'Key decisions cost us the game'

Leicester Tigers skipper Geordan Murphy insisted his side had let the chance of victory slip through their hands after the 27-21 reverse at Kingsholm.

But he was also bitterly frustrated by a series of calls from the officials that he thought had stunted Leicester's stirring comeback.

The visitors were camped in the Gloucester 22 for the final quarter of the game with the hosts down to 13 men for nine of those minutes.

But they could not find the crucial go-ahead score, despite relentless pressure as a mixture of self-inflicted mistakes and some "key decisions" went against them.

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It left Tigers with no more than a losing bonus point for their efforts, which saw them fall to fifth place in the Aviva Premiership table.

"I think we have dropped three points there," said the Irishman, who returned to the starting line-up after missing six weeks with a knee injury.

"We weathered the storm after a first half in which they took some opportunistic tries. I was confident at half-time, though, that we could play some football in the second half with the wind behind us and go for the win.

"Then, some great individual play by James Simpson-Daniel and some missed tackles hurt us, including one by myself.

"But I thought we were still well in the game and played some good rugby and had them under pressure. But some key decisions cost us again.

"We were unlucky not to score a try at the end of the first half when Jimmy Cowan did a good job of killing the ball and staying on the field.

"In the second half, we got some penalties but it took a while for those to lead to a yellow card. I'm surprised it took so long.

"The turning point of the game was six minutes out (before full-time). We had earned a lot of penalties and had the ball deep in their half.

"Sam Harrison had the ball kicked right out of his hands in front of the touch judge. It's a penalty but the touch judge or referee didn't see it. Gloucester came up with the ball and we never got it back until late on.

"Fair play to Gloucester because they made life difficult. They have good players, have tightened up their defence and play a nice brand of rugby."