Handre Pollard will make his long-awaited return from injury when he debuts for Leicester Tigers in the Premiership clash against Sale Sharks on Friday night.
Pollard has been named in the No 10 jersey and will make just his second appearance for Leicester, having made his debut as a substitute in early October.
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The Springbok playmaker , whose Rugby Championship campaign was cut short due to a knee injury, lasted just 27 minutes on debut in a game against Saracens, as he was withdrawn due to re-occurrence of the same injury.
His return will come as welcome news for the Springboks, who were also without veteran flyhalf Elton Jantjies for most of 2022. As a result, Jacques Nienaber deployed both Damian Willemse and Frans Steyn at flyhalf during the Rugby Championship, while Manie Libbok made a successful Test debut on the end of year tour.
On Friday, Pollard will be up against in-form Sale playmaker Rob du Preez, the one-cap Springbok who has been putting his hand up for a Test squad recall with some influential performances this season.
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The matchday squad for Friday night’s #GallagherPrem fixture against @SaleSharksRugby. #SALvLEI ? #COYT ?
— Leicester Tigers (@LeicesterTigers) December 29, 2022
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It’s the ??? one #SharksFam as the #GallagherPrem champs are heading to town! ?
Manu returns to face his former side as Alex names a side to end 2022 with a bang!
Read more here ?#SALvLEI | @Connectus_Group
— Sale Sharks ? (@SaleSharksRugby) December 29, 2022
Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
