WATCH: Handre Pollard scores his first Premiership try for Leicester Tigers before leaving the pitch shortly afterwards

Handre Pollard scored his first try for Leicester Tigers against Sale Sharks in their Premiership clash, but the Springbok fly-half was replaced soon afterwards.

Pollard joined the Premiership champions from Montpellier at the start of the season and made just his second appearance for the club on Friday after suffering an injury setback on his debut back in October.

Try scoring return

The 28-year-old earned his first start for the Tigers against Sale after debuting off the bench against Saracens two months ago. 

With Leicester trailing 16-0 at half-time, Pollard broke the deadlock for the visiting side when he intercepted a pass from fellow Springbok Robert du Preez and raced away to score his first Premiership try in the 46th minute.

Striking with a debut try 🤩

Handré Pollard secures the intercept and gets @LeicesterTigers on the board 🌟

Remember to catch the action on @btsportrugby 📺#GallagherPrem | #SALvLEI pic.twitter.com/63ed4m8UYd

— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) December 30, 2022

The World Cup winner is struggling for match fitness, and it showed as he gingerly got back to his feet after scoring the try and was replaced by interim head coach Richard Wigglesworth soon after.

Things went from bad to worse for Leicester from there, as they would go on to lose the match 40-5.

Leicester’s injury woes

It was a tough night for the Leicester faithful, with Anthony Watson, Guy Porter, Olly Cracknell, Freddie Burns, and Pollard all leaving the pitch with injuries or niggles.

While Pollard looked uncomfortable after scoring, Wigglesworth said after the game that they had planned that the Springbok would only play half the match and that the Tigers kept him on the pitch for as long as they could.

“Handre was only due to play 40 minutes, but we managed him for as long as we could,” he said.

“He’s new to this team and new to us, but you can see his class. He will only get better and better for us.”

Wigglesworth felt that his side did not make the most of their opportunities and that, paired with the injury toll and the performance from Sale, was just too much.

“The injuries started to pile up in the second half, and that was to prove costly in the end,” he added.

“It felt a bit like we were on the back foot for most of the second half.

“The injuries are concerning for us, but at least that opens opportunities for others now – that’s how we’ve got to look at it.

“There were players playing out of position in the end, but players were doing things they shouldn’t necessarily be doing, and this is what happens.

“Sale are a quality side, and they’re up where they are in the table for a reason.

“Fair play to them; they made life extremely difficult for us on a tough night.”

READ MORE: Alex Sanderson admits to ‘harsh words’ despite dominant win for Sale over Leicester

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