2020/21 SEASON LEICESTER TIGERS v MONTPELLIER MATCH PREVIEW Match Facts Final – LEICESTER TIGERS v MONTPELLIER, Friday 21 May Venue Twickenham Stadium Kick-off 20:00 Referee Andrew Brace (Ire) Assistant Referee 1 Frank Murphy (Ire) Assistant Referee 2 Chris Busby (Ire) TMO Brian Macniece (Ire) Citing Commissioner Beth Dickens (Sco) • Leicester and Montpellier have never met in the Challenge Cup, however they have faced each other in the Heineken Champions Cup twice previously, the Tigers coming out on top in both pool stage matches in 2013/14. • Leicester will be participating in the Challenge Cup final for the first time, although they have reached the Heineken Champions Cup final on five previous occasions (W2, L3); they lost their only previous European final at Twickenham, a 9-25 defeat to Wasps in 2006/07. • Montpellier have reached the Challenge Cup final for the second time, they defeated Premiership side Harlequins 26-19 in Lyon in the 2015/16 showpiece event; Leicester meanwhile are aiming to become the fifth side to win both the Heineken Champions Cup and Challenge Cup (also Leinster, Wasps, Northampton Saints, Bath). • Montpellier have won each of their last nine Challenge Cup games, a run that is more than twice as long as their previous best winning run in the competition and began during their successful 2015/16 title winning campaign. • Leicester Tigers have won 10 of their previous 12 Challenge Cup matches (L2), however both of their defeats in that spell came against TOP 14 opposition (v Pau and RC Toulon in 2019/20); they have won their last five straight games but haven’t won more consecutive matches in European competition since 2006/07 (W7). • Montpellier have conceded just 18.7 points and 0.7 tries per game in the Challenge Cup this season, fewer than any other club, although they’ve conceded the most penalty goals on average (4.7). • Leicester have gained 84 metres from their maul in this season’s Challenge Cup, only Newcastle Falcons (106) have gained more, while only Ulster (5) have scored more tries directly from their maul than the Tigers (3) in 2020/21. • Montpellier’s Florian Verhaeghe has stolen five lineouts in the Challenge Cup in 2020/21, over twice as many as any other player; teammate Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg and Leicester’s Ollie Chessum are two of the nine players behind Verhaeghe on two lineout steals. • George Martin (Leicester Tigers) has made the most tackles of any player in the Challenge Cup this season (54), while Yacouba Camara (Montpellier) has made the most of any player yet to miss a tackle in the competition in 2020/21 (33/33). • Tigers’ Jasper Wiese has made the most carries (54), offloads (6) and beaten the most defenders (21) of any player in the Challenge Cup this season, while he’s also gained the most metres of any forward (194). MATCH PREVIEW 2020/21 Results and Standings Preliminary Stage Rank Pl W D L PF PA Diff TF TA TB LB Pts 1 London Irish 2 2 0 0 60 25 35 9 3 2 0 10 2 Ospreys 2 2 0 0 77 44 33 9 6 2 0 10 3 Cardiff Blues 2 2 0 0 61 20 41 7 2 1 0 9 4 Leicester Tigers 2 2 0 0 67 37 30 7 3 1 0 9 5 Zebre Rugby Club 2 1 1 0 43 41 2 5 4 0 0 6 6 Agen 2 1 0 1 36 34 2 5 5 1 0 5 7 