Tigers to make new signing?

French rugby bible Midi-Olympique today links Tigers with Portuguese teenager Paolo Fril.  Fril is a 19 year old second row forward currently playing in the Espoirs of Federale 1 club Nevers.  The 6’8” teen has been gaining rave reviews and will link up with his new academy teams mates in his homeland of Portugal when the Academy face Russian Champions Krasny Yar in two weeks time.

Fril has represented his native Portugal at Under 16s, 18s and 20s after starting his rugby education at 13 for Direito in Lisbon.

Where have all the young players gone?

Most of the headlines focused on the wind and the scaffolding.  This was the first Tigers game to be abandoned that I can remember, and at 70 minutes extremely close to the finish; the lack of bonus point has seemingly condemned us to be knocked out from the competition.  With 10 minutes to go a win was surely too far but a simple seven point try, and Tigers were attacking a disorganized Quins defence when the whistle blew, would have secured that point.

It seems that Quins will escape without an RFU or PRL penalty for their unsafe ground but that was not what caught my eye.  What I spotted was the lack of young players in the team.  Using an old fashioned definition of a young player as an "under 23" we started with only 4 (Terrence Hepetema, Tom Bristow, Fraser Balmain and Pablo Matera) players born after September 1st 1990.

This got me thinking "How often do we actually play young players, and how often does everyone else?"

So I looked it up.  Using the number of minutes played from www.itsrugby.co.uk/ I divided them into the total minutes played over the various different tournaments.

Obviously Perry Humphreys does have a Date of Birth but I couldn't find it.  Any help from readers is much appreciated.

In isolation that doesn't show us much.  We play youngsters much more in the LV Cup than the other tournaments (even with fewer against Quins) and in the Heineken Cup we make no pretenses and pick the best players only.

So what does everyone else do?  I have the above set up for every club but reproducing it would take up far too much room, so instead lets look at just the raw totals for the three main leagues:

	Team	U23 Mins % League
1	Llanelli	32.41%
2	Ospreys	31.97%
3	Newport	31.28%
4	Cardiff	28.96%
5	Connacht	28.61%
6	Wasps	25.24%
7	Toulouse	24.55%
8	Ulster	23.55%
9	Bath	21.32%
10	Perpignan	20.23%
11	Edinburgh	19.77%
12	Harlequins	19.74%
13	Saracens	19.49%
14	Sale	18.70%
15	Leinster	17.10%
16	Northampton	16.61%
17	Bordeaux-Begles	16.44%
18	Biarritz	15.60%
19	Glasgow	15.48%
20	Gloucester	14.82%
21	Stade Francais	14.62%
22	Zebre	14.49%
23	Exeter	14.14%
24	Worcester	12.51%
25	Bayonne	12.14%
26	Munster	11.77%
27	London Irish	11.53%
28	Treviso	10.52%
29	Newcastle	9.67%
30	Grenoble	9.03%
31	Montpellier	8.47%
32	Clermont	6.83%
33	Brive	6.52%
34	Leicester	5.28%
35	Toulon	4.83%
36	Racing	4.62%
37	Castres	2.90%
38	Oyonnax	0.03%

Suddenly it doesn't look so good.  With only the 4 French sides below us the argument that we don't play youngsters is clearly solid.  Compared to our peers we don't.  The Heineken Cup numbers are starker still.

	Team	U23 Mins % HC
1	Llanelli	38.85%
2	Connacht	31.06%
3	Ospreys	27.83%
4	Perpignan	23.47%
5	Cardiff	22.33%
6	Saracens	21.08%
7	Ulster	19.71%
8	Harlequins	19.44%
9	Gloucester	19.09%
10	Edinburgh	18.88%
11	Exeter	17.33%
12	Toulouse	16.64%
13	Northampton	15.91%
14	Treviso	14.18%
15	Zebre	13.54%
16	Montpellier	13.10%
17	Leinster	10.21%
18	Glasgow	9.15%
19	Castres	5.29%
20	Racing	4.90%
21	Toulon	4.89%
22	Munster	4.51%
23	Clermont	2.50%
24	Leicester	2.14%

Even if Manu Tuilagi had been fit and played every minute of the European campaign the numbers would only improve to 8.81%, again the case that compared to our peers youngsters don't play is sound.

