Steve Borthwick believes Leicester Tigers will be better despite suffering defeat to Harlequins at Twickenham Stoop in Round 23 of the Gallagher Premiership season.

Sharing his thoughts at full-time, Borthwick said: “I thought it was two good sides, competing in a tactical battle today.”

“We got caught at the start and Harlequins came out quickly, the pace was very high early on.

“I was proud of the way the players adapted and responded, fighting their way back in to the game.”

While proud of his players, Borthwick did not shy away from the ‘disappointment’ among he and his fellow Leicester Tigers.

“We came here to win, like every week and every game. So, we are disappointed to be leaving having fallen short,” he said.

“However, I know we will be a better team because of today. We will learn from this.

“It wasn’t good enough today, we need to have a look and question where we must be better and improve. But, what I can not question is the effort from the players today - not one bit.”

Borthwick’s squad have just two days to prepare for their next outing, the Premiership Rugby semi-final away to London Irish on Tuesday night, but you won’t here any complaints from the Leicester boss or his players.

“It’s exciting to be fighting on three fronts, exciting to be playing in big games,” said Borthwick.

“It was not too long ago that Leicester Tigers were not playing in big games and the players, supporters, everyone at the club were crying out to be involved in big games again.

“Here we are, playing against the current English champions at their home ground in front of a sold out stadium, fighting until the final whistle, then we have a semi-final in a few days.

“We want to be playing in big games. It is exciting.”

Borthwick will name his matchday squad for Tuesday night's Premiership Rugby semi-final on Monday (April 25) at midday.