Friday 31 August 2012

Tiger Cubs down Leinster 18-16

Tigers' academy starlets survived a late Leinster onslaught to win 18-16.  Leinster scored a last gasp try but missed the leveling conversion.

Tigers tries came from Wrexham winger Rhys Williams and Old Millfieldian full back Tom Bellak.  Redruth's Ollie Bryant at fly half contributed the other 8 points from his boot.

Tigers side was:
O Tom Bellak
N Luke Jones
M Henry Purdy
L Pasqualle Dunn
K Rhys Williams
J Oli Bryant
I Scott Steele
A Riccardo Brugnara
B Jamal Ford-Robinson
C Tiziano Pasquali
D Jake Albon (c)
E Ryan Mason
F Joe Cousens
H Will Owen
G Oliver Povoas
Replacements
Harry Thacker
James Thraves
Jake Farnworth
Harrison Lee-Everton

It is worth noting Joe Cousens and Jake Albon were reported to have left the academy previously.  It is unknown what their current status is. 
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UPDATE: Joe Cousens will spend a year in Brazil working as a PRL community coach, he previously was expected to go to Cambridge but that is now on hold.

Tigers name team for season opener

Tigers:

15 Geordan Murphy (c)
14 Scott Hamilton
13 Manusamoa Tuilagi
12 Anthony Allen
11 Vereniki Goneva
10 Toby Flood
9 Micky Young
1 Logovi'i Mulipola
2 Tom Youngs
3 Dan Cole
4 Rob Andrew
5 Geoff Parling
6 Steve Mafi
7 Julian Salvi
8 Thomas Waldrom

BENCH: 16 George Chuter, 17 Boris Stankovich, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Brett Deacon, 20 Jordan Crane, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 George Ford, 23 Matt Smith

London Welsh:
15 Tom Arscott, 
14 Phil MacKenzie, 
13 Sonny Parker, 
12 Hudson Tonga'uiha, 
11 Joe Ajuwa, 
10 Gordon Ross, 
9 Jonah Holmes; 
1 Franck Montanella, 
2 Neil Briggs, 
3 Paulica Ion, 
4 Jonathan Mills (c)©, 
5. Kirill Kulemin, 
6 Ed Williamson, 
7 Lee Beach, 
8 Daniel Browne.
BENCH: 16 Greg Bateman, 17 Tom Bristow, 18 Arthur Joly, 19 Martin Purdy, 20 Alfie To'oala, 21 Nick Runciman, 22 Seb Jewell, 23 Nick Scott

Tigers pair Vereniki Goneva and Rob Andrew are in line to make their competitive debuts away to London Welsh on Sunday.  On the Welsh side Canadian Phil MacKenzie, Sonny Parker, Jonah Holmes, Franck Montella, Neil Briggs, Romanian Paulica Ion, Russian Kirill Kulemin, Ed Williamson and Daniel Browne all make first competitive starts for the Exiles.

Thursday 30 August 2012

Bower and Stevens named on bench for Notts

Prop Ryan Bower and hooker Jimmy Stevens have both been named as replacements for Nottingham's season opening fixture verses Leeds at Meadow Lane on Friday.

Ex-Tigers Joe Duffy,Matt Parr,Michael Holford,Dan Montague, Brent Wilson and Alex Shaw all start in the pack with with ex-Academy trio Finley Barnham, Rory Lynn and Joe Cobden named as replacements.

The Leeds side features two ex-Tigers in the second row as debutant Calum Green joins Dan Hemingway.

Wednesday 29 August 2012

EXCLUSIVE: Tigers to face NZ Maori!

EXCLUSIVE: NZ Maori will kick off their European Tour with a match against Leicester Tigers on Tuesday November 13th with a kick off of 7:30.

This is a fantastic coup for the Tigers to go along with the previous games against South Africa and Australia.

The Maori will also play against a Championship XV at Doncaster on Saturday the 17th and will play Canada at Oxford University sports grounds on Friday November 23rd.

12 to go out on Loan?

Simon Cohen has revealed that up to 12 of Tigers youngsters may go out on loan to gain first team experience.  And unlike in previous years Nottingham will not gain an automatic monopoly.  Already confirmed is Hinckley boy Ryan Bower returning to Nottingham where he gained rave reviews last year, he will compete with Soar Valley's Michael Holford and another ex-Tiger in Matt Parr.  

