Leicester's flyer backed for England recall after Sale double

Leicester coach Geoff Parling believes Adam Radwan is ready for an England recall after the prolific Tigers wing grabbed two more tries in a breathless 36-35 win over Sale.

Radwan showed his razor-sharp finishing again to take his tally to 14 tries in 14 league appearances for Leicester since moving from Newcastle last season in a man-of-the-match performance at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.

Radwan, who won the last of his two England caps in 2021, is pressing hard for inclusion in Steve Borthwick’s squad for the autumn internationals which is named on Sunday.

Bok star Libbie Janse van Rensburg on that iconic 15-player line-out

Bok star Libbie Janse van Rensburg on that iconic 15-player line-out

“Radders has been exceptional – we know what he can do with the ball,” said Parling.

“He worried me in the warm-up because he ran off early feeling a little ill but he was alright in the end.

“He’s got to be in that conversation, hasn’t he?

“It was a nervy game and I was really pleased we came out on the right side of it. There’s lots of things we can improve but I thought we showed great heart again.

”The main thing I want to see is grit and heart and that’s what I am seeing.”

The win, which followed last week’s victory over champions Bath, moved Leicester up to fifth in the Prem table.

“It’s massive,” Radwan told TNT Sports.

“We’ve had back-to-back home games. As a group there is nowhere else that we’d rather play. We’ve got incredible fans and we wanted to make the most of it.

“Last week meant nothing if we turned up today and didn’t get the win. It was about backing that up with another win.”

Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson was pleased with the fight his side showed after the 65-14 humbling at Saracens last weekend.

“That was a much better performance – chalk and cheese in terms of how they stayed in the game and kept coming back after conceding. I was really proud of that,” he said.

“There’s a few small things we can fix up that will make us a very good team.”

The two sides split 10 tries between them with Sale full-back Luke James grabbing a second-half hat-trick as George Ford opened up the Tigers’ defence with some superb passing but Leicester, who had led 22-7 at the break, held out.

“George would be my (England) No 10 because of his mastery and control of the game, his ability to put people through holes and how he can drive a group,” said Sanderson.

“I think he’s earned it. It feels like he deserves a shot at the helm in the build-up to the World Cup”

Sanderson also confirmed that prop Bevan Rodd will miss the autumn internationals after being ruled out for 4-6 weeks with an ankle ligament injury.