Following a 39-26 defeat to the Stormers in the Investec Champions Cup clash at DHL Stadium on Saturday, here are the player ratings for Leicester Tigers.
Leicester ratings v Stormers
15 George Pearson: Almost like Freddie Steward with a bit more pace, the Tigers have found a real talent in the shape of the teenager. Pearson took a superb line for his try and was mostly commanding in the air, using his 6ft 3in frame to great effect. 7
14 Gabe Hamer-Webb: With Adam Radwan out for a lengthy period, the former Bath speedster will need to come to the fore. After an excellent shift against Bayonne, Hamer-Webb put in another good display here and was threatening with ball in hand. 7
13 Will Wand: The centre has proven to be a shrewd piece of recruitment, having developed superbly since joining from Coventry. Wand has had a stellar season and he was once again impressive on Saturday, scoring a lovely try and impacting matters on both attack and defence. 7
12 Joe Woodward: A nice foil to Wand, his centre partner is a smart operator and showed those qualities in Cape Town. Woodward distributed nicely and did his core duties well. 6
11 Ollie Hassell-Collins: Didn’t have too many opportunities to stretch his legs with the Stormers marshalling him well. Bumped off a couple of defenders but Hassell-Collins was not quite as effective as usual. 5
10 Billy Searle: Another magnificent signing for Leicester who has arguably been their player of the season. Somehow missed a penalty from in front of the posts, but Searle was otherwise excellent. 7
9 Tom Whiteley: A mixed performance from the scrum-half. At times, he couldn’t quite put the pressure on with his box-kicking, which was too long on occasions, while the Stormers pressurised him at the breakdown. 5
Forwards
8 Olly Cracknell (c): The Welsh back-rower put in a huge shift, which is rather customary. Some big impacts on both sides of the ball as he did his best to quell the powerful Stormers pack. It was a fun battle between him and Evan Roos. 7
7 Sam Williams: The flanker is a youngster making his mark this season and he didn’t disgrace himself here. Should have listened to the referee when competing at the breakdown, leading to a needless penalty, but Williams was in the thick of the action before being taken off. 6
6 Joaquin Moro: Very busy in the first half, showing his mobility in the loose to be one of Leicester’s most prominent carriers, but he faded in the second period. 6
5 Harry Wells: Never lets the Tigers down and he was an important cog in the set-piece, despite the odd lineout issues. Wells was busy but the hosts’ physicality told in the second period. 6
4 James Thompson: Only lasted half-an-hour but, when he was on the field, Thompson was solid but no more than that. 5
3 Will Hurd: Was yellow-carded for a high shot but managed to convince the referee, for the most part, that he wasn’t infringing at the scrum. 5
2 Jamie Blamire: Was busy throughout but just made too many errors and was a bit of a turnstile in defence, missing five tackles. Also had some lineout problems. 4
1 Tarek Haffar: Similar to Blamire, Haffar missed some tackles on defence, but he was a more effective in the loose, particularly with his carrying. The scrum also changed when he and Hurd went off. 5
Replacements: The match went away from Leicester when the replacement front-row came on as the hosts marched them backwards with regularity. Tom Manz scored a try and Emeka Ilione tried his best to get the Tigers going, but Leicester struggled due to their second-half set-piece issues with Springbok rookie Zach Porthen doing a job at tighthead. 3
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