But who could the other 12 be and where might they go?  Nottingham seem very thin on props and locks, especially after Mitchell Todd's sad death, so might we see Johnny Allen or Fraser Balmain go to help out on the loosehead and perhaps Joe Cain to help out in the second row.  Richard De Carpentier suffered with injuries last year but looked impressive in his cameos, he may well get another shot somewhere.  

In the backs Scott Steele, once he regains fitness, may well be farmed out to smooth some of his rough edges whilst Andy Forsyth and Alex Lewington might also be loaned out for game time.  In the younger generation Cornish-Maori Javiah Pohe is a bright prospect.

Nottingham is an obvious location for lots of these players, though with Glen Delaney being replaced with ex-Bath lock Martin Haag perhaps Tigers will be more circumspect with the less experienced coach.  Rotherham Titans might be best placed to benefit, Andre Bester is a highly thought of coach with a similar hard working philosophy to that of Tigers. Moseley, Bedford and Doncaster might also benefit, especially Doncaster as Moseley already have some loan players from Northampton and Bedford from Saracens.

Monday 27 August 2012

Vereniki Very Goody!

Tigers new flying Fijian Vereniki Goneva had a home debut to remember grabbing a brace of tries against local rivals Nottingham as Tigers romped to a ten-try 64-7 win.  Opposite winger Scotty Hamilton also bagged a brace, whilst Alex Lewington also chipped in with a try to round off a prolific day for the Welford Wingers!

Both Goneva and Hamilton had potential hat trick scores ruled out, with Goneva also providing the scoring pass for try number 7, scored by Tony Allen.

Tigers other scores came from backrow trio JC, on his first Welford Road appearance for over a year, Richard "Thorpedo" Thorpe, also a home debutant,  and Thomas "The Tank" Waldrom.  

Nottingham started with 6 ex-Tigers and their score was by one of that number Matt Parr from a charged down Micky Young kick.

"The Outsider": Captain Murphy to release autobiography

Tigers Captain Geordan Murphy has announced the release of his new book, "The Outsider".  To promote the book a signing session will be held in Market Street Warterstones on Thursday September 6th from 4:30 in the afternoon.  So that's all UltraSubMarines bed time reading sorted for a bit!

Wednesday 22 August 2012

Academy lose in Cardiff

Today the Tigers Academy was downed 27-22 against the Welsh Region Cardiff Blues.


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UPDATE: Tigers' scores were from openside flanker Jake Farnworth plus replacements Harrison Lee-Everton (scrumhalf) and England age group hooker Harry Thacker.

A name that stands out from the team sheet is one Brian Tuilagi.  He is the son of Freddie and the first of hopefully a second generation of Tuilagis to come through the ranks.

Tuesday 21 August 2012

Cohen: European Reserve League in the offing?

Simon Cohen has raised the possibility of a European U-21 league, with perhaps a few over aged players, and says informal talks have been held with clubs like Leinster, Munster and Clermont.

For me the economics of that are never going to work, the cost of the away games would be prohibitive and the home games would never cover the cost, especially if we kept them free entry.

It is a good idea and might work as part of a European Super League where the sponsorship might cover it, but not any time soon.

Friday 17 August 2012

Prop Idol Ayerza named on Bench whilst 2 Former Tigers start

Tigers ever present Marcos Ayerza has been named on the bench for Argentina's historic entry to The Rugby Championship after losing his selection battle with coaches favorite Rodrigo Roncero.  

One man who already knows what is feels like to defeat the Boks is Montpelier's ex-Tiger Lucas Amorosino who starts at full back.  Amorosino famously scored the winning the try when Tigers defeated the Boks 22-17 at Welford Road.

The other more recent ex-Tiger to play is Horacio Agulla who starts on the right wing.

The Boks are of course coached by ex-Tigers DOR Heyneke Meyer.

