Leicester coach Richard Cockerill was left fuming after his side squandered a commanding lead against London Irish.
Tigers boss fuming at Exiles fightback
Leicester coach Richard Cockerill was left fuming after his side squandered a seemingly unassailable lead against London Irish on Saturday.
Irish fought back from 24-7 down inside the last 20 minutes of the Premiership clash to secure a 24-24 draw at Welford Road.
And Cockerill admitted that the Tigers only had themselves to blame after they turned down kickable penalties as they chased a bonus point try.
"It is hugely disappointing," he said. "We put ourselves in a position to win it. The penalty count was massively in our favour and we didn't take advantage of it.
"We have nobody but ourselves to blame for what has turned out to be a poor result. We made poor mistakes across the board in that last quarter and it cost us the win.
Sloppy
"They played well and defended well but we got what we deserved. At 24-7, we had to play in the right areas of the field and control the ball.
"But we played a lot of time in our own half, had sloppy pieces of play and we let them back in the game. We have to do better.
"We got charged down from a box kick and then two minutes later we get charged down again for them to score and draw the game. Across the baord, everyone was to blame."
The draw leaves last year's runners-up third from bottom in the Aviva Premiership but Cockerill believes his side can bounce back.
"We will keep on playing and it's two points lost as far as I'm concerned," he added. "We just have to keep our heads on."
Irish head coach Toby Booth agreed with Cockerill but praised his men for producing a stunning fighting back against the odds.
Fantastic
"They will have more wins by March than losses," he said. "It was a tough contest and I think the most pleasing thing is to come back from such a deficit. It speaks volumes about the team.
"That is fantastic and, if you have that type of effort and belief, it bodes well for you kicking on when things are tough.
"What is remarkable for me is we have come here and got something out of the contest with a line-out that struggled in particular and the penalty count was 17-6.
"We also contributed 17 turnovers. So, to do that at Leicester and still get something out of the game, shows how well we defended."
