'Unbelievable': Pollard shares his thoughts on Stormers' depth
REACTION: Leicester Tigers flyhalf Handre Pollard says his club got an example of the depth in South African rugby when they faced the Stormers in their Champions Cup opener over the weekend.
The Stormers – featuring a fairly young team following the decision to leave most of their star players in Cape Town – had a strong start against the Tigers at Welford Road on Sunday as they built up an encouraging 17-10 half-time lead.
However, the home side eventually powered to a 35-26 win with the help of Pollard who contributed 20 points in the game.
“Of course, they [Stormers] left a few big names at home but they’ve got a lot of depth,” Pollard told TNT Sports.
“There’s a lot of depth in South African rugby and we felt that. An unbelievable effort from them.
“It’s definitely more relief but we’ll enjoy it still.
“We’ll go back and work hard because we know there’s a big challenge coming for us in Paris [against Stade Francais].”
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‘Not Ideal’
Pollard also credited head coach Dan McKellar who helped turn things around at half-time with some strong words.
“It wasn’t an ideal first 40 for us,” the Springbok playmaker explained.
“Credit to the Stormers though, they brought in a physicality and an intensity that was pretty good and their kicking game was unbelievable in the first half.
“They put us under pressure, but we had a good chat at half-time, a few tough words, and luckily we turned it round in the second half.
“Not ideal, not perfect, but we’ll definitely take the win.”
Pollard added: “Dan [McKellar] is not an angry guy, he’s a pretty chilled guy, but to see him revved up was brilliant.
“We just said we’ve got a good plan, we knew our plan was the right plan, we just didn’t execute in the first half. But again, credit to the Stormers, they didn’t allow us to do that.
“Way better in the second half, but a tough [Sunday] night.”
