European Club Rugby : Triple boost for former champs

Harry Ellis is one of three Tigers to return from injury in Monday night's development fixture

Triple boost for former champs

7 December 2009, 1:03 pm

By Westgate, Marc Heywood

Leicester Tigers have received a triple boost ahead of their Heineken Cup double-header with Clermont Auvergne.

The 2001 and 2002 European Champions face the French Championship runners up at the Stade Marcel Michelin on Sunday afternoon before hosting the crucial return match at Welford Road the following Saturday.

And they could now have a trio of influential players returning in time for either of those two clashes after Harry Ellis, Sam Vesty and Billy Twelvetrees were all named in a development XV to play Sale Jets this evening.

All three players have spent time on the sidelines over recent weeks and months, with Vesty not having played since last season, Ellis having not featured since September and Twelvetrees having been unavailable since October’s Heineken Cup win at Viadana.

Vesty was in superb form as the Tigers marched to the Heineken Cup Final in 2008/09 but a hamstring injury has ensured he hasn’t worn club colours since defeat to Leinster at Murrayfield in Europe’s showpiece event.

Scrum-half Ellis has also spent the majority of this season out of action having missed 11 weeks with a knee injury.

The England international ended the 2008/09 season as a British & Irish Lion but hasn’t played for his club since the league match against Newcastle on September 19.

Despite being unknown outside Leicester prior to the start of this year’s Heineken Cup campaign, the loss of Twelvetrees almost two months ago has also been a substantial setback to the Tigers.

The 21-year-old centre was called into emergency action against the Ospreys in the opening round of European action after Dan Hipkiss was forced to withdraw on the morning of the match.

And Twelvetrees responded in the perfect fashion as his man-of-the-match display helped Tigers salvage a draw and a try-scoring bonus point.

The former Bedford Blues and Tigers Academy player then impressed once more against Viadana the following week but an ankle injury has since halted his progress.

But while this evening’s return of Ellis, Vesty and Twelvetrees is a positive step for the five-times Heineken Cup finalists, they will have to face Clermont Auvergne without one of their star names and one of their most-talked about youngsters.

Lions Test star Tom Croft has been ruled out of Sunday’s French encounter with a medial ligament injury to his knee, while Argentina wing Lucas Amorosino is recovering from a fractured leg.

Neither injury is thought to be too serious but both are unlikely to feature in the Heineken Cup until the New Year.