Steve Borthwick proud of Leicester's win over Connacht

Leicester Tigers head coach Steve Borthwick said he was proud of his team's efforts following their 29-23 win over Connacht in the second round of the Heineken Champions Cup at Mattioli Woods Welford Road last weekend.

Nic Dolly and Bryce Hegarty scored first half tries for the Tigers while John Porch and Jack Carty touched downs for the Irish regional side as the Premiership side were trailing 12-17 in the opening half.

Nevertheless, Freddie Steward and Hosea Saumaki tries helped them fightback in the second half to register their 13th consecutive win this season across all the competitions.

Admitting the infringements in the first half almost costed the game for the Tigers, Borthwick credited his team for fighting back hard especially in the last half hour.

“They really challenged us today as they played a smart game in the first half. At that stage we made too many errors and gave away too many penalties and they capitalised on those.

“What was really pleasing was that our team were able to grab hold of the game and change it in the second half as I thought the players managed the situation really well and the last 30 minutes were pretty good.”

Leicester were without Ellis Genge as the England international is set to make a switch to Bristol at the end of the season along with George Ford, who is set to join Sale Sharks.

“Ellis first came to me a few weeks ago to indicate that he was considering returning to Bristol to be near his family.

“Personal reasons were explained to me and last week he confirmed the position. Nothing has changed; he is still a strong influence on the group and was terrific as a 24th man today.”

With two wins from as many games, Leicester are positioned third in Pool B of the Heineken Champions Cup while they are at the top of the Gallagher Premiership after winning all their nine matches until now.