Tigers had two penalty tries from scrummages to thank for securing the points as they ground out victory in front of a 23,000-strong crowd at Welford Road.
Four England internationals returned to Tigers colours following the autumn internationals, while director of rugby Cockerill also gave first Aviva Premiership starts of the season to prop Fraser Balmain, centre Matt Smith and wing Miles Benjamin.
“It was a bit disjointed and scrappy – you could see some of the boys have been away or have had a couple of weeks without a game and it took us a bit of time to get going, and yet again we had new combinations all over the field,” said Cockerill.
“Then we lost Matt Smith early on with another injury and had to re-organise the backline.
“We made errors, turned over ball at key times and put ourselves under pressure at times.
“We just couldn’t get any shape to our game. It was a hard game to find any rhythm.
“But we will be better for the win, we’ll take the four points and we’ll move on again. It knocked a bit of rustiness off those guys who came back in.”
The opening penalty try came when Irish were whistled for walking round at a close-range scrum after just 10 minutes, and the second came just after the hour mark after a mammoth phase of re-sets in the right-hand corner.
“We dominated the scrum," added Cockerill. "In the first half there were a couple of scrums on their line and the referee goes under the sticks as they walk around. Then for the second one we had 11, 12, 13 scrums, three penalties and a yellow card and then he goes under the sticks for a penalty try.
“You’ve got to win your home wins and we needed those four points. It keeps us in that top six and we have to stay within touching distance there.
“Now we’ve got a short turnaround before we go to Gloucester on Friday and you just put your best foot forward and get on with it.”
