Springbok Handre Pollard is peaking just at the right time
World Cup winner Handre Pollard’s time at Leicester Tigers has not really taken off so far, but that has not really been his fault. A series of injuries have kept the fly-half sidelined, but the signs were all there on Saturday against Bath at Welford Road that he is hitting his straps now.
Starting in his sixth game in a row for the Tigers, Pollard steered them to a 48-27 win, in which he contributed 21 points. He got the assist for Leicester’s opening try of the game with a perfectly weighted left-handed miss pass to Harry Potter and then darted over for his own try just a few minutes later. The Springbok also finished his 65 minute stint on the field with a 100 percent kicking record.
The win lifted Leicester to third place in the Gallagher Premiership table, although there are only seven points separating them and ninth place Bristol Bears, who also have a game in hand. The Tigers travel to Kingsholm on Sunday to face seventh place Gloucester, who could leapfrog them with a win. With only four games left of the regular Premiership season and with such competition for the top four, having a World Cup winning fly-half hitting his top form could be the deciding factor for Leicester.
Edinburgh also travel to Welford Road at the end of the month in the Heineken Champions Cup round of 16. Head coach Richard Wigglesworth will be glad everything is looking like it is falling into place for then.
This is what Wigglesworth said about Pollard after his performance against Bath at the weekend: “He is a world-class fly-half, I’m really happy that he got minutes under his belt.
“He is now Leicester Tigers’ fly-half and will take us forward. I’m delighted for him and he’s running the team beautifully.”
Take a look at the highlights of his game:
