The broken leg heroics of Leicester's Sam Aspland-Robinson

Leicester Tigers winger Sam Aspland-Robinson is set to miss six months after he broke his leg against Pau in the Challenge Cup on Saturday. 

The 22-year-old was making just his second appearance of the season after suffering a foot injury in the opening game, but he only managed seven minutes at Welford Road before he fractured his tibia. 

This is tough news for both the Tigers and Aspland-Robinson, but he at least received the plaudits of his team-mates in the process. 

England and Leicester prop Ellis Genge described Aspland-Robinson as a “soldier” on Twitter as he hobbled back into the defensive line following the injury. 

This will be little consolation to the player, but acts like this certainly earn the respect of the rugby world. 

In his brief career so far, Aspland-Robinson has been ravaged by injury as he also missed an entire year of rugby while at Harlequins with an anterior cruciate ligament injury. 

However, he may still play a part in the latter stages of Leicester’s season if his recovery goes to plan. 

Geordan Murphy’s side overcame Pau 41-20 and the club at least now have their returning World Cup stars back available. 

WATCH: The first episode of The Academy, the six-part RugbyPass documentary series which followed Leicester Tigers' youngsters last season