Geordan Murphy says his Leicester Tigers side allowed themselves to get “bogged down” in their own half of the field in Sunday’s home defeat by Saracens.
Trailing 10-3 at half-time in the Gallagher Premiership Round 2 fixture, Tigers conceded two more tries in the second half to go 24-10 down and missed out on even a losing bonus point when they had a try disallowed in the last play of the game.
“We started well again, we had some good territory, went 3-0 up and I was really happy with the start,” said head coach Murphy at the final whistle of a second successive defeat at the start of the new season.
“But we got a bit bogged down in our half and that makes it very challenging.
“We had a poor read in defence and they capitalised to score their first try. We conceded a silly penalty, we missed touch twice with our kicks and gave them opportunities. But even then we were still in it.
“We gave them quite a lot of territory and found ourselves on the back foot. Saracens are a good side and if you let them fire at you it will cost you.”
Although disappointed, Murphy did identify a number of positives to build on as Tigers prepare for a Round 3 fixture at home to Gloucester on Saturday.
“There was effort and endeavour, but we weren’t not accurate enough and hurt ourselves at times,” he said.
“We ran into brick walls at times, but against Saracens you do that. We got a 3-0 lead and we were reasonably pleased with the start.
“The scrum went well, lineout ball off the top was good, so we had more of a platform this week. Defensively, we put in some good work and we showed that when we hold on to the ball, we can be threatening.
“We got the try from Adam Thompstone and were back in touching distance.
“Then there was a really big decision on a competition in the air that gave them seven points with a try. Then we drop the ball over their tryline at the end. It was probably indicative of the way we played today.
“But we were still there trying to get something out of the game. I felt we deserved a point in the end.”
