TIGERS MATCHFILE

– LAST TIME OUT –

LEICESTER TIGERS 48-32 CONNACHT RUGBY

Saturday April 3 2021 / European Challenge Cup Round of 16 Attendance: Closed doors / Referee: Mr Adam Jones (Wales)

LEICESTER TIGERS

15 Zack Henry T / 2C 14 Harry Potter 13 Matías Moroni T 12 Matt Scott 11 Guy Porter T 10 Johnny McPhillips P /3C 9 Ben Youngs (c) 1 Luan De Bruin 2 Charlie Clare 2T 3 Joe Heyes 4 Cameron Henderson 5 Tomás Lavanini 6 George Martin 7 Luke Wallace 8 Jasper Wiese T 16 Nic Dolly 17 James Whitcombe 18 Will Hurd 19 Harry Wells 20 Tommy Reffell 21 Ben White 22 Dan Kelly 23 Freddie Steward T CONNACHT: Porch, Wootton, O’Brien, Daly, Healy, Carty, Marmion; Buckley, Heffernan, Bealham, Dillane, Thornbury, Masterson, Oliver, Boyle (c). Reps: Delahunt, Duggan, Robertson-McCoy, Dowling, Papali’i, Blade, Fitzgerald, Sullivan.

Tigers earned a place in the quarter-finals of the European Challenge Cup with seven tries in victory over first-time visitors Connacht Rugby.

Despite falling behind early on to a converted Kieran Marmion try, Tigers bounced back with four scores in half an hour to lead 24-11 at half-time on a rollercoaster evening at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.

Charlie Clare touched down first from a maul to set the ball rolling and then Guy Porter, Matias Moroni and Zack Henry all added their first tries for the club before a Jack Carty penalty on the stroke of half-time gave the visitors something to hold on to in the second period.

They quickly built on it, too, with a try from Eoghan Masterson before Alex Wootton’s try brought the score to 27-25.

Carty then missed a penalty which would have given Connacht the lead on the hour but, despite Clare’s second score, the visitors came back again and trailed by just two points inside the last 10 minutes thanks to a try from Paul Boyle.

Harry Wells then forced his way over for Tigers to provide some breathing space and Jasper Wiese crashed over from the base of a scrum to put the outcome beyond doubt, with Johnny McPhillips also denied a solo score as he was held up under the posts after a 40-metre break.

NOTEBOOK…

First tries for Porter, Moroni and Henry… Debuts for Dolly and Hurd… Youngs and Martin start for first time since Six Nations… Henry’s second start at fullback… Clare takes over as top scorer with his fourth and fifth tries of the season.

QUOTE... “I was excited to get back and contribute. I’m really proud of the boys. It’s an absolute privilege to captain the team.”

Ben Youngs