Unlucky Stankovich sees red but Tigers still prevail over Irish rivals

Stankovich, 32, saw red with 16 minutes left for a high tackle on scrum-half Darren Allinson in a match Leicester won 22-15 to keep alive their hopes of retaining the cup, having lost their opening Pool 2 game at Saracens.

“It was a bit harsh,” said Cockerill. “I really feel for Boris because he is not a dirty player. It was a yellow at most.

“Boris has gone with his arms against a smaller player and the guy slipped into him. I think the referee was the only person in the place who thought it was a red.

“If it goes to disciplinary I hope the sending-off is sufficient because Boris will be important to us in the next couple of weeks.

“It was a disappointing decision but the lads got on with it.

“We conceded a try and the momentum went against us but our defence was outstanding.”

After Stankovich’s dismissal Irish, trailing 19-8, staged a ferocious fightback and a try by Tom Homer, converted by Ian Humphreys, made it 19-15 with just 11 minutes left.

But Leicester held out and fly-half George Ford’s fifth penalty sealed victory for Leicester.

Northampton Saints coach Jim Mallinder was relieved at his side’s 30-20 victory at Newport-Gwent Dragons that took them to the top of Pool 2.

England flanker Phil Dowson grabbed a try in the second half for the Saints, with wing Jamie Elliott getting another and stand-off Ryan Lamb booting 20 points as the Dragons fought bravely for an hour.

Home wing Tonderai Chavhanga got only the third try hat-trick in Dragons history but that was not enough as defeat to Bath last week and the loss to Northampton means they are out of the competition.

“I am relieved and pleased with that result, really,” said Mallinder.

“It is always tough to come down to Wales and the Dragons were very competitive and pushed us all the way. It was a good first half and we created a lot of chances.

“The Dragons defended well but we got on top in the second half and controlled the game. We put their forwards under a lot of pressure and eventually they lost someone to the sin-bin.

“The maul went well and the scrum also went well. Ryan Lamb was good and kicked well to the corners for us to play in the right positions.”

Wasps boss Dai Young was delighted with the way his young side bounced back from last week’s disappointment to beat Worcester Warriors 28-19 yesterday and keep alive their hopes.

Young, who castigated his team after their 22-17 defeat at Cardiff Blues on November 9, was thrilled to see his players produce a positive response.

“If we had lost again we would have pretty much needed a miracle from the last two group games to go through,” said Young. “But it goes down to the last two games now.”