Leicester vs Bordeaux - Saturday 3.15pm

[Puja]

STARTING XV
15 Bryce Hegarty [6]
14 Freddie Steward [47]
13 Matt Scott [36]
12 Dan Kelly [33]
11 Hosea Saumaki [6]
10 George Ford (c) [117]
9 Ben Youngs [273]
1 James Whitcombe [11]
2 Nic Dolly [15]
3 Joe Heyes [87]
4 Ollie Chessum [23]
5 Calum Green [75]
6 George Martin [28]
7 Tommy Reffell [62]
8 Jasper Wiese [28]

REPLACEMENTS
16 Charlie Clare [39]
17 Ellis Genge [101]
18 Nephi Leatigaga [55]
19 Eli Snyman [8]
20 Harry Wells [140]
21 Jack van Poortvliet [34
22 Freddie Burns [86]
23 Guy Porter [30]


BORDEAUX-BÈGLES: 15 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Yoram Falatea-Moefana, 12 Rémi Lamerat, 11 Nathanaël Hulleu, 10 Francois Trinh-Duc, 9 Maxime Lucu; 1 Jefferson Poirot (c), 2 Joseph Dweba, 3 Ben Tameifuna, 4 Thomas Jolmes, 5 Jandré Marais, 6 Alexandre Roumat, 7 Pierre Bochaton, 8 Alban Roussel.

Replacements: 16 Maxime Lamothe, 17 Lekso Kaulashvili, 18 Lasha Tabidze, 19 Ian Kitwanga, 20 Pablo Dimcheff, 21 Yann Lesgourgues, 22 Matéo Garcia, 23 Federico Mori

[Puja]

Stronger side for Leicester this week and Bordeaux look to have rotated - no Picamoles, Woki, or Lam (and Jalibert out injured). Should be a stern test still, but I'm optimistic of getting a result.

Great to see Whitcombe getting a start. He's been on the bench a lot and has gotten so little rugby (oftimes under 10 minutes or sometimes nothing at all as Genge does the full 80), so I'm interested to see how he goes, especially against a big test in Tameifuna. Chessum back at lock is good based on the discussions we were having in the Connacht thread and Martin back at all is enjoyable. Still not got an actual back row in the 20 shirt, but we're getting there.

Not a fan of Steward on the wing, but Hegarty has earned another chance at a starting shirt. If Ford had gone off with England, then I would've preferred him in at 10 to Burns.

All things told, a good team, a good amount of rest and rotation, and I think we should be aiming for a good win and topping the pool.

Puja

[Puja]

Fun stat about Borthwick's rotation this season:

Tigers starts in a row:

Reffell 7
Steward 6
Green 4
Scott 4
Everyone else 2 or less!

And, let's face it, Reffell's 7 in a row has a lot to do with him being the only fit back row at one point. He'll get a rest next week, I don't doubt.

Puja

[Puja]

Well, that's not encouraging:



Puja

[FKAS]

That's a shame. Every week Borthwick seems to name a team that raises some questions. I was interested to see how Whitcombe and Saumaki got on this week. Good to see Chessum back in the engine room as well.

[Puja]

EPCR has been informed by Union Bordeaux-Bègles that they have a recorded a number of positive test results for Covid-19 among their tournament squad and as a consequence, the club is not in a position to fulfil its Heineken Champions Cup, Round 4 fixture against Leicester Tigers scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday 22 January).

The Pool B fixture at Mattioli Woods Welford Road is therefore regrettably cancelled with Leicester Tigers awarded the match on a 28-0, five match points basis, in accordance with the Tournament Rules.

EPCR would like to acknowledge the efforts of both clubs to fulfil the fixture, and would also like to reiterate that awarding the match to Leicester Tigers is a tournament management measure with the objective of ensuring that all fixtures in the 2021/22 Heineken Champions Cup are accounted for, and not a sanction.

On the one hand, I would've enjoyed seeing that team take the field. On the other, guaranteed top-two finish in the pool and a weekend off for players to recover.

Whitcombe's got to be fuming though. He's had so few minutes in his bench appearances and now the first game he gets to start, it gets called off.

Puja

[Banquo]

EPCR has been informed by Union Bordeaux-Bègles that they have a recorded a number of positive test results for Covid-19 among their tournament squad and as a consequence, the club is not in a position to fulfil its Heineken Champions Cup, Round 4 fixture against Leicester Tigers scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday 22 January).

The Pool B fixture at Mattioli Woods Welford Road is therefore regrettably cancelled with Leicester Tigers awarded the match on a 28-0, five match points basis, in accordance with the Tournament Rules.

EPCR would like to acknowledge the efforts of both clubs to fulfil the fixture, and would also like to reiterate that awarding the match to Leicester Tigers is a tournament management measure with the objective of ensuring that all fixtures in the 2021/22 Heineken Champions Cup are accounted for, and not a sanction.

On the one hand, I would've enjoyed seeing that team take the field. On the other, guaranteed top-two finish in the pool and a weekend off for players to recover.

Whitcombe's got to be fuming though. He's had so few minutes in his bench appearances and now the first game he gets to start, it gets called off.

Puja

Great 'result' tbh.

[fivepointer]

Pity for Whitcombe, Heyes, Chessum and Martin that they dont get a run out.

Hopefully Whitcombe gets his chance to start next week.

[FKAS]

I presumed that Whitcombe and Leatigaga were getting game time in order for them to be able to come in next week with Genge and Heyes away.

For next week I'd guess:
Whitcombe, Montoya, Cole
Bench - van Wyk, Dolly, Leatigaga