Noticeably the 3 sides directly above us are 3 of the sides with a home quarter final.  If we'd have won against Ulster the 4 sides with the fewest young players would have all been the most succesful.  This does lead us to the point that we're in this to win not give youth a chance.  If we were top of the league and had a home semi-final then this wouldn't be an issue.

But we aren't top of league, we don't have a home quarter final, so this is an issue.

Economics play a part.  Llanelli don't make almost 40% of their team under 23 purely by choice, the fact that they can't afford to sign in many experienced pros forces them to play their younger players.

Similarly two of France's best sides for playing young players are Stade Francais and Perpignan.  Both have suffered from relative financial collapses in recent times and have been forced to blood more youth.  In Stade's case this has worked fantastically as they go into the 6 Nations break top of the Top 14. 

By the same measure Bath have managed to attract talents like George Ford, Jonathan Joseph and Anthony Watson.  All were signed as first team players and they make up over 82% of minutes given to under 23s.  They aren't doing it because of some "give youth a chance" initiative but because their good players they've signed happen to be young.

At a recent open forum Cockerill declared that he wants to bring through players as much as anyone else, but only when they deserve it.  He put it more succinctly when he said "I'm not anti-young players, I'm anti-crap players".

There is an idea that Cockerill doesn't "blood" players, he picks the best ones.  That means that when Manu Tuilagi was our best centre at 19 he played every week, when George Ford was our second best fly half at 18 he covered for Flood and when Ben Youngs was our best scrum half at 19 he played too, but that he won't give players a chance if he doesn't rate them.

The numbers show that in all competitions Tigers have used 17 players under 23, only Gloucester (20) and Quins (18) have more.  But only 6 of those have made it into a matchday squad in the Premiership and those 6 have only played 761 minutes compared to the European average of almost 2,500 minutes.
  
The problem seems to be hanging on to the players as they get older.  Tigers have given 6 players born in 1994 (plus probably Humphreys) a run in the First XV this season, the most in Europe, but we have none from 1990 and only 3 from 1991.  Quins on the other hand have picked more "under 23s" but 10 of their 19 were born in either 1990 or 1991.

This missing generation is Andy Forsyth, Jimmy Stevens and Matt Everard.  Everard was released as not good enough; his slowly eroding game time at Wasps suggests this was the correct call, as unpopular as it was at the time.  But Forsyth and Stevens were rumoured to have been offered contracts and declined them.  

This might seem counter intuitive but does the Academy work too well?  It generates stacks of 18 year olds that can play first team rugby to the point that often we forget how young our players are and expect them to be further along as they slowly progress from promising 18 year old to 23 year old ready to play a serious part in the campaign.

During those 5 years the players become frustrated and too many of them are leaving.  Forsyth was a case in point, at the same age Dan Hipkiss and Matt Smith had played significantly less first team rugby than him, so it seems wrong to blame his leaving on Cockerill for not picking him, but clearly he was frustrated and wanted to play regularly. 

So what can be done to change that?  The long term trends are towards players breaking through at younger ages.  Whilst in the past there were outliers such as Paul Dodge (who if he made his debut today would have been born in 1997) since professionalism there has been a march towards younger players.  

This runs counter to ideas espoused by Cockerill at the recent open forum that as physicality increases players need longer to come through, especially in the tight 5.  Certainly in the front row there is growing evidence that the human body cannot stand the forces involved until it is 22 or 23 without succumbing to injury.  Anecdotal comparisons of Dan Cole with Alex Corbiseiro suggest this has some basis.

This season Tigers have made much greater use of the loan market than in previous years.  We have seen the top prospects go to Nottingham as usual, for a final polish and high quality game time, but we have also seen three young forwards go to Doncaster to learn the pressures of competitive rugby in what is a red hot title race, we have two forwards go to Coventry (so far for a single game) and seen three young players feature for Loughborough Students all in the increasingly professional National League One. 

Quins have used loans to sides like Esher, Ealing, Richmond and London Scottish to great effect as players get to play and the coaches get to see them in the competitive and often hostile environments they will face in the First XV.

There has been much anxiousness on some forums that players such as Catchpole or Purdy have barely featured and that they might be the next out of the door.  Any sane analysis of young players across Europe sees that attitude as exactly the problem of placing too much pressure on players too soon.  Both the two cited were born in 1994, Europe wide only 15 players born in 1994 have featured for their clubs in League action.  

