Leicester Tigers head coach Steve Borthwick was delighted to see his side record their first Premiership win in three weeks as clinched a 27-19 victory over Harlequins at Twickenham Stoop on Sunday.
The Premiership champions came into the match under pressure after after back-to-back defeats against Sale Sharks and Saracens but bounced back with an impressive performance.
Flattering scoreline
The final scoreline flattered Harlequins as they trailed 17-0 in the game’s closing stages but two tries in the last three minutes nearly saw them earning an undeserved bonus point.
Tommy Reffell scored a brace of tries for the Tigers with Julian Montoya and Anthony Watson also crossing the whitewash. Freddie Burns scored their other points courtesy of a penalty and two conversions.
Cadan Murley (2) and Danny Care scored the hosts tries, while Marcus Smith succeeded with two conversions.
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“The boys proved us a point today as we are building cohesion bit by bit but the tries we conceded at the end was not good enough,” said Borthwick after the match. “We have a new squad with a lot of young players and they need to spend more time together to allow us to improve.
“We are continuing to keep things simple as I don’t get carried away too much, whether we win or lose.”
Openside flanker Reffell was Leicester’s star performer and he gave Wales’ selectors a timely reminder of his ability ahead of next Tuesday’s squad announcement for the autumn Tests.
“Tommy reads the game really well and has come back from Test rugby against South Africa in the summer a more rounded player,” said Borthwick. “He’s still young and there’s still a lot of growth in him.”
Leicester’s next Premiership match is at home against crisis club Wasps on Sunday.
Borthwick said: “We are preparing for the fixture as normal until I’m told otherwise.”
Meanwhile, Harlequins head coach Tabai Matson appeared deflated after seeing his team suffer their second defeat in three matches played so far at the Stoop.
“It’s very disappointing when they were best in every area and it’s the worst I’ve felt since being here,” he said. “We needed to celebrate Joe Marler’s 250th appearance for the club and he had to put up with that.
“They were brutal in the collisions and our breakdown was not good enough but they forced errors from us out there and were pretty flawless.
“You’ve got to keep the scoreline close right to the end and keep the tempo up but we could not do that either.
“We missed Alex Dombrandt as he’s top shelf and world-class and without his influence, it became an arm-wrestle, which did not suit us.”
Cadan Murley’s fine form rewarded
A rare positive for Quins on the day was the performance of Murley, who was rewarded with a call up to England head coach Eddie Jones’ squad for the upcoming Autumn Nations Series.
“Cadan is the best left wing in the league and he looked dangerous all the time but we must work out ways of getting him more possession as we did not do that today.”