Leicester won’t go roaring after bonus but look to right wrongs against Munster

Leicester Tigers head coach Matt O’Connor does not believe his side needs to record a bonus-point victory over Munster this weekend to keep their Champions Cup hopes alive.

However, O’Connor is convinced Leicester must win all three of their remaining pool games, starting with Munster’s visit to Welford Road on Sunday.

Tigers were thumped 33-10 by the Irish province on Saturday at Thomond Park to leave themselves third in Pool 4 with six points from three games.

Munster sit top of the group on 11 points, while Castres are a point ahead of Leicester in second. Racing sit bottom, but only due to the fact they have a worse points difference than Tigers.

It is a scenario that has led some to claim Leicester must now record a bonus-point victory over Munster this weekend by defeating them and scoring four tries in the process.

But when asked if his side had to pull off such a result, O’Connor replied: “No, I don’t think so.

“It would certainly help, but I think the reality is you’ve got to win and you have to make sure Munster get very little out of it — if anything.

“You are going to have to go to Castres and win and you are going to have to beat Racing. We knew that was the dynamic at the start.

“We are probably a point behind where we needed to be in reality, and Munster are probably a point in front of where we would have liked them to be. We have got to right those wrongs on Sunday.”

O’Connor’s belief that a five-point win is not required this weekend is born out of how tight Pool 4 is.

In this season’s other Champions Cup groups, three of the current bottom-placed teams have just one point. The other, Benetton in Pool 5, have three.

In contrast, every side in Leicester and Munster’s pool has won a match and O’Connor believes the tightness of the group could play into Tigers’ hands.

“Most definitely,” he said, when quizzed if that was giving him confidence going forward.

“We knew the dynamic of the group, it was always going to be difficult. The away games are a massive premium in Europe and we were disappointed to lose the [Munster] game points five to zero.

“But it gives us plenty of motivation to rectify the things that went wrong and make sure that we put ourselves back in the mix for the group.

“The group is certainly the tightest of all the groups. We have got to put our campaign back on track with a good win and a top-shelf performance against Munster on Sunday.”

O’Connor refused to reveal if he will make a raft of changes after last week’s defeat but one issue he will have to solve is full-back. Telusa Veainu suffered a broken jaw in the loss at Thomond Park and he is expected to be out for eight weeks after undergoing surgery.

It means O’Connor may have to juggle his pack when it comes to filling the 15 shirt, but he is confident it will not be an issue.

“We have got guys in the squad that can certainly cover there,” he said.

“Jonny May I thought did a pretty good job at 15 for us at the weekend. We have got two, three, four quality wingers that can come in and play on the wing. So that’s one option.

“George Worth played against Munster last year, he is another option. There are plenty of bodies that can do that job for us.”