Gael Fickou and Hallam Amos have already won international caps and Anthony Watson will surely join them soon.  The vast majority of players make their debuts in their first year out of the Under 20 set up, which means that the likes of Catchpole and Purdy should be in no rush.

No one can argue that Tigers are using young players in any great numbers.  The lack of examples in the difficult 20-23 age bracket produces a lack of confidence of fans in the system, increasing the fears that another generation of talent will have to fail to make it before changes are made.  Whether it is Cockerill as selector or the academy and scouting network not producing the players somewhere the production line has stalled.

Some changes have been made already, but do they go far enough?

U 18s League Fixtures released

Tigers Academy Under 18s will open the defence of their Northern Conference Title  with a trip to the north west to face their Sale counter parts on Saturday October 26th.

Last season Tigers' cubs romped to a 100% record of 6 bonus point wins from 6 and this year's age group will look to emulate the 2012/13 team and go one better as Leicester Tigers UltraSubMarines understands that there will be a final with the Southern Conference Champions to crown inaugural national U 18s champions.

After the trip to Sale Tigers welcome Worcester and Northampton to Oval Park in consecutive weekends in December before traveling to Gloucester then Leeds in January.  They round off the league by playing Newcastle in February.

Unfortunately last year's double header of the Gloucester U-18 game with the Wasps LV Cup game can not be repeated as there are away games on the 21 December and the 8 February, whilst Montpellier has already been confirmed for Sunday 15 December.

To be eligible for the league games players must be born no earlier than September 1995; 3 "over age" players are also allowed so long as they are still 18 years old.

26 October Sale (A)
14 December Worcester (H)
21 December Northampton (H)
4 January Gloucester (A)
18 January Leeds (A)
8 February Newcastle (H)

9 Tigers called for National Service

On a busy day for announcements no fewer than 9 Tigers academy players have been called up to represent their country at various levels.  

Harry Wells retains his place for England Under 20s at blindside flanker as they face Italy in Northampton on Friday, Henry Purdy is forced to the bench as Exeter's Jack Nowell returns from Premiership duty, notably outside centre Mark Jennings was the Sale winger beaten for pace by Ed Slater for his try from the halfway line last Saturday.  On the opposing side will be Italian tighthead Tiziano Pasquali.

Scott Steele returns to Scotland Under 20s after missing last year's Junior World Cup with a broken leg, he replaces Sam Hidalgo-Clyne in the 23 who misses out with an ankle injury.

4 Tigers have been selected for England Under 18s after their impressive season in the inaugural Premiership Academies league.  They face Wales in Swansea on Sunday in another warm up for the FIRA-AER Under 18s Championship to be held in France in 2 weeks.  Neale Farthing retains his place on the bench, after being a second half sub last week, where he is joined by scrum half George Tresidder, originally from Derby he missed the early action in the Academy league with an injury but is now back to full fitness.  In the starting line up are versatile outside back Tom Hudson, playing full back after predominantly featuring for Tigers at centre, and openside flanker Will Owen.  Owen bagged a try in each of the last three matches for the U-18s so is in cracking form.

The final player selected is Tigers EPDG player Oliver Fewtrell who has been named in England's Schools and Clubs Under 18s for their match against Bedford Blues Academy Under 19s.  This squad is meant to be selected from players who are not full time rugby players and was the route taken by Henry Purdy last season before he signed with the club full time.


England U20
15 Ollie Devoto (Bath Rugby)
14 Ben Howard (Worcester Warriors)
13 Mark Jennings (Sale Sharks)
12 Sam Hill (Exeter Chiefs)
11 Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs)
10 Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
9 Callum Braley (Bristol Rugby)
1 Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi (Northampton Saints)
2 Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs)
3 Scott Wilson (Newcastle Falcons)
4 Elliott Stooke (Gloucester Rugby)
5 Dominic Barrow (Leeds Carnegie)
6 Harry Wells (Leicester Tigers)
7 David Sisi (London Irish)
8 Jack Clifford (Harlequins) (c)
Replacements
16 Nathan Morris (London Wasps)
17 Alex Lundberg (London Wasps)
18 Danny Herriott (Northampton Saints)
19 Tom Jubb (Saracens)
20 Gus Jones (London Wasps)
21 Alex Day (Northampton Saints)
22 Tom Stephenson (Northampton Saints)
23 Henry Purdy (Leicester Tigers)

