What we learned and might've been missed as Leicester Tigers march on in Europe
Leicester Tigers beat Clermont Auvergne 27-17 in the second leg of their Heineken Champions Cup round-of-16 tie to secure a comfortable passage into the quarter-finals of the competition.
There they will face the formidable task of tournament favourites Leinster at Mattioli Woods Welford Road in early May.
Beating Clermont is no mean feat anywhere, and now Tigers have done it back-to-back. But what did we learn on Saturday evening? LeicestershireLive investigates…
14/14. So far it has been a perfect home record in all competitions for the Tigers this season. Whenever a team now steps off their coach outside the Crumbie stand and walks through the old corridors, they know they’re going to have a battle to be leaving with anything. That hasn’t always been the case in recent years, but it certainly is again.
Steve Borthwick has always attributed the home form down to playing in front of the exceptional home support, which he has always said the team are lucky to have. This is undoubtedly true, but the supporters are finding their voice again because of the team too, and both spurring each other on is doing wonders for the atmosphere at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.
More than 22,000 fans in for a European encounter that was pretty much decided six days earlier in France - no other English club can match that kind of support.
On the face of it, Leicester Tigers have had an unusually small number of injuries this season. Of course, it's a narrative Borthwick doesn't indulge in with his lips sealed approach to discussing player absences. But fans are growing increasingly inquisitive about Marco van Staden's absence since a horrible head injury on Boxing Day and now rumours are circulating over George Martin's fitness after not