Benetton Rugby 2 1 0 1 44 48 -4 7 7 1 0 5 8 Newcastle Falcons 2 1 0 1 46 50 -4 5 6 0 0 4 9 Pau 2 1 0 1 41 46 -5 5 6 0 0 4 10 Bayonne 2 0 1 1 45 53 -8 5 6 0 0 2 11 Worcester Warriors 2 0 0 2 49 62 -13 6 7 1 1 2 12 Brive 2 0 0 2 33 57 -24 2 6 0 1 1 13 Castres Olympique 2 0 0 2 32 65 -33 5 8 0 0 0 14 Stade Français Paris 2 0 0 2 20 72 -52 3 11 0 0 0 Pool A* Rank Pl W D L PF PA Diff TF TA TB LB Pts 1 Leinster Rugby 2 2 0 0 70 33 37 9 4 2 0 10 2 Wasps 2 2 0 0 57 22 35 9 3 2 0 10 3 Bordeaux-Bègles 2 2 0 0 63 20 43 8 1 1 0 9 4 La Rochelle 2 2 0 0 41 8 33 6 1 1 0 9 5 Scarlets 2 2 0 0 51 19 32 6 2 1 0 9 6 Edinburgh Rugby 2 1 0 1 24 28 -4 2 4 0 1 5 7 RC Toulon 2 1 0 1 26 42 -16 2 6 0 0 4 8 Sale Sharks 2 0 0 2 29 42 -13 4 3 0 1 1 9 Northampton Saints 2 0 0 2 31 51 -20 3 5 0 1 1 10 Bath Rugby 2 0 0 2 19 51 -32 2 6 0 1 1 11 Montpellier 2 0 0 2 28 68 -40 3 10 0 0 0 12 Dragons 2 0 0 2 16 71 -55 2 11 0 0 0 *Heineken Champions Cup Results - Leicester Tigers Date Opponent Venue F A Result TF TA TB LB Round 11/12/2020 Brive H 39 17 W 4 1 X 1 19/12/2020 Bayonne A 28 20 W 3 2 2 03/04/2021 Connacht Rugby H 48 32 W 7 4 Round of 16 10/04/2021 Newcastle Falcons H 39 15 W 5 2 QF 30/04/2021 Ulster Rugby H 33 24 W 3 3 SF Results - Montpellier Date Opponent Venue F A Result TF TA TB LB Round 12/12/2020 Leinster Rugby H 14 35 L 1 5 1* 18/12/2020 Wasps A 14 33 L 2 5 2* 02/04/2021 Glasgow Warriors H 26 21 W 2 0 Round of 16 10/04/2021 Benetton Rugby H 31 25 W 3 1 QF 01/05/2021 Bath Rugby A 19 10 W 1 1 SF *Heineken Champions Cup MATCH PREVIEW Tournament Records Compared Leicester Tigers Montpellier Played 12 62 Wins 10 31 Draws 0 1 Losses 2 30 Win % 83% 50% Total Points For 387 1476 Total Points Against 237 1487 Largest Winning Margin 52 (v Rugby Calvisano, 7/12/2019) 64 (v Rugby Calvisano, 20/11/2015) Heaviest Losing Margin -15 (@ RC Toulon, 26/9/2020) -53 (@ Connacht Rugby, 4/12/2004) Head-to-head record These sides have never met in this competition MATCH PREVIEW 2020/21 Performance Data Team Averages Rank Leicester Tigers Montpellier Rank 3 36.6 Points 25.3 9 4 4.4 Tries 2.0 18 12 78% Goalkicking % 73% 16 15 85.6 Carries 91.0 12 11 361.0 Metres Made 305.7 14 6 8.2 Clean Breaks 5.3 15 8 19.2 Defenders Beaten 13.3 17 15 5.2 Offloads 5.7 12 19 89.4 Passes 88.0 20 2 32.2 Kicks From Hand 34.7 1 3 150.6 Tackles 154.3 2 18 21.0 Missed Tackles 14.0 8 7 88% Tackle % 92% 2 10 10.6 Penalties Conceded 15.3 21 13 1.0 Yellow Cards 1.7 21 1 0.0 Red Cards 0.0 1 5 8.4 Turnovers Conceded 11.7 12 3 6.6 Turnovers Won 9.0 1 10 89% Lineout Success % 81% 15 5 98% Scrum Success % 94% 9 5 97% Ruck Success % 94% 17 MATCH PREVIEW Appearance Data Leicester Tigers Name Appearances Starts Subs Minutes Points Tries Ben White 3 2 1 112 0 0 Ben Youngs 3 1 2 133 5 1 Calum Green 2 1 1 103 0 0 Cameron Henderson 3 3 0 240 0 0 Charlie Clare 5 3 2 212 10 2 Cyle Brink 3 0 3 75 5 1 Dan Cole 3 1 2 99 0 0 Dan Kelly 3 1 2 107 5 1 Ellis Genge 3 1 2 130 5 1 Freddie Steward 4 3 1 264 0 0 George Ford 3 1 2 141 33 0 George Martin 3 3 0 200 0 0 Guy Porter 4 3 1 252 10 2 Hanro Liebenberg 3 3 0 188 0 0 Harry Potter 2 2 0 160 10 2 Harry Simmons 1 1 0 80 0 0 Harry Wells 5 3 2 251 5 1 Jack Van Poortvliet 2 0 2 58 0 0 Jaco Taute 1 1 0 80 0 0 Jake