One 'new' Tiger in semifinal
Fri, 16 May 2008 13:22
Leicester Tigers have made one change to their line-up for Sunday's Guinness Premiership semifinal showdown against Gloucester at Kingsholm, with Alesana Tuilagi making his return on the wing.
The Samoan international, Tuilagi, comes in after injury to Johne Murphy, but the other 21 players on duty for the thrilling victory over Harlequins at Welford Road last Saturday keep their places for the trip to face the league leaders.
Head coach Marcelo Loffreda said: "The team showed great resilience and character in the victory last Saturday and I think the players can take a lot of confidence from that.
"I said we were not going to give up while we still had a chance to qualify for the play-offs. Now it is in our own hands again and we have another opportunity.
"Gloucester have had a good season, they have a strong team and they will have a lot of confidence, but now it all depends on what happens in this game."
Leicester
Tigers: 15 Geordan Murphy, 14 Tom Varndell, 13 Danny Hipkiss, 12 Aaron Mauger, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Harry Ellis, 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Ben Herring, 6 Martin Corry (captain), 5 Ben Kay, 4 Marco Wentzel, 3 Julian White, 2 Mefin Davies, 1 Boris Stankovich.
Replacements: 16 George Chuter, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Richard Blaze, 19 Tom Croft, 20 Christophe Laussucq, 21 Sam Vesty, 22 Ayoola Erinle.
Date: Sunday, May 18
Venue: Kingsholm, Gloucester
Kick-off: 16.30 (15.30 GMT)
Referee: Dave Pearson
Touch judges: Stuart Terheege, Peter Huckle
TMO: Laurie Bryant, Geoff Warren
