Five Leicester Tigers players were involved at the weekend as the second round of the 2023 Rugby World Cup concluded.
It could have been seven but, on Saturday, Tommy Reffell was pulled from Wales' starting XV just minutes before their 28-8 bonus point win over Portugal, the flanker ruled out with an as yet unconfirmed injury, whilst Sunday saw Jasper Wiese remain on the bench as the Springboks cruised to a 76-0 win over Romania.
Saturday saw future Leicester resident Solomone Kata start on the wing for Tonga, in their defeat by the World's Number 1 ranked team, Ireland. The versatile back played 71 minutes for his country in their opening game of the World Cup, following a bye the week prior.
Sunday saw four Tigers see game time in England's back-and-forth win over Japan. Ollie Chessum was involved throughout, the lock showing great industry around the park and making several important tackles.
Full-back Freddie Steward also started the match and scored a deserved, well-worked try off the back of former-Tiger George Ford's nudge out to the left touchline.
George Martin and Ben Youngs both saw around 20 minutes off the bench, with Martin entering the field for captain Courtney Lawes while England's most-capped male player Youngs added invaluable experience at scrum-half to help the side see out a 34-12 victory.
Elsewhere, the Springboks have now called up Tigers fly-half Handré Pollard, after the 10 had stood out in a half-hour cameo against Sale Sharks in the Premiership Rugby Cup.
Pollard will travel to France immediately, the South African a key figure in the side's victory in the 2019 Rugby World Cup, where he scored 22 points in the final.
