Leicester Tigers set to face some familiar faces against Ealing Trailfinders
Leicester Tigers will face some familiar faces when they take on Ealing Trailfinders in their Premiership Cup fixture with the RFU Championship's star side.
Championship heavyweights Ealing have selected a formidable lineup for the contest, with ex-Premiership stars Biyi Alo, England centre Billy Twelvetrees, Dan Lancaster, Jordy Reid, Will Goodrick-Clarke and Jonah Holmes all set to face off against the Tigers.
England veteran Twelvetrees played three seasons for Leicester between 2009 and 2012, scoring over 300 points.
Former Wales star Holmes also played for Tigers for three seasons, scoring an impressive 24 tries in 45 outings for the Welford Road-based outfit.
Elsewhere flyhalf Dan Lancaster - the son of former England coach Stuart Lancaster - signed for Ealing in 2022 having previously played five times for Leicester.
Meanwhile, Dan McKellar has named a backline laden with international players for the fixture.
Notable selections include Phil Cokanasiga and one cap England centre Dan Kelly in the midfield. Former Scotland centre Matt Scott is selected on the wing, while England veteran Mike Brown securing the fullback position.
Current EPS squad member Ollie Hassell-Collins is named on the wing, while Jamie Shillcock will steer the team from flyhalf. They will be captained by Hanro Liebenberg in his milestone 100th appearance for the club. The match also marks a first start for hooker Finn Theobold-Thomas.
Hooker Charlie Clare is returning from injury as a substitute.
LEICESTER TIGERS:
15 Mike Brown
14 Matt Scott
13 Dan Kelly
12 Phil Cokanasiga
11 Ollie Hassell-Collins
10 Jamie Shillcock
9 Tom Whiteley
1 Francois van Wyk
2 Finn Theobold-Thomas
3 Dan Richardson
4 Harry Wells
5 Kyle Hatherell
6 Hanro Liebenberg
7 Matt Rogerson
8 Olly Cracknell
REPLACEMENTS
16 Charlie Clare
17 James Whitcombe
18 Tim Hoyt
19 Sam Carter
20 Emeka Ilione
21 Sam Edwards
22 Kieran Wilkinson
23 Joseph Woodward
EALING TRAILFINDERS:
1 Will Goodrick-Clarke
2 Matt Cornish
3 Biyi Alo
4 Bobby De Wee
5 Barney Maddison
6 Rob Farrar
7 Jordy Reid
8 Rayn Smid
9 Craig Hampson
10 Dan Lancaster
11 James Cordy-Redden
12 Billy Twelvetrees
13 Reuben Bird-Tulloch
14 Jonah Holmes
15 Max Bodilly
REPLACEMENTS:
16 Mike Willemse
17 Kyle Whyte
18 Jimmy Roots
19 Andrew Davidson
20 Richard Hardwick
21 Lloyd Williams
22 Dan O’Brien
23 Will Montgomery
Latest Comments
Some interesting stats that just proved what my first impression of NZ’s drive to speed up Rugby Union would amount to - fine margins here and there to cut a few seconds off the game and nothing else. To do more there would have to be wholesale changes to the game like doing away with scrums, lineouts and bringing back the ELV’s to have free kicks instead of penalties. Very little chance of it happening but, in the end, Ruby Union would be a 15-man version of Rugby League. There are reasons why Rugby Union is globally more popular that Rugby League and what NZ are also not considering is the unintended consequences of what they want to achieve. This will end up turning Rugby Union into a low value product that will not be acceptable to the paying public. If people really wanted a sped-up version of rugby, then why is Rugby Union globally way more popular than Rugby League? Rugby lovers all over the world are also not stupid and have seen through what NZ are trying to achieve here, selfishly to bring back their glory days of dominance over every other nation and compete with Rugby League that is dominant in Australasia. NH countries just don’t have the cattle, or the fantastic weather needed to play like NZ SR franchises do so good luck to whoever has to try and convince the NH to accept going back to the days of NZ dominance and agreeing to wreck the game in the process. I have serious doubts on the validity of the TV stats presented by GP. All they did was expand the broadcasting base by putting it on free to air, not even any indication of arresting the continued drop in viewership. Match day attendance goes hand in hand with broadcast ratings so if there was an increase in the one you should expect to see it with the other. However, the drop in match day attendance is very evident to the casual highlights package viewer. The only club who looks to be getting solid attendance is the Drua. I am calling it now that NZ’s quest to speed up the game will fail and so will the vote on the 20-minute red card.
Go to commentsIt’s a good, timely wake up call for NZ Rugby (seem to be a few of them lately!) - sort out the bureaucratic nonsense at board level. We can’t expect to stay the number one option without keeping fans/players engaged. We’ve obviously been bleeding players to league for years but can’t let the floodgates open (although I think this headline is hyperbolic as it’s a result of a recent Warriors pathways system where they are tracking things more closely) Understand the need to focus boys on rugby if they’re at a proud rugby school too, don’t think it’s harsh at all re Barakat in Hamilton. Reward the committed players with squad positions. An elite 1st XV system in NZ has done more for league than they even realise, think it’s good to protect our game further.
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