His side may have run out of backs, but Leicester Tigers coach Richard Cockerill knows his team is brimful of spirit after they recovered from a 14 point deficit to share the spoils with the Ospreys.
It was a tough day for the Tigers as they had to go into the game with only 24 fit players from a squad of 38. They decided not to risk Harry Ellis' knee injury, lost Aaron Mauger to a groin strain on the eve of the match and then Danny Hipkiss in the warm-up.
It meant 20-year-old Billy Twelvetrees had to step in at centre for his European debut and Cockerill had to put seven forwards among his eight replacements.
And in the end he had to put former New Zealand back row man Craig Newby into the centre when Anthony Allen limped out of proceedings at half-time.
The Ospreys were 11 points ahead at the interval and then 14 up two minutes after the re-start. Yet by the end, It was the Tigers who were chasing the winning score.
"It was a titanic battle and Heineken Cup rugby at its best. That game is right up there among the best Leicester Tigers games in the tournament and, apart from the win, it had everything," said Cockerill.
"It had the drama of us not having a few of our top flight players and then having to come back from the dead. We were under the cosh at one stage and could have jacked it in and lost by 20 or 30 points.
"But, in the end, we took three points and it could have been four. The spirit displayed by the players was fantastic and a huge plus point for this club.
"We pride ourselves on players wanting to play for the club rather than the money - you can buy a team, but you can buy that kind of spirit."
Twelvetrees picked up the Heineken Cup Man of the match award for his efforts and at least the Tigers edged ahead of their Welsh rivals with a try bonus point.
