Leicester Tigers will have to count on all of the resilience that took them to third place in the Aviva Premiership table when they go to Bath in the semi-finals on Saturday, according to director of rugby Richard Cockerill.Tigers won eight of the last nine games in the league season to reach the knockout stages for an 11th successive year and now face a Bath side who have the best home record in the competition.
“We’ve not played as well as we would have liked this season, but we’ve been resilient and hard to beat,” said Cockerill.
“I never doubted we were good enough to get into the top four. I always said it is all about where you are in the table after 22 rounds, not after six or eight. We just had to stick to what we believe in, work hard and come through it. The players have done that and they should take a lot of credit for it.
“Bath have had a very good season, they have a very good attack and a big pack. We have to do what we do as well as we can, give it all we can, throw everything at them and see where that takes us. We look forward to the challenge.”
Tigers suffered a record league defeat at The Recreation Ground in Round 3 back in September, though they did record a home win over Bath in the return in January.
“We’ve had a few bad days this season and losing so heavily there was certainly one of them,” said Cockerill.
“But it’s not about revenge, it’s just about wanting to win a semi-final. It’s a one-off game, like a cup game, and we have to go.”
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