Kyle Eastmond's red card 'killed us' says Leicester coach Geordan Murphy

Leicester have slumped to a 41-10 defeat at the hands of Bristol for six straight losses. The Tigers were forced to play with 14-men for the majority of the match after centre Kyle Eastmond was red-carded for a high shot on Ian Madigan.

25' Ian Madigan, after somehow avoiding a HIA after staying down for two minutes following the Eastmond tackles, adds three to the Bears score and we now trail 13-7. #BRIvLEI ??

— Leicester Tigers (@LeicesterTigers) December 1, 2018

Leicester centre Kyle Eastmond sent off at Ashton Gate following a head-high shot on Ian Madigan. Exactly the right decision by Wayne Barnes. Tigers down to 14 men for 55 minutes.

— Andrew Baldock (@balders2) December 1, 2018

The high tackle occurred in the 25th minute, which Leicester coach Geordan Murphy thought ‘killed us’.

“It is huge in a game like that,” Murphy said.

“We had a particularly poor start to the game. We conceded a try from the very first set-piece strike which is obviously something we didn’t want.

“In saying that we managed to pull it back to 10-7 and at that stage, I thought it was going to be a good game and pretty tight and then that high tackle kills us.

“Down to 14 men against Bristol who want to throw the ball around, it is always going to be a very long day at the office.”

Bristol then ran away with the match with hooker Harry Thacker grabbing a double and Luke Morahan scoring a notable try by beating English winger Johnny May.

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