Richard Cockerill said Leicester Tigers' exit from the Champions Cup on Saturday shows the dangers of having to "play catch-up" in Europe's premier club competition.Tigers needed a win, preferably with a bonus point, away to Ulster in Round 6 after defeats on the road against the Scarlets and Toulon in Pool 3.
The 26-7 defeat, with the consolation try from Adam Thompstone in the second half, left Tigers in second place in the pool but short of qualification among the three best runners-up as Toulon took top spot.
“It’s tough to come to Belfast and beat Ulster at any time,” said Tigers director of rugby Cockerill. “They have a very good record at home.
“There was never any doubt they would be motivated for it, even though they couldn’t qualify. They are a proud team and they don’t lose at home often. They’re a good side, they defended very well and they took their opportunities well. We didn’t play as well as we could, but they didn’t let us. We’ve no complaints.
“They knew we had to play and that almost pokes the hornets’ nest – you have to play, you have to try to score tries, you turn down kicks at the posts when you could get on the scoreboard and instead kick into the corners and try to build pressure.
“The last 30 minutes was all Leicester and we got the try, but we couldn’t get enough points from our opportunities to set up a bit more of a grandstand finish.
“It is tough because we wanted to get into the quarter-finals but the Scarlets away game was key. Getting nothing there hurt us. From there, you are playing catch-up.
“Coming into your last pool game and having to win to go through is very different to coming here and chasing five points from the game.”
Tigers lost Geoff Parling after just four minutes in Belfast with a knee injury which will be assessed by the club and England’s medical team.
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So tough to chase the game in Europe says Cockerill
26 January 2015 12:37 PM

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