Leicester Tigers announce handful of contract extensions - including international prop and England hopeful

The news followed a playful tease on the club’s social media earlier in the day, where a story reading “We’ve been keeping some secrets,” sent fans into full speculation mode before the 4pm reveal.

After an evening of announcements, news that many Tigers fans would have been hoping for finally arrived, with Emeka Ilione staying at the club for the foreseeable future.

23-year-old Ilione was ruled out for up to three months after suffering a shoulder injury in October, which meant that he was unable to feature in the Quilter Nations Series for England, something which wasn't a guarantee even without injury, but was certainly a possibility given how highly Steve Borthwick seems to rate him.

The injury came just days after he was called up for a three-day England training camp ahead of the autumn internationals.

Speaking on the deal, head coach Geoff Parling said, "Emeka had some serious interest from elsewhere so it’s great to see that he thinks the best place to develop his game is here."

Before that, the first to be revealed was Pearson’s new contract — a reward for a player whose rise has been remarkably rapid.

The 19-year-old stole the show in the Champions Cup at the weekend with a stunning break against La Rochelle, easing past defenders before delivering a slick offload to Joaquin Moro for what many labelled the try of the round.

Standing at 6ft 3 and comfortable anywhere across the back three, Pearson already has the physical profile of a future international.

The outing against La Rochelle was also his first senior appearance for Leicester Tigers outside the Premiership Rugby Cup — a pretty memorable way to introduce yourself.

Reflecting on the young fullback, Parling said, “As we saw in his first start in the Champions Cup, he’s an exciting attacking player with a great aerial ability, which is getting increasingly important in the modern game.

"He’s another with stacks of potential and huge ceiling who we’re excited about seeing develop in our environment and add to our great stable of back three players.”

The second announcement was made at 4:30, confirming that 23-year-old centre Will Wand has also committed to extending his time with the club. Wand has featured in 21 matches for Tigers, crossing for an impressive 12 tries, including the final score in last weekend’s loss to La Rochelle.

Speaking about Wand, Parling said, “Wandy has great potential with good athletic qualities and is someone that's slowly beginning to realise how good he is.

"He has acquitted himself well in big games especially with how he defends at 13 and showed at the weekend a glimpse of what he can do with the ball in hand. He’s someone that should continue to develop and if he keeps working the way he has could become a great player for us here at Tigers.”

Young lock/ back row Harry Palmer was the third to have his contract extension announced. The 20-year-old has just had a month's stint with Japanese side Mitsubishi DynaBoars, who are partnered with Tigers, to give him a different experience.

That experience has clearly helped Palmer, as he now finds himself with a new deal.

A fourth young talent was then announced, being scrum-half Ollie Allan, another promising player who already has 11 appearances for Tigers at the age of 21. There are few players with someone better to learn off, as Allan has one of the most talented scrum-halves in the country in Jack van Poortvliet as his senior.

Then came 23-year-old fly-half Charlie Titcombe's contract extension. Despite having only five appearances for the club so far, Parling praised him and announced that he will be heading out to Japan for some much-needed game time.

"He’s a competitor and going to our partner club Mitubishi Dynaboars for this season will allow him to get some flow around his game. He's not played much top-level rugby over the last couple of years and this will allow him to spend time in what's a real fast league and come back and be better equipped for how we want the game to be played."

In a landmark move, Sweden international Ale Loman was next to be handed a deal. The prop has impressed since being on loan from Nottingham, and has featured in both the Prem and Champions Cup this season, becoming the first Swedish player to do so.

Now joining the club on a permanent basis, Loman looks set to establish himself with further appearances at Welford Road.

While not as young as the rest of the cohort, at 25 he is still a player with plenty of upside and whose growth in the professional game has been astronomical recently.