Italy Under-20s
15 Angelo Esposito (Benetton Treviso)
14 David Michael Odiete (Zebre Rugby)
13 Michele Campagnaro (Benetton Treviso)
12 Giovanni BEnvenuti (Marchiol Mogliano)
11 Filippo Guarducci (Marchiol Mogliano)
10 Edoardo Padovani (Marchiol Mogliano)
9 Simone Marinaro (Fiamme Oro)
1 Luca Scarsini (Cammi Calvisano)
2 Alain Moriconi (UR Capitolina)
3 Tiziano Pasquali (Leicester Tigers)
4 Alessio Zdrilich (Cammi Calvisano)
5 Michele Andreotti (CammI Calvisano)
6 Andrea Trotta (Nuova Rugby Roma)
7 Jacopo Salvetti (Cammi Calvisano) (c)
8 Maxime Mbanda (Rugby Grande Milano) 
Replacements
16 Luca Conti (L'Aquila Rugby)
17 Matteo Zanusso (M-Three San Donà)
18 Simone Ferrari (Crociati Rugby)
19 Vittorio Marazzi (Crociati Rugby)
20 Gianmarco Vian (M-Three San Donà)
21 Marcello Violi (Crociati Rugby)
22 Filippo Buscema (UR Capitolina)
23 Andrea Bettin (Petrarca Padova)

Scotland U20
15 Ruaridh Young (Edinburgh Accies)
14 Damien Hoyland (Boroughmuir)
13 Chris Auld (Gala)
12 Mark Bennett (Glasgow Warriors)
11 Rory Hughes (Scotland 7s/Stirling County)
10 Tommy Allan (unattached)
9 Ali Price (Bedford Blues)
1 Shawn Muir (Hawick)
2 Russell Anderson (Gala)
3 D'arcy Rae (Ayr)
4 Ruaridh Leishman (Stirling County)
5 Jonny Gray (captain) (Glasgow Warriors/Currie)
6 Alex Henderson (Boroughmuir)
7 Will Bordill (Sale Sharks)
8 Adam Ashe (Glasgow Warriors/Stirling County)
Replacements:
16 Callum Black (Edinburgh Accies)
17 Jamie Bhatti (Stirling County)
18 Phil Cringle (Edinburgh Rugby/Stewart's-Melville FP)
19 Cameron Turner (Aberdeen Grammar)
20 Tommy Spinks (London Scottish)
21 Scott Steele (Leicester Tigers)
22 Robbie Fergusson (Ayr)
23 Keith Buchan (Boroughmuir)

England Under 18
15 Tom Hudson (Leicester Tigers & Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth College)
14 Zach Kibirige (Newcastle Falcons & Yarm School)
13 Nick Carpenter (Bristol Rugby & Filton College)
12 David Buck (Bath Rugby & Sherborne)
11 Nathan Earle (Saracens & Oaklands College)
10 Sam Olver (Northampton Saints & Oundle School)
9 Stuart Townsend (Exeter Chiefs & Ivybridge College)
1 Alex Lundberg (London Wasps & Hampton School)
2 Cameron Neild (Sale Sharks & Manchester Grammar)
3 Paul Hill (Leeds Carnegie & Prince Henry’s Grammar)
4 Tom Ellis (Bath Rugby & Millfield School)
5 Charlie Ewels (Bath Rugby & Bryanston School)
6 Lewis Ludlow  (Gloucester Rugby & Hartpury College)
7 Will Owen (Leicester Tigers & Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth College)
8 Hayden Stringer (Saracens & Oaklands College)
Replacement:
16 Tom Woolstencroft (Bath Rugby & Bryanston School)
17 Luke Chapman (Exeter Chiefs & Truro College)
18 Neale Farthing (Leicester Tigers & Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth College)
19 Jordan Onjoaife (Northampton Saints & Stowe School)
20 James Chisholm (Harlequins & Brighton College)
21 George Tressider (Leicester Tigers & Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth College)
22 Brett Herron (London Irish & Wellington College)
23 Nick Tompkins (Saracens & Oaklands College)
 
