Wayne Pivac accepts Scarlets defeat to Leicester Tigers

Scarlets coach Wayne Pivac has admitted that his team deserved their 40-23 defeat to Leicester Tigers in the European Rugby Champions Cup.

The Welsh side were knocked out of the tournament on Friday as they were comfortably beaten at Welford Road.

Despite scoring three tries and putting in a "brave" performance, Pivac believes that the Scarlets did not have enough to come away with a positive result.

"It was a bridge too far for us," he is quoted as saying by BBC Sport. "They made a couple of substitutions in the front row and it was a struggle from that point on.

"The sort of players we were missing make a difference, but the guys we had out there was what we had to work with and I thought they put up a brave effort."

Leicester must now earn a bonus-point win at Ulster next weekend and hope that other results go their way if they want to reach the quarter-finals.