Kalamafoni wants to be ton-up boy at Twickers

LEICESTER’S Sione Kalamafoni knows victory over Newcastle this Friday is nonnegotiable if he is to earn a shot at completing a century of Premiership appearances at Twickenham.

Tongan No.8 Kalamafoni has racked-up 96 top-flight games for Gloucester and Tigers since emerging from Championship side Nottingham in 2012. However, defeat to the Falcons would in all probability end his side’s hopes of a 14th successive play-off appearance.

Kalamafoni said: “It would be a massive achievement to play my 100th Premiership game at Twickenham and I’ll just have to ensure we get there.

“Hopefully I can stay injury free and do that, but we have a massive game against Newcastle, who are above us in the table, and it’s a must-win or we can forget about the top four.

“It was hugely disappointing to lose to Northampton last weekend. Coming off the back of five straight wins that had got us into the playoff places we were pretty confident, but there were a lot of mistakes and the amount of turnovers we made was unacceptable.

“You have to own up and look at yourself and there are things we need to do differently this week.”

Despite last week’s frustrations, Kalamafoni, 29, has been a standout performer for Tigers since his move from Gloucester last summer.

He explained: “It’s been a good move for me. It was a bit of a change, another challenge, and the biggest thing for me has been playing at No.8 for the whole season.

“At Gloucester I used to switch around and play more at six – but playing No.8 has helped me a lot with my confidence.

“Ball-carrying and giving the team front-foot ball has always been my thing, but I’ve taken on more of a leadership role now.”