Cockerill hails "immense" Tigers pack

Leicester head coach Richard Cockerill was full of praise for his side after they beat South Africa 22-17 at Welford Road on Friday.

The Springboks face autumn Tests against France, Italy and Ireland but were given a wake-up call by Leicester with Ben Youngs kicking 17 points for the hosts to guide them to victory.

Jongi Nokwe's try and a Ruan Pienaar penalty gave the visitors an 8-0 lead but the Tigers were soon 16-8 to the good with Lucas Amorosino scoring a try and Youngs adding three penalties and a conversion.

Youngs landed two more penalties after the break while Pienaar slotted three but a Tigers side missing Tom Croft, Lewis Moody, Jordan Crane, Dan Hipkiss and Louis Deacon held on for a famous win.

Cockerill was delighted with the performance and made it clear there was no magic formula for the success - just hard work from everyone concerned, especially the forwards.

"Our scrum was immense," he said. "Rugby can get quite scientific in its analysis these days. Sometimes you just need 15 blokes to come here and roll their sleeves up - and that's what we did.

"I'd have to take my hat off to the players. I read some criticism this morning about the fixture and the two sides that were put out.

"It was all about us tonight and the facilities we're trying to provide. Maybe South Africa are a little shell-shocked that club rugby can be like that. The spirit here is second to none and I don't know where it comes from."