Brett Deacon says there were reasons to be cheerful at both ends of the field in Friday’s win over Exeter Chiefs.
Leicester Tigers bounced back from defeat at Worcester in Round One of the Premiership Rugby Cup with a 27-7 bonus-point win over the Chiefs at Welford Road, scoring four tries.
We have to move forward, stay level-headed and go to Bath, which is a tough game, next week and work on the things we can tidy up
Assistant coach Deacon said he had seen good signs in defence and attack in the first home outing of the new campaign.
“We rang the changes – there were 14 changes from the previous week – and I thought we played really well,” said Deacon.
“There was a lot of experience and a lot of class in that team and I thought the cohesion and the way we played was really promising.
“I was very happy with that defensive set. We’re doing a lot around the system and clarity but also around the ‘want’ to defend – the mindset to defend is really important.
“We’ve created a very tight group in pre-season and it showed tonight in defence and I thought we looked polished with the ball in attack too. Exeter are really tight defensively, putting a lot of physical pressure on the ball, but it opened up a bit of space for the backs and timing of that from Noel Reid and Kyle Eastmond was perfect.”
Tigers resume their Cup programme with a trip to Bath next Saturday before the derby day against Northampton Saints in Round 4 back at Welford Road on Saturday, October 12 (3.00pm).
“We have to move forward, stay level-headed and go to Bath, which is a tough game, next week and work on the things we can tidy up from tonight” added Deacon.
“There’s a long weekend to recover and hit the ground hard on Monday.”
