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Richard Cockerill leaps to defence of red-carded Leicester Tigers prop Boris Stankovich

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Leicester Tigers have leapt to the defence of prop Boris Stankovich after he was shown a red card in the 22-15 LV= Cup win over London Irish.

The 32-year-old loose-head was dismissed in the 65th-minute for a high tackle on the Exiles' scrum-half Darren Allinson.

Allinson seemed to slip as Stankovich went to wrap his arms around him, but referee Ian Davies decided it was worth the ultimate punishment.

Any ban for the New Zealand-born prop would be bad news for Leicester with first-choice loose-head Marcos Ayerza away on international duty until December.

But Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill said he would be surprised if it went that far.

"I hope that will be the end of the matter," said Cockerill.

"If it goes to disciplinary, hopefully they will deem the sending off to be sufficient.

"Let's hope common sense prevails.

"It was harsh. I really feel for Boris because he is not a dirty player. I was disappointed with the red card, full stop.

"It was a yellow at most. Boris has gone in with his arms and a small guy slipped into him.

"I think the referee was the only person in the ground who thought it was a red card. That is very disappointing."

Tigers skipper Brett Deacon said he expected no further action while flanker Richard Thorpe was standing right next to the incident.

"Stankovich had his arm out, it wasn't malicious in the slightest," he said.

"Darren Allinson ducked into his arm. I thought it was very harsh.

"My thoughts at the time were that he may get a yellow but I certainly didn't expect a red card."

Leicester withstood the loss of Stankovich to record a win which keeps them very much in the competition they won last season.

George Ford kicked 17 points and lock Rob Andrew scored his first try for the club as Tigers overcame an early 8-0 deficit to post 19 unanswered points before Stankovich's dismissal.

The win, coupled with other results around the Anglo-Welsh Cup for Worcester, Cardiff and Sale, leaves Tigers bottom of Group C.

However, there is still plenty to play for as they are just one point off the top of the table!

Cockerill said he was more impressed with the performance than the win in a competition that is still very much third on their wanted list.

"It was about the boys who were playing showing character and showing what they could do," said Cockerill.

"Barring one or two players, that was London Irish's best team and they will be hugely disappointed with the way they played.

"It's great for our squad though. We didn't want to lose at home and that was a risk because we had only just played against the Maori.

"It was a risk that came off and the lads should be proud of the result. We showed a great attitude and our defence was outstanding again."

Richard Cockerill leaps to defence of red-carded Leicester Tigers  prop Boris Stankovich


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