Leicester Tigers head coach Richard Cockerill was a happy man after watching his side beat London Irish 23-14 on Saturday to climb above the Exiles and into second place in the Aviva Premiership.

The Tigers had gone into the game without a single top-flight away win to their name this season but that all changed at the Madejski Stadium, with the visitors responding to a Topsy Ojo try with a touchdown from the outstanding Thomas Waldrom and a penalty try to earn themselves a fully deserved victory.

"That is a big win away from home for us. It is our first win in the Premiership away from home and it is points against a side who were above us and cements us in the top four," Cockerill commented.

"We have just tried to work as hard as we can with the players we have got. What we have tried to do consistently over a number of years is the guys who go on the field believe in themselves and I believe in them.

"The forward pack as a whole were really good. (George) Skivington and (Brett) Deacon really gelled well and were really physical against a good line-out."

Cockerill revealed that he could have started Toby Flood against Irish but that he did not want to risk the England fly-half, who took a blow to the head in last weekend's defeat by South Africa, given that Billy Twelvetrees has proven a more than able deputy at No.10 in recent weeks.

"Floody was picked to play but his head was not quite right. What I mean by that is that he still had a bit of memory loss about the (England) game so we didn't risk him," he said.

"Billy has done a good enough job to come away from home against a big side and today I thought he did some pretty good things under pressure. At a push, we could have had Floody on the pitch but you have to have confidence in your squad."

Meanwhile, London Irish boss Toby Booth was dismayed by his side's inability to hold on to the ball for any sustained period of time and also their set-piece.

"It is very disappointing today. I'm disappointed for the fans and the people who have come to watch today because parts of that were pretty ordinary but we still managed to get ourselves into a position to win the game," he said. "We are still within reach although elements of our game were not good enough.

"This game is about momentum, pressure and making people do things. If you can't keep possession for long periods of time, it doesn't matter how good a side you are or how good your individuals are, you cannot sustain pressure.

"Although I thought we were much better than we were in contact last week, in the set-piece we were ordinary."