Ex-Tiger Hamilton named Gloucester captain

Scottish international and Tigers Academy graduate Big Jim Hamilton has been confirmed as the Cherry and White's new captain, taking over from Luke Narraway who has left for Perpignan.  Big Jim, born in Swindon and raised in Coventry, was first spotted by Tigers due to his huge physical presence, a trip to play in South Africa cemented his friendship Brett Deacon and brought about a new attitude to training.  Hamilton says "I feel very honoured and humbled to captain a side with the level of class and quality we have here across the squad"

Monday 13 August 2012

Tigers Announce Academy Fixtures

Tigers academy will kick off their season with a trip to Welsh region Cardiff Blues on Wednesday August 22nd.  The first tranche of fixtures goes up to December 8th when the Tigers will face off against National League One side Loughborough Students.

Fixtures can be found here.

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UPDATE: Tigers academy manager Neil McCarthy has since announced that a new league for Academy players will be inaugurated this season.  Running along similar lines to the A league this will presumably be played after Christmas.

Friday 10 August 2012

Tigers Team to face Jersey

Tigers have announced their team for tomorrow's game against Jersey.  There are club debuts for new signings Goneva, Andrew and Thorpe with Phibbs and Thompstone certain to make their bows from the bench.  First team debuts are given to Geordie prop Fraiser Balmain and 7s star Joe "Co" Cain.  Tigers have also given a bench spot to utility back rower Wessel Jooste the former Bourgoin player now available after the French authorities relegated the club to Federale 1 for financial misdemeanors.

15. Niall Morris
14. Scott Hamilton
13. Matt Smith
12. Andy Symons
11. Vereniki Goneva
10. George Ford
9. Mickey Young
1. Fraser Balmain
2. Rob Hawkins
3. Martin Castrogiovanni (Capt)
4. Rob Andrew
5. Joe Cain
6. Brett Deacon
7. Richard Thorpe
8. Jordan Crane


Subs:
George Chuter
Keiran Brookes
Jonny Harris
Ryan Bower
Harry Wells
Wessel Jooste
Julian Salvi
Patrick Phibbs
Matt Cornwell
Alex Lewington
Geordan Murphy 
Adam Thompstone

Wednesday 8 August 2012

Thorpedo aims to make a splash!

Tigers today confirm the signing of Richard Thorpe from London Irish.  Thorpe can play all across the back row but has mainly been an 8, despite being shorter than Julian Salvi.  As part of the deal London Irish will still pay part of his wages.  This is a cracking deal for Tigers, not only do we get a goodish player for a poor players wages we also manage to hobble a rival with dead wage space they can't use on anyone else.  Paying players to play for other clubs is nothing new to football with Leeds United doing a similar thing with Robbie Fowler.

Thorpe originally announced the move on his twitter page a few days ago before quickly deleting the message and presumably getting a thorough bollocking from Cockers.

Tuesday 7 August 2012

Louis Deacon: Man or SuperMan?

Louis Deacon sometimes gets forgotten, but now in his benefit year it is time to remember what a complete legend he is.

He's come through from one of the great junior clubs in the county, Syston, to play for 12 years for the best club in the country: Leicester Football Club.  He's played 235 games in The Stripes already with another 29 caps for England.  He's won the league a staggering 5 times and was a crucial squad member for our 2 Heineken Cup wins even if he missed the finals, only due to the world class versatility of Martin Corry it should be noted.  He won the cup in 2007 and has also featured in the heartbreaking Heineken Cup final losses to Leinster and Wasps.On the international stage he was also a key component of England winning the 2011 Six Nations, the first time since 2003.

In the maelstrom of Tigers greatness it has been overlooked that this man is Leicestershire's second greatest lock EVER.  The best?  Martin Johnson, only the greatest lock in the history of Rugby.

Louis Deacon is a true Leicester hero and must be remembered as such.  So in his benefit year lets recognise the quite man at the heart of our pack.

http://www.louisdeaconbenefit.co.uk/

Sunday 5 August 2012

Lee Robinson on the move

Recent Ex-Tiger Big Lee Robinson is reported in Italy to have signed for Excellenza (formerly Super 10) side L'Aquilla.  Good luck Lee, not the best player to have worn The Stripes but an honest trier who always gave his best.

Thursday 2 August 2012

Four Tiger Cubs in England U-18 Tour Squad

Javiah Pohe, George Catchpole, Harry Thacker and Harry Rudkin have been selected to go on tour to South Africe with the England Under 18s.