News
Tigers giving Meyer grey hairs
October 02 2008
Leicester Tigers coach Heyneke Meyer admitted he is feeling the pressure after his side left it late to beat east midlands rivals Northampton Saints 29-19 at Welford Road on Wednesday.
Leicester was desperate to hit back following Friday's 28-19 defeat against Wasps and was 19-16 behind with 11 minutes left after Stephen Myler's penalty edged the visitors back in front.
Dan Hipkiss marked his return to the Leicester team following a shoulder injury by crossing with eight minutes left and Toby Flood added a late penalty and try to put the game beyond Northampton.
Saints had led 16-9 at the interval and for the third time this season, threw away a half-time advantage on their travels.
"My hair is grey after only five games, so I don't know how I will survive the season," said Meyer.
"There was a lot of pressure on the players after the defeat to Wasps and they showed a lot of character.
"I'm very proud of the guys. They played great rugby in the first half, but we didn't execute.
"There was no panic at half-time. I thought if we kept pressuring them in the second half, the tries would come and that's how it turned out.
"I knew we had to keep playing direct and positive in the second half."
Meyer was pleased to see Hipkiss back, adding: "I thought his experience made a big difference."
Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder was understandably disappointed to see his side miss out after leading at the break again.
"We panicked a bit near the end. We need to look after the ball better in the second half. We need to address that because our away games are following a similar pattern," said Mallinder.
"I'm really proud of the lads and it's a shame we could not get something out of the game. We have to start taking points away from home."
The defeat came hours after Northampton discovered flanker Neil Best had been handed an 18-week ban for eye gouging Wasps' James Haskell last month.
"We are disappointed for Neil and we'll be consulting our lawyers," said Mallinder.