England U18 Clubs & Schools squad
Forwards
Thomas Duggan (Blackheath RFC, Dartford Grammar School)
Finlay Hillicks (Harlequins, College of Richard Collyer)
Ollie Hodgson (Middlesbrough, Gosforth Academy, Newcastle Falcons)
Dan Hyam (Mellish RFC, Arnold Hill Academy, Nottingham RFC)
Charlie Kingham (Saracens, Felsted School)
Simon Linsell (Gloucester Rugby, Marling School)
Harry McCartney (London Wasps AASE, The Henley College)
Charlie Piper (Harlequins, Cranleigh School)
Dan Preston-Routledge (Leeds Carnegie, Prince Henry’s Grammar School)
Sam Smith (Worcester Warriors, Old Swinford Hospital)
Alistair Wade (Camberley RFC, Godalming College)
Aston Whitlow (Alnwick RFC, Gosforth Academy, Newcastle Falcons)

Backs  
Sean Brown (Darlington Mowden Park, Newcastle Falcons)
Colin Dickson (Worcester Warriors, Ellesmere College)
Oliver Fewtrell (Derby RFC, Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Leicester Tigers EPDG)
Jordan Gott (London Irish, St. Pauls Catholic College)
Lewis Jones (Dunstable RFC, Moulton College, Northampton Saints)
Jack Maplesden (Saracens, Woodhouse Grove)
Aaron Morris (Bedford Blues, Biddenham Upper School)
Tom Morton (Sale Sharks, Stockport Grammar School)
Tom Penny (Alnwick RFC, Newcastle RGS, Newcastle Falcons)
Ben Pointon (Northampton Saints, Rugby School)

1 Tiger Cub in England Under 18s

Tigers stunning form in the inaugural Academy U-18s league has been rewarded with only one player selected for England's Under 18 side to face Scotland and that is only on the bench.

The man selected is Tigers ever present prop Neale Farthing, a product of Market Bosworth's mini and junior programme who went to Lutterworth Grammar School before moving to the Tigers academy and their preferred school QE. 

England face Scotland this Sunday in Darlington.  Unlike the seniors or Under 20s the Under 18s actually play a proper European Championship in a few weeks time so this is a friendly for England to try their options and tune up for their first round game against Portugal in 3 weeks time.

Congratulations Neale!

England
15 Howard Packman (Moulton College & Northampton Saints)
14 Tom Howe (Shiplake College & London Wasps)
13 Nick Tompkins (Oaklands College & Saracens)
12 Brett Herron (Wellington College & London Irish)
11 Tom Fowlie (St Paul’s Catholic College & London Irish)
10 Josh Sharp (Oaklands College & Saracens)
9 Stuart Townsend (Ivybridge Community College & Exeter Chiefs)
1 Luke Chapman (Truro College & Exeter Chiefs)
2 Jack Walker (Prince Henry’s & Leeds Carnegie)
3 Paul Hill (Prince Henry’s Grammar & Leeds Carnegie)
4 Jordan Onojaife (Stowe & Northampton Saints)
5 Charlie Ewels (Bryanston School & Bath Rugby)
6 Andrew Hughes (Hartpury College & Sale Sharks)
7 Andrew Boyce (Kings Worcester &Worcester Warriors)
8 James Chisholm (c) (Brighton College & Harlequins)
Replacements:
16 Sam James (Bishop’s Stortford & Saracens)
17 George Edgson (Hartpury College & London Wasps)
18 Neale Farthing (Wyggeston & Queen Elizabeth College & Leicester Tigers)
19 Charlie Hewitt (Ivybridge College & Exeter Chiefs)
20 Josh Peters (Oundle School & Northampton Saints)
21 James Mitchell (Lymm School & Sale Sharks)
22 Josh Skelcey (Moulton College & Northampton)
23 Louis Clayton-Molloy (Harrow School & London Wasps)

Academy Lads in a league of their own

The inaugural Premiership Under 18s league came to an end last Saturday as Tigers completed the only 100% record in either conference gaining 30 points out of 30.  The last match was the closest as they traveled to Northampton and won 32-26, the only time they let their opposition away with either the Try bonus or Losing bonus all season.  

Three players started every game: Wrexham winger Rhys Williams, Cornish Fly Half Oli Bryant and Leicestershire's own Neale Farthing at prop; with another 9 players playing some part in every game.  Famous surnames were in action as Oliver Povoas and Harry Thacker played some part in every game, Povoas playing a year up as a 16 year old and Thacker as one of the 3 over age players allowed on pitch at any one time.

