credit for that."

Skipper Louis Deacon added: "We had to dig deep towards the end - fair play to the lads. It was absolutely freezing out there.

"We needed it, we were at home and we don't lose many at home. The crowd was absolutely amazing, they backed us all the way, and we probably wanted it more in the end."

Comments

KiwiRooster says...

I would not say Leicester beat Toulouse, it is closer to reality to say Toulouse was beaten by themselves. One try disallowed and many penalty kicks missing target was too much for them in one sorry afternoon to reach the quarter finals.

Leicester very much like Sarracens versus Racing Metro the week before has not proposed much in terms of gameplay. They were on the back foot for most of the game but unlike Toulouse managed perfectly to kick their penalties through and that was it.

Yet again, if Toulon play the way they did against Montpellier, Leicester could well perform a repeat of their pragmatic selves to reach the semis.

Posted 07:46 21st January 2013

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