Aironi 12-28 Leicester Tigers, Heineken Cup, November 12
Cockerill frustrated by toothless Tigers
ESPNscrum Staff
November 12, 2011
Aironi's Nicola Cattina appeals during a maul, Aironi v Leicester Tigers, Heineken Cup, Stadio Brianteo, Monza, Italy, November 12, 2011
Aironi's Nicola Cattina appeals for a penalty during a maul © Getty Images
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Leicester Tigers boss Richard Cockerill was left bemoaning his side's profligacy and the refereeing of Neil Paterson after his side's laboured 28-12 victory over Aironi in Viadana on Saturday.

The Tigers had been expected to accrue a bonus point from their Heineken Cup Pool 4 clash with the RaboDirect PRO12 strugglers and looked on course to do just that after reaching the interval 20-6 to the good following tries from Tom Croft and Alesana Tuilagi. However, Leicester lost momentum in the second period and only managed a third try in the dying seconds, through Niall Morris.

Cockerill was less than impressed by his side's display, but he was also frustrated by Paterson's interpretation of the laws of the breakdown.

"It's an away win, which is difficult to get in Europe, but we had enough opportunities to score more tries, certainly in the first half," he said.

"This tournament is very difficult and there's a long way to go. You have to take the win and take the positives. But we probably should have taken more advantage of that first half-hour.

"It was very difficult to play in the second half. They defended very well and the breakdown wasn't particularly well refereed. They just tackled and lay at the back of the breakdown, we couldn't get any ball to play.

"If you cheat enough you only really get pinged for the really serious ones. We just couldn't get any ball which is disappointing.

"We were 7-1 up on the penalty count after 20 minutes because the referee refereed the breakdown and they had a guy sent to the bin but as the game wore on the offences were getting penalised less.

"But we had opportunities to score more. Geordan dropped the ball early in the game and there were chances all over the place. We were a bit loose at times with ball control and that cost us."

Cockerill is well aware that Leicester will have to turn in a far better display against Ulster next weekend and is hoping that the likely return of Ben Youngs and Billy Twelvetrees from injury will help in that regard.

"We need to win next week at Welford Road - you have to keep winning in this competition," he said. "But they are a good side with some very good individual players.

"It is a massive game for us. These are the deciding games of the season and if we come away two from two and with eight or nine points then that will be a huge plus.

"We hope to have Billy and Ben available for selection but how much they will be involved remains to be seen. But the positive is, from today there are no further injuries."

Meanwhile, Aironi head coach Roland Phillips was encouraged by the character shown by his players and is hoping that they will prove just as competitive in next weekend's meeting with Clermont Auvergne at the Stade Marcel Michelin.

"Mentally we approach the game in the same way," he said. "They have a star-studded team just like Leicester. But we need to focus on ourselves and continue to improve. We are building something, we have to believe and stick to our processes."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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