'Biggest thing' - Leicester Tigers boss Steve Borthwick reflects on Clermont win, Porter red card and Youngs latest

Steve Borthwick highlighted a key moment that embodied Leicester Tigers' incredible win away against Clermont Auvergne that makes them strong favourites to reach the Heineken Champions Cup quarter-finals.

The scores were tied at 10-all at Stade Marcel-Michelin when Jack van Poortvliet sprinted back to tackle Fritz Lee at the start of the second half allowing Tommy Reffell to pounce on the subsequent breakdown and win a penalty.

Five minutes later, van Poortvliet scored Tigers' third of five tries as they registered 19 unanswered points to take a commanding lead into Saturday's second leg at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.

"I thought for the main part we were tactically very smart," said head coach Borthwick after the 29-10 win. "The way they adapted in the 20 minutes after the red card. Ultimately, the biggest thing was just how hard they worked for each other. When you see JvP sprint back the way he did to make that tackle, early in the second half, he had no right to make that tackle but he made it happen. Then Tommy Reffell was with him, all the boys were back there. That probably shows the spirit and heart that's in the team."

Tigers lost Guy Porter to a red card with 20 minutes to go but Clermont could not cash in as Harry Potter's try proved to be the final score of the game.

"I didn't look at it closely as I was more interested in what we needed to do, what changes I needed to make, to try and help the team. I'll have a look at it. Guy will, I am sure, be very disappointed. He's got a fantastic disciplinary record, he's a really honest player. We don't want any players getting hurt, that's not why we play rugby. We just want to play good rugby."

Van Poortvliet was one of Tigers' star performers after he was