Leicester Tigers Head Coach Steve Borthwick discusses the Heineken Champions Cup away game against Clermont Auvergne in the 1st Leg of the Round of 16 at the Stade Marcel-Michelin.
Borthwick’s immediate reaction to the away win over Clermont Auvergne was one of one pride.
Following the 19-point, 10-29 victory in the 1st Leg of the Heineken Champions Cup Round of 16, the Leicester Tigers Head Coach pointed towards the heart, spirit and leadership of his young squad when speaking post-match.
“What I am feeling right now, so soon after full-time, is pride,” said Borthwick.
“I am so proud of the players. I think they showed enormous heart, enormous spirit this afternoon and just thanked them in the changing room for that.
“They dealt and adapted excellently with setbacks that happened on the pitch, including being down a man for the last twenty minutes.
“It was tremendous, up against such a quality opposition in a hostile environment like it is here in Clermont.”
While complimentary of the crowd and atmosphere, Borthwick was quick to point out that it was not Clermont fans alone making the noise at the Stade Marcel-Michelin.
“I want to say too, while it was a loud crowd of Clermont supporters, the noise from those Leicester Tigers fans who made the effort to be here was incredible,” he said.
“We are so fortunate, so privileged the have the support that we do. I look forward to all of that and much, much more next Saturday at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.”
A late change to the matchday squad ahead of kick-off saw 275 games of experience drop out of the side, with Ben Youngs withdrawn through illness.
Asked about Youngs post-match, the Tigers boss said: “Ben trained well all week but was ill yesterday and unable to play today, but it is nothing major - he will be back training next week.”
“That was another challenge, yes, but I thought Jack van Poortvliet was excellent and we’re blessed to have the experience of Richard Wigglesworth, George Ford and Freddie Burns as half-backs at Tigers.
“The average appearances in the starting side today was around 50 games for Leicester, but the average age was only 24 years old and I think that shows how early on this journey we are as a group.
“We have guys, young guys, who are still having to learn - and learn fast - out there on the pitch on game day.”
While Tigers recorded just a second-ever victory in Clermont, and first in more than seventeen years, Borthwick said it was “far, far from over” with a second leg to come in just six days back in Leicester.
“We are happy with the win, of course, but it is half of the job required and we know that,” Borthwick said.
“There is still 80 minutes to play and, as we saw today, it is up against a top-quality side in Clermont.
“The focus now goes to next Saturday’s game at Mattioli Woods Welford Road and making sure we prepare well enough during the week to put in a performance in the second leg that will make our supporters proud.”
See the post-match reaction of George Ford and Joe Heyes (and his dad, Darren) HERE on LTTV.