Tigers used 36 players from 7 countries, including Canada, Zimbabwe and Italy, as well as 7 over age players and 7 16 year olds over the six games.  In the final game Tigers used two players on loan from Clermont Auvergne, Arthur Itarria and Francois Fontaine, whilst in the first used Zimbabwean Full Back Brandon Mandivenga as well as youth Rugby League international Hershall Ward.  40% of the appearances were made by players from Leicestershire.

Tigers scored 209 points to their opponents 68 and 32 tries to their opponents 6, only conceding tries against Gloucester and Northampton.  Those 32 tries were spread between 14 players with Harry Thacker topping the try scoring charts with 6, next nearest was flanker Jake Farnworth with 5 tries.  20 of the 32 tries were scored by forwards with the back row accounting for 13 of them.  Top points scorer was ever present fly half and captain Oli Bryant with 55, consisting of 2 tries, 15 conversions and 5 penalties.

The most selected players in each position were:
O Perry Humphreys; N David Williams, M Henry Purdy, L Javiah Pohe, K Rhys Williams; J Oli Bryant, I George Prince; A Owen Hills, B Harry Thacker, C Neale Farthing; D Matthew Hubbart, E Joe Maksymiw; F Oliver Povoas, G Ed Milne, H Will Owen.

Results:
15/12/2012 Leeds (H) W 30-9
6/1/2013 Worcester (A) W 32-9
13/1/2013 Newcastle (A) W 38-0
26/1/2013 Gloucester (H) W 48-15
9/2/2013 Sale (H) W 29-9
16/2/2013 Northampton (A) W 32-26

Academy win friday night derby

Tigers bounced back from their recent poor form with a four try 24-11 win against local rivals Northampton.  The Saints marched into a 11-0 lead in the warm up game for the new Under 18s league, before Tigers struck back with tries from Eddie Milne and Henry Purdy in the first half to take a 12-11 lead.  Scouse lock Charlie Beckett claimed the third try before Wrexham winger Rhys Williams finished off the scoring with the final try.  Ollie Bryant scored two conversions to round out the scoring.

A new name is Will Andrews who appears to be a scrum half originally from Bath.

Tigers:
O Tom Bellak
N Henry Purdy
M Perry Humphreys
L Tom Hudson
K Rhys Williams
J Oliver Bryant
I Will Andrews
A Neale Farthing
B Jack Holmes
C James Thraves (c)
D Matthew Hubbart
E Joe Makswymiw
F Oliver Povoas
H Will Owen
G Ed Milne 
Replacements
P Jake Farnworth
Q Dan Hogan
S Charlie Beckett
T Josh Bevan-Brown
U Charlie Thacker
V John Hargreaves
W David Williams
X Gift Sankoh
Y Hershall Ward

Saints:
15 Jake Olley
14 Alex Wootton
13 Charlie Esam
12 Lewis Jones
11 Howard Packman
10 Sam Olver
9 Lewis Hall
1 Danny Hobbs
2 Reece Marshall (capt)
3 Harry Morley
4 Jordan Onojaife
5 Steve Arroyo-hover
6 Ollie Lyons
7 Sam Harry
8 Jack Allcock
Replacements
16 Owen Griffiths
17 Simon Uzokwe
18 Ollie Lamprell
19 Harrison Marshall
20 Ollie Hartfield
21 Jacob Conner
22 Eddie Parkins
23 Nico Defeo
24 Conner Bullivant
25 Harry Shepherd

Finlay faces former friends?

London Irish have utilised Glen Delaney's links to Nottingham to take Finlay Barnham on loan, starting with their trip to face the Tigers this Sunday.  Barnham is a former member of the Tigers Academy programme and originally hails from Norfolk.  Will he return to haunt his former employers and make them regret releasing him?

Tiger cubs lose 3 on the bounce

Tigers Academy side lost their first game against Bedford since 2009 to extend their winless run to 3 games.  Bedford had a dream start to lead 27-3 at half time before Tigers dragged it back to 30-15 to give the scoreboard a fig leaf of respectability.  It makes a mockery of Bedford's exclusion from the up coming national U-18 league.  The 3 game losing streak is the Academy's longest since October 2007 when they lost to France after earlier suffering reverses against Northampton and Sale.

