Tigers centre Matt Scott says the Leicester squad will ‘learn quickly’ after the first of three games in just eight days.
After a Round 18 clash with Sale Sharks, the men in green, white and red travel to Wasps on Wednesday (September 9, 5.30pm) before hosting the East Midlands Derby with Northampton Saints on Sunday (September 13, 2.00pm).
“We’ve had to defend a bit more than we would have liked in the first few games that I’ve been involved in,” Scott said.
“Usually I’m known more for my attacking play and I’ve not felt like I’ve been able to showcase that at all really – I’ve not really had much of the ball – so I’ve had to get my head down and work hard in defence.
“But there’s never a wasted training day with Steve or Aled. Everyone at Leicester Tigers wants to be here and the work ethic is amazing.
“The key message has been that we need to learn quickly. We’ve got Wasps on Wednesday and a big Derby with Northampton on Sunday, so there’s no real time to dwell on mistakes.
“We’ve got to learn quickly and move on, and we’re doing exactly that.”
Scott and Co must draw the – albeit quick – lessons from defeat to Sale, with the high-flying Sharks building an early lead before another Tigers comeback came agonisingly short.
“To go 20 points to nine down early on, it felt like we hadn’t really fired a shot, and it is frustrating,” the Scotland international continued.
“Fair play to Sale they took their chances really well, but we can improve on our discipline and not give them field position by giving away penalties. At this level of rugby you can’t be shooting yourself in the foot like that against a team that’s second in the table.
“We’re really, really frustrated that we didn’t fire enough shots to get ourselves into a position to win the game, but we almost got there in the end and I’m really proud of the effort to come back.
“You can’t be defending the whole game, especially against a team like Sale with such powerful runners. That’s an area of our game which we have to improve on, as well as our discipline.
“We are in a rebuilding phase and, just like the supporters, we want to win every game.
“We’re trying our hardest to win every single game, and while we’re still a little way off, we’re not far away.”
