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Patience and composure were key - Cockerill

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Richard Cockerill says he never doubted the character of the Leicester Tigers team as they turned around a first-half deficit to beat Aviva Premiership leaders Harlequins on Saturday.

Tigers became the first visiting side to win at The Stoop in Aviva Premiership action this season with tries from Thomas Waldrom (2), Steve Mafi and Alesana Tuilagi.

A 43-33 victory secured a place in the semi-finals, but took a huge effort after the team had trailed 26-10 during the first half.

“It was an important period just before half-time when we got a try and then the penalty from Toby Flood,” said Tigers director of rugby Cockerill.

“We were a bit indisciplined in the first half. We had a mad 15 minutes when we gave away too many penalties, then there was the intercept try, the sin-bin for Manu and the injury to Tom Croft. It made life difficult for us.

“But with those scores just before half-time we got back in and felt we still had it all to play for. The players stayed calm, they regrouped and the boys were really good in setting themselves up for the second half. We just said we had to go out and win because a draw or bonus point in defeat were no use to us if we wanted a home semi-final.

“Well done to the lads for coming back and winning against a quality side. It is a big win for us.

“We showed resilience and character but they’ve never been in doubt all year.

“I was also delighted with our patience. Quins are a very good side and they can make life very difficult for you. But we knew if we kept our composure and kept playing our game we would have opportunities to score and so it proved.

“Sometimes you start to force it and that can make it more difficult, but sticking to our game-plan and playing our way back into the game was great.”

After a Premiership record sixth successive bonus-point victory, Tigers now have one more game remaining in the regular season, against Bath at Welford Road on May 5 before the knockout stages.

“Everybody said we had a huge run-in, but we’ve managed two wins from two and we’re playing some good rugby,” said Cockerill.

“Now we’ve got Bath to come at Welford Road. We need to prepare properly and focus on that one before we can think of a semi-final. We can’t get ahead of ourselves.”

Tigers flanker Tom Croft was stretchered off the field after Nick Easter scored the second Quins try shortly before the half-hour mark, but Cockerill was happy to report no major damage had been done.

“He got caught on the neck – Nick’s about two stones heavier than Tom!” Cockerill said. “You’ve got to be careful and he’s gone to hospital as a precaution. As far as I’m aware it’s not as bad as it perhaps looked. His neck has been cleared, he just has a bit of a sore shoulder.”