Click:Custom Peptide Synthesis
Leicester Tigers interim head coach Geordan Murphy hailed his side’s second half showing in Friday’s 45-27 Champions Cup win over the Scarlets.
The Tigers held a narrow 15-13 lead over the Welsh region at half-time but turned on the style after the break and added 30 points to their tally, although the Scarlets held a 27-25 lead midway through the half.
Leicester’s bonus-point win moves them to the top of Pool Four although that situation will change on Saturday when group rivals Racing 92 and Ulster do battle in Paris.
Murphy was delighted with the way his side fought back after trailing the Scarlets in the second half.
“I think we simplified a few things at half-time,” Murphy told BT Sport after the game.
“We played a little more direct and shortened up ball.
“We wanted to be direct, Jonny (May) ran a good line, we were at the breakdown early, Manu was on form getting a man of the match performance – we didn’t give Scarlets an opportunity to slow us down.
“Scarlets line speed in defence caused problems to us in the first half, we got caught cold a few times, decided to go more direct in the second half and it paid dividends.
“Scarlets play quality rugby, they were always going to test us and we knew we would have to score some tried tonight.”
Murphy was also pleased with Tigers centre Manu Tuilagi’s performance after the England international scored one of his team’s five tries an walked off with the man-of-the-match award after the game.
“He’s been training really well, the scary thing about him is he is only going to get better the more game time he plays,” added Murphy.
“He will grow in confidence and the thing with Manu is he doesn’t have to do anything special – if he does the nuts and bolts well he is a very good centre. I think he’ll get better as he goes.”