Phil Dowson opts against 'over-egging' record defeat to Tigers

Geoff Parling kept his feet firmly on the ground, despite seeing his Leicester side power to an emphatic 41-17 win over local and title rivals Northampton.

The Tigers ran in six tries at Mattioli Woods Welford Road to clinch a vital bonus-point victory, but head coach Parling insisted there was still room for improvement as the race to be crowned Gallagher Prem champions hots up.

Leicester’s win still left them in third place but cut to the gap to leaders Northampton to five points.

Parling said: “It was a good win, but we can still do some things better as well.

“I was really pleased with our edge. We were on a real sweet spot physically and I’m also pleased we managed to stop them scoring a bonus point.

“We know when it’s these big derby matches at home that the lads are going to get up for it so we were quite tactical during the week with preparations.

“We didn’t want to add more emotion to the fixture because I knew that would be there anyway.

“But we also know what still lies ahead of us. We’ve got three really important games left in the regular season, starting with Sale away.”

Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson admitted his side were comfortably second best.

He said: “It was very painful. We battled very hard and worked incredibly hard, but after half-time we couldn’t make the adjustments.

“We couldn’t get into the game or exert any pressure of our own in order to give us some momentum and get some points.

“Fundamentally we didn’t get it right. We didn’t get enough ball, conceded a lot of penalties and we have to wear it.

“I don’t want the lads to ever forget what happened here. We have to be better next time and not make so many errors and make things harder for ourselves.

“I hope we take the scars and take the lessons out of it and stay together. We now need to work incredibly hard in preparation for Bristol at the Gardens on Friday night.

“We’ve got to be careful of over-egging it because it’s only the second game we’ve lost this season.

“And, while we’ve got to make sure we don’t take it lightly, we also have to ensure we don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.”