Kerr 1 0 1 62 0 0 James Whitcombe 2 0 2 14 0 0 Jasper Wiese 4 3 1 292 10 2 Joaquin Diaz Bonilla 1 1 0 47 9 0 Joe Heyes 5 4 1 245 0 0 Johnny McPhillips 2 2 0 132 14 0 Jordan Taufua 2 2 0 114 0 0 Kini Murimurivalu 4 3 1 259 5 1 Luan de Bruin 4 2 2 151 0 0 Luke Wallace 2 1 1 77 0 0 Matias Moroni 4 4 0 300 10 2 Matt Scott 4 4 0 301 0 0 Nemani Nadolo 2 2 0 141 5 1 Nephi Leatigaga 2 2 0 113 0 0 Nic Dolly 1 0 1 1 0 0 Ollie Chessum 1 1 0 80 0 0 Richard Wigglesworth 2 2 0 97 0 0 Tom Youngs 3 2 1 104 5 1 Tomas Lavanini 5 3 2 206 0 0 Tommy Reffell 3 2 1 163 5 1 Will Hurd 1 0 1 32 0 0 Zack Henry 2 2 0 136 22 1 MATCH PREVIEW Montpellier Name Appearances Starts Subs Minutes Points Tries Alex Lozowski 3 3 0 219 16 0 Alexandre Becognee 2 2 0 159 0 0 Anthony Bouthier 3 3 0 240 8 1 Antoine Guillamon 1 0 1 19 0 0 Arthur Vincent 2 2 0 160 0 0 Bastien Chalureau 2 2 0 148 0 0 Benoit Paillaugue 2 2 0 121 34 2 Bismarck Du Plessis 3 0 3 69 0 0 Caleb Timu 1 1 0 55 0 0 Cobus Reinach 3 1 2 119 0 0 Enzo Forletta 3 3 0 217 0 0 Florian Verhaeghe 2 2 0 151 0 0 Fulgence Ouedraogo 2 1 1 92 0 0 Gabriel Ngandebe 1 1 0 80 0 0 Gregory Fichten 1 0 1 21 0 0 Guilhem Guirado 2 2 0 121 5 1 Handre Pollard 1 0 1 21 3 0 Jan Serfontein 1 1 0 40 0 0 Johan Goosen 2 2 0 150 0 0 Julien Tisseron 2 2 0 160 0 0 Martin Devergie 2 0 2 28 0 0 Mohammed Haouas 2 2 0 116 0 0 Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg 2 2 0 160 0 0 Paul Vallee 1 1 0 68 0 0 Paul Willemse 2 2 0 150 5 1 Samuel Maximin 1 1 0 45 0 0 Titi Lamositele 3 1 2 105 0 0 Tyler Duguid 1 0 1 1 0 0 Vincent Martin 2 0 2 23 0 0 Vincent Rattez 2 2 0 160 0 0 Yacouba Camara 3 2 1 170 5 1 Youri Delhommel 1 1 0 50 0 0 Yvan Reilhac 2 1 1 120 0 0 MATCH PREVIEW Appearance Charts Leicester Tigers Name Brive Bayonne Ulster Rugby Connacht Rugby Newcastle Falcons B White 9 9 s9 - - B Youngs s9* - 9 - s9 C Brink s7* s8 - - s6 C Clare s2 2 2** 2 s2 C Green s4 - - - 5 C Henderson - 4 4 5 - D Cole - s3 - s3 3 D Kelly - 12* s13 s12 - E Genge s1 - - s1 1* F Steward 15 - s13 15 15 G Ford s10 - - s10 10 G Martin - - 6 6 6 G Porter s13 14 11* - 14* H Liebenberg 6 - - 8 7 H Potter - - 14 14** - H Simmons - 11 - - - H Wells 4 s5 s5* 4 4 J Diaz Bonilla 10 u - - - J Heyes 3 3 3 3 s3 J Kerr - s2 - - - J McPhillips - - 10 10 - J Taufua 7 8 - - - J Taute - 13 - - - J Van Poortvliet - s9 - s9 - J Whitcombe - s1 s1 - - J Wiese 8 - 8* s8 8* K Murimurivalu 14 15* - 11 s11 L Wallace - s7 7 - - L de Bruin s3 - 1 1 s1 M Moroni 13 - 13* 13* 13 M Scott 12 - 12 12 12 N Dolly - - s2 - - N Leatigaga 1 1 - - - N Nadolo 11* - - - 11 O Chessum - 6 - - - R Wigglesworth - - - 9 9 T Lavanini 5 5 5 s4 s4 T Reffell - 7* s7 7 - T Youngs 2* - - s2 2 W Hurd - - s3 - - Z Henry - 10 15* - u KEY: Number denotes position, s: substitute, u: unused replacement, *: try scored MATCH PREVIEW Montpellier Name Bath Rugby Benetton Rugby Glasgow Warriors A Becognee 8 - 8 A Bouthier 15* 15 15 A Guillamon - s3 - A Lozowski 10 10 10 A Vincent 13 - 12 B Chalureau 5 4 - B Du Plessis s2 s2 s2 B Paillaugue - 9** 9 C Reinach 9 s9 s9 C Timu u 8 - E Forletta 1 1 1 F Ouedraogo - 6 s1 F Verhaeghe 4 - 4 G Fichten - - s7 G Guirado 2* - 2 G Ngandebe - 11 - H Pollard - - s10 J Danglot u - - J Goosen 14 - 13 J Serfontein