'It looked like this team hadn’t been coached for 6 weeks'

Leicester Tigers attack coach Peter Hewat expressed his pride at his side’s performance after they scored seven tries to beat Newcastle Falcons 42-10 at Kingston Park.

The Tigers were without head coach Michael Chieka due to a one-match ban and after a cagey start, they began to pull ahead and were leading 20-3 at half-time before earning the bonus point after the break.

They then rounded off a ruthless display with three further tries and Hewat admitted it was a pleasing performance away from home.

He said: “Really pleased with the performance, to come away from home, particularly to come up here and get a bonus point win, really happy and proud.

“More so for the players, as I said at the start of the week, we asked our senior players to step up and I thought they drove the team this week.”

Leicester’s only real scare of the game came in the second half when they were suddenly reduced to 13 after Anthony Watson and Hanro Liebenberg were sin-binned in quick succession.

Newcastle scored their only try of the game in that period through Callum Chick on his 150th appearance for the club, but Hewat praised the character in the team in navigating tricky spells.

“I spoke to the boys after the game around just showing that ability to stay in the fight,” Hewat added.

“We went down to 13 and even at the back end of the game there we were defending our line and didn’t want to give in, that’s the character that we’re building here and I’m sure the boss would’ve been happy with what he saw.”

Hewat also hailed an “outstanding” performance from the younger players in the squad, including Joseph Woodward and replacement Will Wand, who scored a try on debut with a brilliant interception.

“I thought they were all outstanding,” he said.

“Someone like Woody, who’s only a young kid, I thought he showed real composure, he’s got time on the ball, he was a bit nervous early on, but that’s to be expected and I’m really proud of him.

“Wandy coming on, defended really well under a little bit of pressure there, then the intercept try, I’m really happy for him.”

It was another tough night for Newcastle, who were handed their 24th straight defeat in the Gallagher Premiership.

They remain bottom of the table with three losses this season and Newcastle’s consultant rugby director Steve Diamond accepted responsibility for the defeat.

“I think for a side that hadn’t had a coach all week they were remarkable, it looked like this team hadn’t been coached for six weeks,” Diamond said.

“I’ve got to take responsibility for that performance, certainly didn’t see it coming.

“I think we’ve made some great strides over the pre-season and the last couple of games.

“Even though we’ve been competitive, I think tonight showed the gulf if we’re not on it mentally, and we weren’t on it for whatever reason.

“That’s the question I’ve asked the team. We’re not going to change the training week, we’re going to come in as normal, review it and try and get better at it.

“I think the performance was unacceptable from me right the way down to the kitmen tonight, we didn’t deliver for the sponsors, the supporters or the owner.”