Richard Cockerill warned "there's work to do" after Leicester Tigers confirmed their place in the Aviva Premiership semi-finals.
Six tries in a 42-22 win away to Sale Sharks in Round 21 on Saturday guaranteed Tigers a place in the play-offs for a 10th successive season.
“To go into the last game knowing you are in the semi-finals is great, but there is still work to do,” said director of rugby Cockerill.
“We’ve given ourselves a fighting chance of defending our title and we think we’re good enough to do that.”
Saracens, who come to Welford Road in Round 22 on Saturday, are already guaranteed to finish the season in top spot and have established a league points record with 85, overtaking the previous best of 83 set by Tigers in 2002. Second-placed Northampton Saints are at home to Wasps on the last day of the regular season, while Bath and Harlequins contest the other semi-final place as they go head to head at The Stoop.
Tries from Toby Flood (2), Vereniki Goneva, Niall Morris, David Mele and a penalty try from a close-range scrum secured the win for Tigers at Sale on Saturday.
“I’m delighted with the result and some of our play, it is a big win for us here,” said Cockerill.
“Sale have been in great form, they’ve had a good season and it was always going to be a potentially tricky game. I would have been happy with a win before the game to keep the momentum going, so to get the five points is very pleasing.
“We were really good in the first half and probably should have scored more points, but I thought the second-half performance was outstanding.
“We were a bit loose for the last 15 minutes when we started to make changes and we were disappointed to concede those tries in that period. But we’re still positive about the performance and coming here and scoring six tries – not many teams will do that.
“If you get things wrong, even with a big lead, suddenly it starts to get a bit tight. That is a lesson for us. They have good players and if you drop off at any level there is enough quality in any side in the Aviva Premiership to punish you. But we raised our game when we needed to and we came back and scored again at the end.
“Now we have to keep going. We’re not satisfied with just getting to a semi-final, we want to go on from there. We’ll keep our heads down and work at things we need to work on and see where that takes us.”
Match tickets for Saturday's home game against Saracens are sold out. Final remaining hospitality places are available by phoning the Tigers corporate sales team on 0116 2171 215.
Six tries in a 42-22 win away to Sale Sharks in Round 21 on Saturday guaranteed Tigers a place in the play-offs for a 10th successive season.
“To go into the last game knowing you are in the semi-finals is great, but there is still work to do,” said director of rugby Cockerill.
“We’ve given ourselves a fighting chance of defending our title and we think we’re good enough to do that.”
Saracens, who come to Welford Road in Round 22 on Saturday, are already guaranteed to finish the season in top spot and have established a league points record with 85, overtaking the previous best of 83 set by Tigers in 2002. Second-placed Northampton Saints are at home to Wasps on the last day of the regular season, while Bath and Harlequins contest the other semi-final place as they go head to head at The Stoop.
Tries from Toby Flood (2), Vereniki Goneva, Niall Morris, David Mele and a penalty try from a close-range scrum secured the win for Tigers at Sale on Saturday.
“I’m delighted with the result and some of our play, it is a big win for us here,” said Cockerill.
“Sale have been in great form, they’ve had a good season and it was always going to be a potentially tricky game. I would have been happy with a win before the game to keep the momentum going, so to get the five points is very pleasing.
“We were really good in the first half and probably should have scored more points, but I thought the second-half performance was outstanding.
“We were a bit loose for the last 15 minutes when we started to make changes and we were disappointed to concede those tries in that period. But we’re still positive about the performance and coming here and scoring six tries – not many teams will do that.
“If you get things wrong, even with a big lead, suddenly it starts to get a bit tight. That is a lesson for us. They have good players and if you drop off at any level there is enough quality in any side in the Aviva Premiership to punish you. But we raised our game when we needed to and we came back and scored again at the end.
“Now we have to keep going. We’re not satisfied with just getting to a semi-final, we want to go on from there. We’ll keep our heads down and work at things we need to work on and see where that takes us.”
Match tickets for Saturday's home game against Saracens are sold out. Final remaining hospitality places are available by phoning the Tigers corporate sales team on 0116 2171 215.
