Leicester Tigers fly-half Billy Searle was on killer form on Sunday, helping his side to demolish an out-of-sorts Saracens in front of a packed Mattioli Woods Welford Road crowd. He carried eight times for 38 metres, assisted in two tries and got amongst it in the contact area.
Despite all Searle’s heroics during the game, it was his physicality off the ball that stood out. The 29-year-old was on the receiving end of a huge late hit from Saracens full-back Elliot Daly after kicking the ball through for Adam Radwan’s try, and later took another battering from Theo McFarland in the tackle.
It was Daly’s hit that caused the most uproar, however, after video footage showed the England star lining up the Tigers’ number 10 when the ball was clearly no longer in his possession.
Daly received a yellow card for his action, but the drama wouldn’t stop there. The two talented stars would bicker throughout the game, coming to a climax when Searle celebrated a Daly mistake by rubbing his head on the floor.
With the tensions high, Daly and Searle wrestled on the ground while the two teams pushed and shoved, before it was all eventually broken up.
“We’ll make up”
Sporting a cut-up nose and a mischievous look after the match, Searle spoke about the incident, saying: “I’m a lover. I just said ‘good pass’ to Elliot after giving me a cheap shot in the first half. So I thought, ‘one-one’ and yeah, he lost it a little bit.
“I’m sure we’ll make up, it’ll be alright.
Asked about his time settling in at Leicester after arriving from France following Worcester Warriors‘ demise in 2023, Searle said: “I‘m loving my time, man.
“I feel like I really fit in with the way they want to play the game. I’m much more mature than I used to be on the pitch, off the pitch. So I really love my time here.
“I feel like one of the boys and this atmosphere, the fans, I’m loving life.”
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