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Cockerill: Remarkable domestic season

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Leicester boss Richard Cockerill says his side will have to give a better display than that shown in the Guinness Premiership final against London Irish if they are to win the Heineken Cup next weekend.

The Tigers completed the first half of their double attempt with a 10-9 victory at Twickenham on Saturday, with Cockerill saying that celebrations will have to be strictly rationed ahead of their European showdown with Leinster next weekend.

"Our performance was poor. We didn't play well but stuck to our task," he said. "We could easily have lost - you can't deny that - but we did enough to win.

"Over the balance of the year we deserve to be champions. I'm pleased with the win because the pressure was on.

"If we had lost then we would have faced double the pressure next week.

"We would have choked it again because today was only our third win in eight finals.

"So we'll enjoy tonight. We'll have a couple of beers and enjoy the moment because it's important the guys do that.

"But on Monday morning we'll sit and watch the video and have a few harsh words because the performance wasn't good enough.

"If we play like that we won't beat Leinster. They're probably a better side than Irish with more world-class players."

Turgid

In a turgid game which wholly failed to inspire the 81,600 capacity crowd, Leicester number eight Jordan Crane powered over for the decisive try in the 63rd minute.

The victory nevertheless came at the end of a remarkable domestic season for Cockerill, who only took charge in January when predecessor Heyneke Meyer left the club on compassionate grounds.

"The team has been fantastic. This is about the club and players. Every club is about the players and supporters, not the coach," he added.

"I've contributed a small percentage but the players have done it out on the pitch. They deserve the credit."

Irish director of rugby Toby Booth said that Leicester's big-game experience - they were competing in their fifth successive Premiership final - was the decisive factor.

"You don't want to come second and for long spells we were the superior side but you have to capitalise on what you create," he said.

"We paid the price for that and lost by the narrowest of margins. Leicester are street-wise because they've been there or thereabouts for a while.

"If you want to beat Leicester you have to be street-wise. But we only lost by a point ultimately."

Turning point

Arguably the turning point in the match came five minutes before half-time when the Exiles won a series of five-metre scrums.

With Crane having been sin-binned, Leicester were under heavy pressure - but their opponents failed to exploit the man advantage.

Even so, Booth refused to condemn the decision to go for the try when penalty points were on offer.

"I back the players to make the decisions on the pitch. We had their scrum on toast and someone went to the bin," he said.

"We had to go on momentum. We should have been out of sight anyway with the penalties we had missed up until then."