Leicester Tigers scrum-half Jack van Poortvliet spoke to Discovery+ after claiming player of the match honours in Tigers dramatic win over Newcastle.

Tigers found a way to win despite conceding three yellow cards and playing 17 minutes of rugby beyond the 80-minute mark.

Like supporters, van Poortvliet could only watch on at the end.

“It was stressful,” van Poortvliet admitted.

“I’ve never been part of a game like that, but we said it in the changing rooms just then, the club is built on that type of fight and courage and the lads at the end showed so much there.

“We know we shouldn’t have been in that situation to start with. We had enough chances to make things more comfortable but still the fight was incredible.

“There’s lots for us to work on to not be in that situation again but we needed to win and we did that.”

Van Poortvliet hasn’t missed a beat despite his eight-month stint on the sidelines, his first half try the pick of the scores on the night.

“I’m just glad to be back out there and contributing.”

“Obviously it was a really tough period for me, probably the toughest of my career but you always have that goal in mind and it’s great to be back playing.”