Kyle Eastmond, who received 21% of the vote to win the LeoVegas Fans' Favourite Award for his performance in the Gallagher Premiership game against Harlequins at Twickenham, speaks to LeicesterTigers.com about his return to action after months on the sideline with a calf injury and his crucial try in the 30-all draw.
Eastmond beat out Dan Cole, George Ford and Ellis Genge to win the LeoVegas Fans’ Favourite award for his performance in the Gallagher Premiership Round 7 game against Harlequins at Twickenham.
Eastmond, who was returning from injury in the ‘Big Game’ showdown with ‘Quins scored a crucial intercept try in the 30-all draw after intercepting a Kyle Sinckler pass in the 43rd minute, which he admitted to feeling an energy loss in the half-field run for the line before diving over.
“I felt everything man,” Eastmond said with a smile post-match.
“I lost a little of energy, which was disappointing, but I’ve been out for a little while now.”
Recalling the key moment in the match, Eastmond added: “I could see Kyle [Sinckler] trying to offload the ball, he’s pretty good at that, and Tom got a good tackle in on him.”
“I tried to read it well and luckily, I managed to get it.
Looking back on his performance in the fixture, the Tigers centre said: “There’s a few things I need to tidy up but hopefully I can build on the performance over the next few weeks.”
The match doubled as a first outing for Eastmond and South African international Jaco Taute, who the former England international said was an impressive midfield partner.
“He’s good man, he’s very good,” he said.
“I haven’t played with him before but we’ve trained together a lot.
“He allowed me to do my job and played off me the best he can … we didn’t get it going today as much as we might have liked but playing alongside players who want to do their role and allow you to do their role is nice.”
Eastmond also admitted the side were “disappointed” not to come away from Twickenham with a result but believes results are just around the corner.
“A club of this stature, and with the players in this room, unless we are winning and winning with five points, we are disappointed,” said Eastmond.
“It is deflating, of course … but, for us, it’s about building performances each week.
“Once we get that performance right, the points will come.”
The Tigers centre also praised the home side for turning on an event at their 12th ‘Big Game’ which saw more than 75,000 fans pack into Twickenham for the Round 7 Premiership fixture.
“It was actually brilliant today, I enjoyed it,” he said.
“It was very different against Northampton last year here … we’re disappointed to not come away with a win but it was a good occasion.”
