Champions Cup: Leicester’s Richard Wigglesworth delighted to qualify for last 16 after Clermont win

Dylan Coetzee
Leicester Tigers coach Richard Wigglesworth looks on during a warm-up.

Leicester Tigers Interim Head Coach, Richard Wigglesworth, reacts ahead of the Gallagher Premiership match at Kingston Park Stadium, Newcastle upon Tyne. Picture date: Saturday January 7, 2023.

Leicester Tigers head coach Richard Wigglesworth was delighted with his team after they qualified for the Champions Cup round of 16 with a 44-29 win over Clermont on Friday.

The Premiership side scored five tries en route to a bonus point victory, including two from Scottish centre Matt Scott.

Impressive character

Wigglesworth was pleased with the full house of points against the French side and praised Tigers‘ character during the clash.

“I spoke to the players about coming here last year and winning and how brilliant that was, but I think this certainly tops that,” said Wigglesworth.

“I felt there was a performance coming from the side, and we started brilliantly. There was a great energy about us, and it snowballed from there.

“We fought and scrapped for everything. We were far from perfect but what was perfect was our desire.

“We weren’t favourites to win it, and the margin of victory is irrelevant because it could easily have gone the other way.

“We done it tough because we’ve had a really small squad, but the lads have fought hard, and they deserve knock-out rugby.”

Still things to improve on

Even though it was a solid win for his side, Scott feels that there are still things to work on. However, the two-try centre is delighted to go into their final group game, having already qualified for the knockouts.

“This is a very special memory for this group after a tough couple of weeks in which we’ve been on the end of some big scorelines,” said Scott.

“It was still not perfect because we conceded 29 points, and that made it difficult, and their crowd got up. We stuck in there and survived a bit of a tidal wave of momentum from them.

“Not many teams get to come here and win, so that makes it very special for us. It is a competition in which we want to do well in.

“We’ve got a tough game against Ospreys next week, but we’ve already qualified. The boys have done a fantastic job in this tournament.

“I was lucky that things fell for me for both tries and the move that led to the second try was one we’d got six or seven times in the match. We couldn’t do it before the score because the forwards were doing so well, and we never got to see the ball.

“It was just one of those training ground moves that came off.”

READ MORE: Champions Cup: Five takeaways from Clermont v Leicester as the Tigers overpower the French outfit