'I never use that word' what Steve Borthwick said after Harlequins defeat

Steve Borthwick conceded his Leicester Tigers team 'got caught' early on in their defeat to Harlequins.

Will Collier and Cadan Murley scored tries in the opening 11 minutes either side of Nemani Nadolo's response at The Stoop as the reigning champions flew out of the blocks.

The South African duo of Hanro Liebenberg and Jasper Wiese crossed either side of halftime to edge the visitors ahead on the scoreboard in a seesaw affair. Ultimately, it was their fellow countryman Andre Esterhuizen who struck the killer blow with six minutes remaining to inflict only a fourth league defeat of the season on the table-topping Tigers.

"We got caught at the start of the game," said head coach Borthwick. "I think that the pace that they played at was very high and I thought tactically, we adapted very well during the middle part of the game and did a lot of good stuff and got ourselves into a position to win, but we didn't. What we've got to look at is what we could've done better at the start and what we could've done better at the end and what we did well in the middle. There'll be key lessons for us to work on."

Tigers travelled to Twickenham without the likes of Freddie Steward, Nic Dolly and Tommy Reffell in the squad while key men Ellis Genge and Jasper Wiese were among the replacements. But Borthwick was quick to respond to suggestions he 'rested' players for the round 23 encounter.

"I never use that word," he said. "I look at each player on an individual basis every single day and what the right 23 is for the game at the weekend. Ultimately we fell short. I make the decisions on what I think is right, where we're at and where each player is."

Quins' victory closed the gap between the two clubs in first and third to nine points