George Ford says he was confident that Leicester Tigers could create the one final opportunity to cap a comeback at Bristol Bears on Sunday with a win.
Tigers trailed by 10 points in each half at Ashton Gate and were still 26-23 down with a player in the sin bin and the clock beyond 80 minutes when they built pressure in possession and sealed victory with a try from Guy Porter in the last play of the game.
“Most things didn’t go our way today, but all you need is one opportunity to score and win, whether that is with 20 minutes left or in the last play, that is the game,” said fly-half Ford after the final Gallagher Premiership fixture of 2021.
“I always felt we had one opportunity. The talk on the field was ‘All we need is one opportunity’.
“One minute we are down in our half defending, but the ability to stay in the game and have that one opportunity and to execute was great.”
As Tigers held ball in hand following a set-piece on the left, with George Martin and Nephi Leatigaga carrying in the forwards and Ford prompting the backline, a drop goal would have levelled the scores and preserved the unbeaten run from the start of the season. But instead, Ford felt it was worth continuing to build momentum.
“It [a drop goal] did go through my mind a couple of times when it slowed up a bit,” he said.
“But we had some momentum, speed of ball was good, we had a penalty advantage for a high tackle and with a man down to do something like that and to come up with a big play at the end was very pleasing.
In terms of performance, we didn’t think we were that great today. Fair play to Bristol, they came with a plan and did it well and there are a lot of areas we need to tidy up, but we take it.”
Porter’s score – his first in Premiership rugby – against the last team to beat Steve Borthwick’s men, stretched the team’s unbeaten run to 14 games this season or 15 stretching back to the final round of 2020/21.
Tigers return to home turf next Sunday when Newcastle Falcons are the visitors. Kick-off is it 3.00pm and tickets are available now.
