We have to improve for Quins clash, says Leicester Tigers' Graham Kitchener
Lock forward Graham Kitchener says there is much to work on as Leicester Tigers prepare for the visit of Aviva Premiership champions Harlequins on Saturday.
Tigers' try-littered start to the season ground to a shuddering halt at Wembley.
Defences were well on top as they shared a dull, kick-dominated 9-9 draw with Saracens.
While a haul of 12 points from three games to start the campaign is more than satisfactory, Kitchener knows his side will have to up their game considerably against a table-topping Quins side, who have a maximum of 15 points from their three fixtures.
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"Saracens was a much tougher game than the previous weeks and the contact area and set-piece were really physical," said the 22-year-old.
"We put them on the back foot in the first half but we didn't help ourselves after the break and turned over a lot of ball. When they got back into it, we panicked a little bit.
"Our scrum was good and we got a couple of turnovers and penalties from it.
"But our line-out needs to be better. We had a couple of missed balls on our ball which we can't afford against good opposition.
"In the future, it may feel like two points won but, coming off the pitch, it felt like two points lost."
Australian flanker Julian Salvi agreed that Leicester would be disappointed with two points from a game in which they led 9-0 after a comfortable opening half-an-hour.
"Our form has been good and we went into the game feeling confident," said the 26-year-old.
"We will look back and be disappointed because we would have liked to have come out of that with four points.
"There were a few unforced errors and bad discipline let them back into it.
"At 9-3, we had chances to score if we had held on to the ball a bit longer but, give credit to Saracens, they came back at us hard and made us work.
"It lifts the intensity playing sides of top-four calibre. You are made to work for every point.
"We will review how we performed during training this week and see the areas we need to improve in.
"We need a win on Saturday. Quins bring a different dynamic and game plan and we will adapt the way we play to the way we did against Saracens."
Leicester played Harlequins four times last season with two wins and two losses.
A 27-18 defeat occurred in the league fixture at Welford Road before Leicester won at The Twickenham Stoop in the LV= Cup.
Tigers then won a thriller in the league at the same ground just a month before Quins won the title at Twickenham.
The LV= Cup game between Leicester Tigers and London Irish has been confirmed as a 3pm kick-off on Sunday, November 18, at Welford Road.
Tigers kick off the defence of the LV= Cup with an away game against Saracens, at Bedford's Goldington Road ground, on Friday, November 9, before hosting Irish the following weekend.
Between those two fixtures, Tigers host the Maori All Blacks at Welford Road on Tuesday, November 13.
Comments
by Oadbylad
Tuesday, September 18 2012, 9:44AM
“And as a ps. just read that Welford Road is to be up graded for the Rugby World Cup to 30,000
at what cost to the club ??? :) none me thinks”
by Oadbylad
Tuesday, September 18 2012, 9:42AM
“Well that's a bit of an understatement
Out of the 3 games played 2 of the teams will be in the bottom 3 with only Irish to play who in my opinion will be relegated (Skybet 5/2)
It would be nice to see the ball go to hand more and another of the school boy errors over running the ball carrier eliminated
Toby needs to find touch more as a last line of defence he was poor last Saturday
As for Sam ... well beggars cant be choosers ...just hope hes practising picking the pill up and his box kicking
But there's no doubt we will know exactly where we stand after the game and what challenge we face for the rest of the season”