Bedford opened the scoring when prop Joe Foreman buried over from a lineout drive.  Ollie Bryant reduced the deficit with a penalty before Bedford struck again; fly half Joe Tarrant broke through the heart of Tigers defence before simple hands put centre Felix Streeton over for the try.  Winger Mike Stangway finished off the first half scoring as his individual try but the Blues 27-3 up at the break.

After a roasting at half time the Tiger cubs looked to overhaul the scoreline and immediately set about their work driving Matthew Hubart over after 2 minutes; Bryant converted to make it 27-10.  But the come back stalled as Bedford's Tarrant pushed them further ahead with a penalty and it took a further 30 minutes for Tigers to breach the Blues defence as Ed Milne claimed the try to bring the score to 30-15 as the conversion effort failed.  

This was no weak line up from the Tigers, hooker Harry Thacker had made his first team debut the day before coincidentally also at Goldington Road against Saracens.  At least 6 of the squad have national representative honours compared to one for Bedford.  Tigers look to bounce back next Saturday against Moseley and build towards the new Under 18s league.  Maybe next year Bedford will be allowed into it.

Bedford:
1. Joe Foreman
2. Alex Bloisi
3. Jack Simpson
4. Ben Latimer
5. Luke Carter
6. Josh Lemon
7. Joe Bercis
8. Shaq Meyers
9. Alex Smit
10. Joe Tarrant
11. Mike DiPonio
12. Nathan Donnachie
13. Felix Streeton
14. Mike Stanway
15. Aaron Morris. 
Replacements: Ben Brownlie, Mitch Akroyd, Alex Ruck, Scott Arroyo-Hover, Danny Hartwell, George Humphries, Chris Lord, Brandon Lewsey.

Tries: Foreman, Streeton, Stanway; Conversion: Tarrant 3; Penalty: Tarrant 3.

Tigers:
O Tom Bellak
N Rhys Williams
M George Catchpole (c)
L Oliver Bryant
K Hershall Ward
J John Hargreaves
I George Prince
A Neale Farthing
B Harry Thacker
C Djustice Duru-Sears
D Ryan Mason
E Joe Maksymiw
F Jake Farnworth
H Kain Rix
G Ed Milne 
Replacements
P James Thraves
Q Oliver Povoas
S Matthew Hubbart
T Will Owen
U Gift Sankoh
V Luke Jones
W Perry Humphreys
Y Charlie Beckett
Z Charlie Thacker
David Williams
Josh Bevan-Brown
Will Andrews
Tries: Hubbart, Milne; Conversion: Bryant; Penalty: Bryant.

Cubs Crushed by Cardiff

Tigers Academy Cubs were blown away by a 20 minute flood of points for Cardiff as the Cubs went from leading 16-15 at half time to trailing 39-16 on the hour mark.  A mini fight back ensured the score line ended 44-28 in favour of the visitors.  Ollie Bryant at fly half bagged 2 tries, 2 conversion and 3 penalties for an impressive personal haul of 23, Perry Humphreys claimed the other 5 pointer.  

Unfortunately the Cardiff scorers are unavailable at this time.  I will update if they become known later. 

Tigers team had a real international flavour as Loughborough University's Junior All American Tom Bliss started at scrum half with Italy's Tiziano Pasquali was at prop.  New Zealander's Javiah Pohe and Paqualle Dunn were the centres, while on the bench Scott Steele is of course a Scotland U-20 international and Djustice Duru-Sears hails from Ontario, Canada.  Winger Luke Jones is also from Guernsey. 

Tigers:
O Tom Hudson
N Perry Humphreys
M Pasqualle Dunn
L Javiah Pohe
K George Catchpole (c)
J Oliver Bryant
I Tom Bliss
A Tiziano Pasquali
B Jamal Ford-Robinson
C James Thraves
D Matthew Hubbart
E Tom Price
F Jake Farnworth
H Oliver Povoas
G Ed Milne 
Replacements
Jack Holmes
Djustice Duru-Sears
Ryan Mason
Scott Steele
Tom Bellak
Luke Jones
George Prince 


Cardiff Blues Academy: 15 Joey Griffin 14 Ellis Wyn Benham 13 Garin Smith 12 Aled Summerhill 11 Harry Davies 10 Will Thomas 9 Shaun Clarke
8 Dan Crimmins 7 Sam Parker 6 Reuben Tucker 5 Matt Screech 4 James Sheeky 3 Will Griff John 2 Jack Dando (c) 1 Calum Lewis
 
Replacements: Jack Dunning, Darran Harris, Brad Thyer, Ollie Hitchings, Ben Roach, Tom Williams, Sam Edwards, Ryan Evans

Academy League Games confirmed

Tigers have confirmed their schedule for the forthcoming Academy League.  As revealed here Tigers have home games against Leeds on December 15th and Sale on February 9th. The other home game is against Gloucester on January 19th.  Venues are yet to be confirmed.

