Tiger Reffell raring to rip into Robshaw

RISING star Tommy Reffell goes into battle against Premiership legend Chris Robshaw today looking to enhance his burgeoning reputation.

- NEALE HARVEY

Welsh back rower Reffell, 21, has been one of the few bright sparks of an otherwise gloomy campaign for the Tigers, who are already condemned to a second successive 11th place finish and but for Saracens would have been relegated.

Aided by tighter interpretations around the breakdown, Reffell has seen game time he could only dream of at the start of a disrupted season and is relishing the chance to take on Robshaw on his 300th and final game for Harlequins.

“Chris has been a hell of a player for Harlequins and England rugby and he’s going to be really up for this match,” Reffell told The Rugby Paper.

“The other players will want to send him off with a nice performance, but we’ve just got to concentrate on ourselves. We’re at the start of our own journey as a team and we can’t be concentrating too much on the rest.”

Leicester’s journey so far under new head coach Steve Borthwick has been less than impressive, with last Wednesday’s 40-3 loss at Bristol the latest in a run of crushing failures that has seen once proud Tigers ship 75 tries in 21 league games.

To highlight vast difference between the fallen giants and the top teams, Leicester’s points difference is minus 229 while Exeter’s is plus 228.