The Leicester lock Will Spencer pulled no punches after the Tigers found themselves drawn into the midst of the Premiership’s relegation battle, conceding his side need to be “a million times better” following the heavy defeat by Bristol.
Kyle Eastmond sees red as hapless Leicester crash to defeat at Bristol
Leicester went down 41-10 at Ashton Gate, conceding a try bonus point for the sixth time in nine Premiership matches and prompting the head coach, Geordan Murphy, to admit the Tigers are now in a scrap for Premiership survival. They were reduced to 14 men after 24 minutes when Kyle Eastmond was sent off for a high tackle on Ian Madigan but England’s most successful and best supported club now have the worst defensive record in the league, having shipped 292 points, and are in eighth place, only three points off the foot of the table.
“We were not good enough and have to take it on the chin,” said Spencer. “We did not show up as a team or do the things we had worked on in training. We have to look at ourselves and get better, a million times better. We have got world-class players and coaches who put everything out for us and prepare us really well. We have not shown up enough this season and in this league that means you get beaten. We have to be better and we will.”
With a European double-header against Racing 92 approaching, Spencer is hopeful Leicester can breathe life into their stuttering season against last season’s Champions Cup runners-up. “We need a result to kickstart our season and maybe a change of competition in the next couple of weeks will help,” said Spencer. “We face Racing and still have a shout in the group but we will have to be a hell of a lot better than we were [against Bristol].”
The former Leicester hooker Harry Thacker scored Bristol’s first try inside two minutes and added a second before half-time as Bristol chalked up their second biggest Premiership win to move above the Tigers in the table. “It was a good result but we still have a long way to go,” said Thacker.
“We are still building but we put in a performance we can be proud of. What was pleasing was that, when they had a player sent off, we did not go off script and put ourselves under pressure. We kept our composure and made sure we finished off the game. In other matches this season we have fallen off for 20 minutes or so but not today.”