Head coach Heyneke Meyer put the Melton 18-year-old on the bench for the Tigers' first pre-season game of their campaign at French giants Biarritz.

Injuries and international duty had shorn the South African coach of several stars, but the Tigers side was still packed with international experience including Martin Corry, Julian White and Geordan Murphy.

The talented young wing came on after the interval and after a nervy start, came into his own.

He followed his hat-trick of tries for England Under 18s against Argentina earlier this month with two tries.
But it was not quite enough for Tigers as a 78th minute try gave the French a 37-35 win.

He said: "There were a lot of injuries at wing in the first team.
"Johne Murphy and Alex Tuilagi were not playing and Tom Varndell was away with England so I was the next port of call.

"I was chuffed with my performance. The head coach was really impressed with my two tries at Biarritz and has talked about things I have to work on such as my kicking so I can become a good all-round player, good enough to get into the first team."

Hurrell was called up to first team training on the day of his return from Argentina and is the youngest Tiger involved at that level.

His aim is a dream Tigers debut, particularly when England come calling for the senior stars.

He has retained his place in the squad for Tigers' friendly at Ospreys on Saturday and will hope for another 40 minutes with the Guinness Premiership season little more than three weeks away.

"They are really nice guys and good to be around. As a youngster you have just got to work hard and keep your head down and they appreciate that.

"I am still at a stage of development really and there are lots of things to work on.

"But as long as I can keep working hard I could be in with a shout.
"It has always been my aim to be playing first team rugby and be where rugby becomes your job.

"When you are running through moves with people like Tom Varndell and Geordan Murphy, it really helps to bring you on as a player."

Hurrell raced 50 metres before shrugging off one tackle and spinning out of another to record his first try on Friday.

And just a minute later Hurrell burst through from 20 metres out to dive under the posts to put Tigers ahead. After the game Meyer praised the young second half band of replacements.

He said: "I thought the youngsters put up their hands to play for Leicester in the future. All of those guys will learn from those situations."