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Rugby Union

Corry salutes heroic Tigers after win over Gloucester

18/05/2008

Leicester skipper Martin Corry hailed his team's spirit after their dramatic 26-25 win over Gloucester to reach the Guinness Premiership playoff.

The Tigers, who trailed 12-3 at the break, had Jordan Crane and Harry Ellis sin-sinned in the first half.

But they mounted a sensational comeback with tries from Alesana Tuilagi and Aaron Mauger, before Andy Goode slotted over a drop goal in injury time.

Defending champions Leicester will clash with Wasps in the final on May 31st.

Corry said his side kept their focus despite going down to 13 men.

"When you have someone like Goodey on your side and a great finisher like Alesana, you always have a chance," Corry said.

"In all fairness our consistency and form throughout the campaign hasn't been up to much, and we didn't produce our best rugby today.

"It wasn't a complete performance but the lads showed great fighting spirit.

"We were more dogged than anything else. It showed how much this competition means to us."

Gloucester failed to reach the final once again despite topping the table after the regular season for the third time in six years.

Head coach Dean Ryan said his side missed Mike Tindall, who missed the game with an ankle injury.

"I don't think it was about temperament, I think we made stupid choices. I thought we were lacking 'Tins' [Tindall] a little bit.

"He does a lot of our thought processing and we are just not smart enough when he is not there.

"For the last few weeks we have been very smart and the best side around. We have taken Wasps away and beaten Bath at home, and we could and should have beaten Leicester today."