Matson: Proud to be in the fight

HARLEQUINS senior coach Tabai Matson was proud of how his side hung in the fight.

“We are pleased with that. You know what is coming against Leicester.

Stopping it is really difficult even if you know it's coming,” he said.

“To be able to hang on in the fight and be in the fight was really important. You have to respect Leicester for what they do. They've won 17 games and they've set the way because they're just so consistent.

“To be able to arm wrestle and not give away too many penalties and score three tries is important. The good thing for us is that we're still in the top four and that has been our goal all year.”

Tigers head coach Steve Borthwick said: “The big games keep coming but I would much rather be in this position than a lot of the other teams. I want to be at a club and a team that is involved in big games. It's an incredibly exciting prospect. If you go back 18 months, could you have possibly imagined Leicester Tigers would be in this position?

You will not get one word of complaint from me.”