Richard Cockerill was delighted to be back at the helm to watch Leicester inflict a 32-6 defeat on Sale Sharks at Welford Road.
Tigers coach back on the bench as Tigers beat much-changed Sharks
Richard Cockerill was delighted to be back at the helm to watch Leicester inflict a 32-6 defeat on Sale Sharks at Welford Road.
The former England hooker had been banished to the stands after being banned from match day involvement with his side by the RFU after he admitted verbally abusing referee Tim Wigglesworth during last month's LV= Cup game against Newport Gwent Dragons.
But now back in charge, Cockerill was delighted to end a frustrating month by taking charge of a Guinness Premiership victory.
"It's nice to be back in the changing rooms and actually in then mix of it," Cockerill said. "Today's performance from the referee was good for my discipline.
"I'm a big team player so being taken out of the team environment was frustrating but I suppose that is the ultimate punishment.
Difficult
"It's been difficult not being involved. I spent my Saturday mornings hoovering a bit more and playing with the kids. You just have to turn up 20 minutes before the game, watch the boys warm up and play and hope that you win."
Leicester had to work hard to subdue a severely-depleted Sale and it was not until the last minute that they sealed the bonus point when number eight Jordan Crane rumbled over from close range.
"I thought we played all the rugby, we defended well, we would have liked to have been a bit better at times and played in the right areas especially when we came out in the second half in the wind and the rain," Cockerill said.
"But I felt we created enough opportunities to score four tries. The fourth try was a long time coming at the end in the circumstances so there were a lot of positives from the game."
Sale's director of rugby Kingsley Jones made 11 changes to the side that started against Harlequins last week, a reshuffle made with a demanding January programme in mind.
Changes
"We don't have a squad that allows us to change 10 internationals for 10 internationals so we have got to use our squad and give these players experience," he said.
"We have got Harlequins at home on Friday and two Heineken Cup games coming up which are massive games for us. But if we had come away with a point I would have been very happy. But I'm very disappointed at the moment.
"We gave away a try from a lost lineout, another soft try from a drive and then the try at the end was a bit unnecessary to be honest. But Leicester are a very good side, they ground it out, did nothing flash and they do what they do well.
"The positive for us is that we played some good rugby, we were good in the tackle area and turned Leicester over a lot.
"But the simple fact is that our lineout let us down and we have got to get it right."
