Richard Wigglesworth believes he and his Leicester Tigers team-mates must continue to try and meet the high standards set by themselves.
Speaking after the bonus-point, 47-28 victory over London Irish, the Tigers scrum-half and attack coach admitted the changing room mood was one of a bittersweet feeling.
While the performance included seven tries from the Tigers, the experienced scrum-half believes it was not at the level the group has set.
“We gave them too much today, we weren’t at the level we expect,” said Wigglesworth.
“Everyone is pleased, we aim to win every game we play and we have got the win and with a bonus-point, but looking around the changing room at the end, we know it still wasn’t good enough today.”
“All season, I don’t think we have ever hung our hat on wins or losses, it’s always been about the performance.
“So, if we want to be the best team, we have to have high expectations and we have to have high standards. We didn’t live up to them today.”
With almost a half-century on the scoreboard, it might seem strange to supporters that their players come away with anything but a smile and patting each other on the back.
However, while he does admit there was “some good” on show out in the middle of Mattioli Woods Welford Road, Wigglesworth says there will be no back-slapping or celebrating in Tigers Town.
“You don’t score seven tries without playing some good rugby,” he said.
“But, for us now, it’s no different to any other game and how we review and learn from it.
“What we do now is that we go away and look at what we could have done better and where we need to improve, that will be the focus for us as it has all season.”
Asked about any specifics, it was “mentally’ that the Tigers Player/Coach pinpointed as being the area for improvement.
“I think, especially mentally, there are some really big learnings for us today to take away and help us grow as a team,” Wigglesworth said.
“There are still a lot of guys in this group that have not played a lot of rugby together, we are still learning about each other and it has been a good block of games with new challenges for us.”
Ten of Wigglesworth’s team-mates were elsewhere on Saturday, as part of both the senior and Under-20s England sides, which the International scrum-half says has helped every player - at the club or in camp - carry the team forward.
“It has been a big period for everyone and everyone has worked really, really hard,” he said.
“That includes the guys who have not been here, whether away with England in the senior or Under-20s squads, and you can have them as excuses or just get on with it.
“We are not a team who are going to make excuses, we just want to work hard and work hard together to keep getting better.”
The Gallagher Premiership now takes a break for a week, with the club travelling to Newcastle next Friday night in the next round of the Premiership Rugby Cup.
Asked to look back and asses the run of seven straight league games, running alongside this year’s Six Nations, the 38-year-old says there is no success or failure - just the next game.
“It hasn’t been perfect, we have lost games and even when we have won games, there has been a lot to do better,” replied Wigglesworth.
“So, we will enjoy this win and doing it in front of another big, loud Tigers crowd, and then we will just get on with it again next week together.”
See what Steve Borthwick had to say HERE following the win over London Irish.
