Leicester Tigers player ratings: Former England prospect ‘mesmerising’ while exiled winger loses battle with international rival

Leicester were defeated at home for the first time since March 2025 on Sunday, losing 35-26 to an impressive Exeter Chiefs at Welford Road.

Here are our Leicester Tigers player ratings:

Backs

15 George Pearson: Perhaps unfortunate not to have won a penalty early on, when he was cleared out in the air by Harvey Skinner. But the incident did nothing to affect his confidence, patrolling the skies well throughout and touching down for a well-deserved try. 7

14 Adam Radwan: Guilty of fluffing a couple of semi-simple opportunities, both in the right-hand corner. The first, he stepped inside and was greeted by two more-than-willing defenders who held him up, or at least made enough of an effort to make it seem like he was held up. And later, he dropped the ball whilst attempting to swan-dive past the oncoming defence. There were impressive moments during his game, however, which included bashing Henry Slade out of the way and also providing an impressive assist to Charlie Clare for their bonus point try. Sadly, he didn’t have enough space to truly challenge the Chiefs’ defence, but did what he could with limited opportunity. 6

13 Will Wand: The former Coventry centre is quickly becoming one of the most consistent players in the league. His superb direct running style and fast footwork enabled him to break the line twice, beat four players and make over 50 metres in attack. 6

12 Orlando Bailey: A game of two halves for the former Bath player. He put in an incredible kick to set up Pearson’s opening try, then showed fantastic footwork to step round the outside centre and throw a one-handed pass to Radwan for what should have been their second try. His passing in that first half was utterly mesmerising. If Steve Borthwick was watching, he should have sat up and taken notice. The second half, however, he must have still been celebrating the first, because he disappeared from view and missed the vital tackle on Andrea Zambonin in the final minutes. 6

11 Olllie Hassell-Collins: It was a brilliant battle with Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, but the Leicester man quite clearly lost. He was unfortunate to receive a couple of difficult balls to deal with on the attack – one behind his back and one bouncing along the floor – but he may feel that he could have done better with both. Made a couple of big hits on his opposition man, but on the face of it, he couldn’t quite compete with his England rival’s power this time. 4

10 Charlie Titcombe: In the absence of Billy Searle and James O’Connor, the 24-year-old gave a good account of himself. He was fizzing in attack and kicked superbly from hand, which included an impressive kick pass early doors. Defensively, however, he was rather weak, missing four tackles. 5

9 Jack van Poortvliet: The England number nine made a brilliant early break, resulting in a close-cut try effort for Hassell-Collins. He looked to snipe throughout, but often found his corridor blocked, and was found guilty of forcing plays which weren’t on. 5

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Forwards

8 Joaquin Moro: The Argentine number eight showed an impressive work rate to get around the park, but the normally solid star was guilty of missing a few tackles before he was hauled off at 52 minutes. 5

7 Tommy Reffell: Pure quality again, winning three impressive turnovers – including a vital one deep into his own half which resulted in a 60 metre turnaround – and not missing a single tackle during his time on the field. 7

6 Hanro Liebenberg: Another huge defence effort, topping the tackle charts with 13. But he did toe very close to the line, conceding three penalties along the way. 7

5 Ollie Chessum: Big Red led the way in the lineout, despite some particularly dodgy early throws from Jamie Blamire. 6

4 George Martin: The returning England man was solid enough, but other than the odd carry or a solid tackle, his afternoon was otherwise uneventful. 5

3 Joe Heyes: Skimmed by Feyi-Waboso (understandably, which led to Olly Woodburn’s try, and failed to dominate at scrum time. In attack, he did give Tigers some solid go-forward ball, however. 5

2 Jamie Blamire: Showed some great footwork in attack and was brilliant in the ruck. Threw a few dodgy darts though. In particular, the first two lineouts found Chiefs’ hands, and he overcooked one later in the half. Did likewise on 55 minutes, which proved to be his last act. 5

1 Nicky Smith: Beaten up at scrum time, but was pretty effective in the tackle area. 5

Replacements: Solomone Kata made a huge impact, winning a maul penalty on the Chiefs’ five metre line, while the forward replacements added huge power to the scrum, and both Ollie Cracknell and Clare scored to give Leicester the try bonus point. 7

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