Steve Borthwick praised the ‘fight’ and ‘heart’ of his players following the club’s first victory over Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park in almost eight years.
Speaking after the five-point, 17-22 win in Round 21 of this season’s Gallagher Premiership, the Leicester Tiger Head Coach was also complimentary of his returning internationals after their first league appearance together in 12 weeks.
“I thought the fight was great, I thought they showed great spirit and I hope our supporters are proud of what they saw from the players today,” said the Tigers boss.
“There is so much heart in this group; they want to to work hard for one another, they want to work hard for the supporters.”
Borthwick welcomed back Ollie Chessum, Nic Dolly, George Ford, Ellis Genge, Joe Heyes, Freddie Steward and Ben Youngs for trip to Exeter, with Genge, Steward and Youngs last featuring for Leicester back in January.
“All of the players who returned from England have been brilliant all week and brought with them a great energy, which added to our environment at the club in a great way,” he said.
“They jumped straight back into what we asked of them.”
While he paid tribute to those who returned from national duty, he was quick to point out that those who featured in the seven straight league outings for Leicester had helped to carry the club forward during their absence.
“It has been a big ask on our group in recent months, with so many players away, and I can’t fault the effort of everybody,” added Borthwick.
“Those international players have returned to a club that their team-mates have improved in that time.”
Asked about the focus for the group coming into the game, at a venue the Tigers had come away without a win in six successive attempts, he said: “The focus today was coming to Exeter and delivering a performance our supporters would be proud to see.”
“What we do, every day, is try to improve and prepare to be the best we can be ahead of every game.”
Borthwick’s squad now shift their focus back to the Premiership Rugby Cup, in just 48 hours, when they welcome London Irish to Mattioli Woods Welford Road on Tuesday evening.
Irish are unbeaten in this season’s Cup campaign, the only club to have a perfect record after three games, and the Tigers Head Coach admitted it would be another young Leicester side representing the club mid-week.
“We will enjoy the victory together in the changing room, then switch straight to preparing for Tuesday night’s game,” said Borthwick.
“It will be a younger side, again, and a chance for some other players who have earned the privilege of representing Leicester Tigers.
“It is a bit strange with it being a bye week but still having a fixture in the middle, up against an unbeaten team in London Irish who have done exceptionally well in this competition so far this season.”
See the Tigers Team for Tuesday night’s fixture HERE.
