Geordan Murphy blamed ‘self-inflicted wounds’ for Leicester Tigers’ defeat at Worcester in Round 14 of the Gallagher Premiership season on Sunday.
“We killed ourselves,” said the head coach at full-time following a 17-13 victory for the Warriors sealed with a last-minute converted try.
“Basic errors cost us in a really tight game and that is particularly disappointing.
“We made a lot of errors, we didn’t manage territory very well, they had a lot of possession in our half.
“At times we managed the game really well, but then you make some individual mistakes and you're back in your own half of the field.
“The boys are working incredibly hard. I asked for workrate and physicality, which are very important away from home, and they did that, but we made some errors and that killed us.”
Tigers led 10-3 at half-time with an intercept score from Jonah Holmes and were 13-10 in front entering the final moments of the game when Warriors created space on their right for Tom Howe to score. Duncan Weir’s conversion sealed the victory with the last kick of the game.
Murphy’s men had two ‘tries’ disallowed after consultation with the television match official, the first for a forward pass to deny Jordan Olowofela and the second when Ben White touched down but the officials ruled there had been an obstruction at the tackle area in the build-up.
“I thought the first was a clear forward pass, but I felt the Ben White one was a try, at a crucial stage of the game,” said Murphy.
“That would have made it 17-3 to us at half-time and it’s a completely different game from there.
“We came out in the second half and had talked about upping our game and we didn’t do that. We made a few mistakes there and went from putting pressure on them to being back on our own goalline.
“We worked very hard and defended well at times but one mistake will cost you. Full credit to Worcester for playing right to the death to stay in the game and take the win.”
Tigers return to home ground for Round 15 against Wasps on Saturday (3.00pm) and a limited number of tickets remain on sale now. Book in person, by phoning the ticket office on 0116 319 8888 or online.
