Former Australia coach Michael Cheika has began his Leicester Tigers career with a victory. -AP
Michael Cheika felt his Leicester side were rewarded for "playing the long game" after his reign as Tigers head coach began with a dramatic 17-14 English Premiership victory over Exeter.
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Former Wallabies and Argentina boss Cheika was appointed in the closed season, succeeding fellow Australian Dan McKellar and charged with reviving the fortunes of a club that finished eighth in the English rugby union top flight last term.
And the early signs look good as Leicester prevailed through flanker Tommy Reffell's stoppage-time try despite having their Tongan centre Solomone Kata sent off following a high challenge late in the game.
"We talked about playing the long game, not being too anxious to get things going early on," Cheika said.
"You need to be in the pressure cooker of the game and be prepared to defend for long periods.
"I felt like the way we played the long game, we were always going to be in it right until the end. We didn't panic - even me!"
An error-strewn contest meant the game rarely moved out of second gear, yet second-half tries from number eight Greg Fisilau and scrum-half Tom Cairns appeared to give Exeter breathing space.
Chiefs full-back Josh Hodge kicked two conversions but Tigers would not go quietly and flanker Hanro Liebenberg's touchdown gave them hope, while Jamie Shillcock landed a drop-goal and conversion, and Fiji international fly-half Ben Volavola added the extras to Reffell's clincher.
