Leicester Tigers vs. Racing 92 Top Performers
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Antonie Claassen - Racing 92
The South African born French international was the deserved winner of the Man of the Match award for his energetic 65 minute shift at Welford Road. As usual, he was impressive in his defensive contribution, completed 10 dominant tackles and constantly offered himself as a willing ball carrier. After the retirement of Yannick Nyanga last season, Claassen has taken ownership of the No. 8 shirt and retained the very high standards that was set by his former teammate.
Finn Russell - Racing 92
The Scotland playmaker was once again a stand out performer for Les Ciel et Blanc in the Pool 4 clash. Russell set up one of the tries of the round following a break from inside his own 22 after a lovely show and go move that threw the Leicester defence. He made 55 metres in attack, beat four defenders, made all of his 6 kicks, made two clean breaks and threw a couple of brilliant offloads to round off a spectacular performance.
Manu Tuilagi - Leicester Tigers
Tuilagi is a formidable presence in midfield for the Tigers and he was at his bulldozing best against the Parisians. The England centre dominated the collisions and got his side over the advantage line with a series of massive carries that bruised the Racing defensive line. After a number of seasons plagued through injury it's encouraging to see him produce a couple of world class performances against last season's semi finalists. Tuilagi had the most carries on the day with 12, beat two defenders and made a clean break.