Leicester - South Africa assistant coach Dick Muir admitted he
had never seen such a poor performance from a Springbok front five
as the world champions went down to a shock defeat to
Leicester.
Leicester clinched a , especially from a coaching perspective.
We were given a bit of a lesson at the scrums.
"Hats off to the Tigers. They were incredibly strong in
that department so we've got to go back to the drawing
board."
The tourists should also be bolstered by the return of their
inspirational locks Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha for next
Friday's clash with France.
Muir added: "Nobody likes losing. When you take a squad
like this and have a short turnaround maybe you're not as well
prepared as you might be.
"It will probably cause the guys to be a little bit more
determined. When you're on the top of the pile there's a
lot of sides who want to knock you off, so that's the territory
we've created for ourselves."
The Tigers went 8-0 down through a penalty and Jongi Nokwe's
try.
But the home side hit back to go 16-8 ahead with Lucas Amorosino
scoring a try and Ben Youngs adding three penalties. Six more
points from Youngs put the Tigers in control, and the home side
held on to seal victory.
Tigers head coach Richard Cockerill was keen to prove wrong
those who questioned the timing of the game, given Leicester's
lengthy injury list and their upcoming Cup clash at Leeds on
Sunday.
"I'd have to take my hat off to the players," he
said.
"It was all about us tonight and the facilities we're
trying to provide. Maybe South Africa are a little shell-shocked
that club rugby can be like that.
"The spirit here is second to none and I don't know
where it comes from. Our scrum was immense and Geoff Parling was
superb in the front row.
"Rugby can get quite scientific in its analysis these days.
Sometimes you just need 15 blokes to come here and roll their
sleeves up. The scientists can't quantify that. And that's
what we did tonight."
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