Richard Cockerill relieved to secure playoff spot

Leicester Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill has admitted that his side played poorly after seeing them beat Northampton Saints to reach the Aviva Premiership playoffs.

The Tigers secured a third-place finish in the table on Saturday as they defeated the reigning champions 22-14 at Welford Road.

Leicester will now face old rivals Bath at the Recreation Ground for a place in the end-of-season final.

"I'm not sure I enjoyed [the win] too much," Cockerill told BT Sport. "Saints made us work really hard, we probably didn't play as well as we would have liked but it was job done.

"We delete that from our minds now and we prepare for Bath. We'll regroup, we'll freshen up and all the pressure is on them. They've had a good season, they're a great side. We've had a poor season by many standards but we're in the mix now and it's just one-off games."

Leicester were thrashed 45-0 by Bath when the sides met at the Rec earlier this season, before winning 17-8 on home soil.