Nemani Nadolo's 'personal' reason for two-try show and why the scrum hat came off early

A tearful Nemani Nadolo revealed the motivation behind his man-of-the-match display against London Irish.

The Fijian winger's brace moved him to 14 tries in 30 Leicester Tigers appearances in a barnstorming display during the 47-28 victory over London Irish that also saw him make 118 metres with ball in hand, beat eight defenders and provide the assist for Harry Potter's score.

It was a performance that the 19,000 spectators inside Mattioli Woods Welford Road lapped up as they gave the 34-year-old a memorable reception after registering his second try.

But it was one supporter in particular who Nadolo singled out during his celebrations in the first and second half.

"It wasn't about the performance, it wasn't about the game for me," Nadolo. "Something special, my mum was in the crowd. She came over from Australia, she's only ever watched me four times live in my career. I've been playing for a long time. For me I didn't care about winning or losing, I just cared about making her proud. I'll probably tear up about this, that's all I cared about today."

Not since Nadolo's time at the Canterbury Crusaders, that ended in 2016 with a move to Montpellier, had Bale Nadolo seen her son play rugby from the stands.

"Once I left the Southern Hemisphere, she's only ever watched me on TV," added the 6ft 5in tall back. "She watches all my games, she gets up at 1am. She works at 5/6am. She's always supported me. To make it easier for her to come over and watch me live, it's something I'll always cherish."

Nadolo's hopes of a first Tigers hat-trick were cut short by a 77th minute sin-binning for knocking on while trying to intercept a pass.

"For me it was a bit personal to have mum in the stands," he said. "I gave her a wave after I