Leicester player ratings vs Saracens | Gallagher Premiership 2023/24
Leicester player ratings live from Mattoli Woods Welford Road: This was a must-win for Dan McKellar’s Tigers. Placed seventh pre-game on 25 points, six points behind the sixth-place Saracens, the hosts needed a victory to close the gap on the defending champions and enhance their prospects of making the end-of-season top-four playoffs.
This they eventually impressively managed to do on a score of 19-10, their determined defence refusing to bend in a compelling second half that was grittily fought to the finish.
Leicester had got off to a first-half flyer, Dan Kelly burgling an Owen Farrell pass to race away for an unconverted 11th-minute try, but that lead soon evaporated with Tom Parton profiting on 20 minutes from a Solomone Kata defensive error on halfway.
Farrell was then to add to the resulting conversion with a penalty kick four minutes later after Joe Heyes late-tackled Maro Itoje, but Tigers hit back, Matt Rogerson’s converted 34th-minute try giving them a 12-10 lead that would have been more had another try been awarded on the stroke of half-time.
Kelly thought he had got the ball down despite an Elliot Daly tackle after he kicked ahead and regathered following a stolen lineout, but TMO review ruled differently. Then when the action resumed after the break, Saracens dominated for 13 minutes.
They failed to score, though, and this proved costly as Tigers bit back to win some scrum penalties and then crucially score on the hour through Harry Simmons with Saracens down to 14 after Itoje was yellow carded some minutes before that for not being back far enough when Jasper Wiese craftily quickly tapped a penalty metres from the try line.
Handre Pollard’s conversion made it a two-score margin, a sufficient cushion to fuel his team’s playoff ambitions with just seven rounds of matches now remaining. Here are the Leicester player ratings:
15. Freddie Steward – 6.5
Despite hurting a shoulder, did what was needed to ensure Saracens didn’t get to expose Leicester more than that single first-half moment when Kata was vulnerable.
14. Harry Simmons – 7
Came in from the cold last Sunday versus Bath for a rare start and was very quiet here for an hour. Showed guts and gas, though, to make it to the line for his result-deciding try.
13. Dan Kelly – 8
Set the tone with his cracking intercept of a Farrell pass to race in from the 10-metre line for the opening score. Continued to threaten and was unfortunate not to be awarded a second try on the blow of half-time after regaining his kick and rolling to the line with Daly clinging onto him.
12. Solomone Kata – 6.5
At fault for the Saracens try for biting in when they attacked off lineout ball in the midfield, opening up a chasm in Tigers’ defence. He made up for it with some hugely powerful second-half carries.
11. Mike Brown – 7.5
Fresh from Friday’s contract extension confirmation, the veteran was as sharp as a tack and aggressive in his collisions with Saracens players. His wise old head was regularly evident and his best moment was the second-half turnover penalty on Theo Dan, which was important in piercing pressure from the visitors.
10. Handre Pollard – 8
Relished his head-to-head with Farrell, he linked play well throughout for the Tigers and his kicking was good. Has much the better against the out-of-sorts Farrell, capping his performance with his slick pass for Simmons’ try.
Handre Pollard with the money ball ?
Harry Simmons runs in a try out wide to extend @LeicesterTigers' lead.#GallagherPrem | #LEIvSAR pic.twitter.com/tD4lmSIHJS
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) January 6, 2024
9. Tom Whiteley – 6.5
Had some up-and-down moments, as witnessed in the second half before his 54th-minute exit. He was excellent when marking a kick with a dive in his 22, but sloppy with a pass that got Brown into a heap of trouble in the same area of the field.
1. James Cronin – 7.5
Exited just after the hour with a healthy tackle count but, more importantly, scrum dominance. It was his set-piece penalty win that got Leicester out of their half on 53 minutes, a crucial momentum swing.
2. Julian Montoya – 7.5
Wound up facing Dan for most of the game due to Kapeli Pifeleti’s early injury. There was one lost lineout in the lead-up to Saracens’ 10-point, first-half power surge, but his engine was great and he signed off with a 66th-minute penalty turnover win.
3. Joe Heyes – 7
Gave Saracens cheap penalty points with his late hit on Itoje but his scrum penalty win on halfway was the momentum shift that regained Leicester their lost first-half impetus at 5-10. Went on to enjoy more set-piece frolics in the second half before exiting with Cronin.
4. George Martin – 7.5
Back at it in recent weeks following his Rugby World Cup injury, he was excellently reliable in the tight when it most mattered. Will curse his handling, though, for the knock-on at 12-10 when Farrell crashed into him near the line.
Oh so close ?
An incredible try turns into an incredible try saver ?#GallagherPrem | #LEIvSAR pic.twitter.com/EwlXIpbs1k
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) January 6, 2024
5. Ollie Chessum – 8
Bounced into the new year last Sunday with his live post-game TV pint quaffing and he will be entitled to repeat that celebration after this effort which included stealing a lineout in the lead-up to Kelly’s disallowed try. Another lock who had an annoying knock-on in the Saracens 22 in the second half, but overall definitely made a case here for a Chessum/Martin partnership at Test level with England.
6. Matt Rogerson – 7.5
Having proved this winter to be an excellent signing from the collapsed London Irish, he produced a worm-like finish for the try that got Leicester back into the first-half contest. His tackle count was also impressive.
7. Tommy Reffell – 7.5
You can only but enjoy this chap’s exhausting work rate and he was on it again here, helping to ensure Saracens got stuck at the ruck.
8. Jasper Wiese – 8
Revved up the Breedon Terrace at an important time following a halfway set-to that ended with a Leicester penalty. Some huge carries followed in the engineering of the Simmons try, including the quick tap that got Itoje binned. Another forward, however, who had a disappointing second-half knock-on in the opposition 22.
Replacements:
Leicester opted for just two backs on their bench for the second game in a row, but the timing of Ben Youngs’ introduction on 54 minutes at scrum-half was perfect in helping them ratchet up the intensity at a crucial time.
Props Francois van Wyk and Will Hurd came on with Tigers 17-10 up and awaiting a successful try conversion and both were sound at the scrum.
Kyle Hatherell was given the closing 10 minutes for Rogerson and he made an immediate impact defensively.
Harry Wells and Finn Theobold-Thomas had eight minutes each for Martin and Montoya, with Jamie Shillcock also finishing the game for Steward at full-back. Olly Cracknell was given the final minutes for Reffell.
Comments on RugbyPass
Danny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
34 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to comments