Leicester face Racing 92 in rugby European Champions Cup semi

Peter Betham hopes his potent midfield partnership with England powerhouse Manu Tuilagi will play its part in helping Leicester reach the European Champions Cup final this weekend.

Two-time European champions Leicester have made it through to the last four of the competition for the first time since 2009 and will make the short journey across the East Midlands to face France's Racing 92 in Nottingham on Sunday.

Betham and Tuilagi, under the guidance of Leicester coach and former All Blacks centre Aaron Mauger, have been in fine form in recent weeks and the twice-capped Wallaby is well aware of the scale of Sunday's clash.

"This one is definitely up there in terms of the biggest games I have ever played," he said. "I'm very much looking forward to playing this week if I get the shot, and forming that combination with Manu again will be big for me personally and hopefully also for the team.

"I think in the centres we can change the game defensively, and if we do that it will put us in good shape in terms of getting on the front foot.
"Our job is to shore up the team and the midfield. That's what we'll do this weekend and hopefully we'll get some good turnovers."

Racing will look to New Zealand World Cup-winning fly-half Dan Carter, international rugby union's all-time leading points-scorer, to guide them to victory at Nottingham Forest football club's City Ground.

"I've played Dan Carter the most out of all the players there, so I'll be keeping a close eye on him for sure. It's set to be a tricky one this weekend," said Betham.

"There's a lot of hype over playing Dan Carter and all his individual accolades, but if you look at that team they are excellent across the board so you can't take your eyes off the ball at all."

Leicester fans won't have to travel far to roar on the Tigers on Sunday and Betham, 27, said: "We're not at home quite but it feels that way a little bit -- at least we'd like to think so.

"We're really looking forward to getting the numbers down there and putting on a good performance for our fans," he added.

The City Ground was also where Leicester enjoyed a dramatic 2002 European Cup semi-final win over Llanelli, when Tim Stimpson's mammoth 58-metre penalty in the last minute, which went over after bouncing off post and crossbar, sealed a 13-12 victory against the Welsh side.
Source: AFP