All games:
December 15 Leeds Home
December 22 Worcester Away
January 13 Newcastle Away
January 19 Gloucester Home
February 9 Sale Home
February 16 Northampton Away

It will be interesting to compare these scores to our games against Moseley and Bedford two sides whose academies have not been invited to take part.

Academy lose at Sarries

Tigers academy went down 29-28 to Saracens academy side tonight at Bramley Road.   A last minute Saracens try from Nathan Earle denied the lads a victory.  Leicester Tries came from Perry Humphreys, Ollie Bryant, Rhys Williams and sub David Williams, all were converted by Bryant for a 13 point haul.  Sarries try scorers were Tom Webb, Hayden Stringer, Nick Tomkins and Nathan Earle.  Fly half Mark Lawrence contributed 2 conversions and a penalty, whilst full back Charlie Kingsman scored the winning conversion.

Leicester Tigers Academy
O Perry Humphreys
N Rhys Williams
M Tom Hudson
L Javiah Pohe
K Hershall Ward
J Oliver Bryant
I George Prince
A Harry Rudkin (c)
B Jack Holmes
C Neale Farthing
D Matthew Hubbart
E Joe Maksymiw
F Oliver Povoas
H Jake Farnworth
G Ed Milne  
Replacements:
P George Nairn
Q Owen Hills
R Ryan Mason
S Matt Jones
T Kain Rix
Y Josh Bevan-Brown
U Will Andrews
V David Williams
W Charlie Thacker

Saracens Academy
1 TOM WEBB
2 SAM JAMES
3 JEREMY REASON
4 BEN PATTERSON
5 KENNET ONEILL
6 HAYDEN STRINGER
7 MATT ELIET
8 CHARLIE KINGHAM
9 BEN CALDER
10 MARK LAWRENCE
11 NATHAN EARLE
12 ELLIOTT REEDER
13 NICK TOMPKINS
14 GEORGE PERKINS
15 CHARLIE KINGSMAN

16 JOSH TAYLOR
17 CHARLIE WOOLARD
18 HENRY WHEADON
19 GEORGE ELLIOTT
20 LOUIS MULHOLLAND
21 TOM GUEST
22 TOM GANNON
23 JOHN DAVENITIVALU
24 JAMES THACKER

Further academy games confirmed

The drip feed of fixtures for the new academy league continues as Leeds have announced they are playing away to Leicester on December 15th, though the venue has yet to be confirmed.

The league mirrors the A league with a Northern and Southern Conferences, though to balance out Saracens are apparently Northern! The league is for Under 18s (those born in 1994 or later) with three U-19 players allowed provided they have not reached their 19th birthday.

Fixtures so far:
Home to Leeds, December 15th
Home to Sale February 9th

Other weekends are confirmed as 

22 December
12 January
19 January
2 February
16 February

Brugnara trains with Italy U-20s

Tiger Cub Riccardo Brugnara has been named in a training squad for this season's Italy Under 20s.  Riccardo is mainly a loosehead prop though has experience in all three front row positions, he featured from the bench in 2 out of 5 A league games this season and is the only foreign based player named in the squad.  Our other Italian Academy prop Tiziano Pasquali misses out but is the year younger and should feature next time around.

Italy U-20s:
Nicolò ALBANO (Rugby Viadana)
Michele ANDREOTTI (Cammi Calvisano)
Mattia BELLINI (Petrarca Padova)
Giovanni BENVENUTI (Marchiol Mogliano)
Andrea BETTIN (Petrarca Padova)
Rudy BIANCOTTI (Valtellina Rugby)
Riccardo BRUGNARA (Leicester Tigers Academy)
Filippe BUSCEMA (UR Capitolina)
Riccardo DELLA ROSSA (Estra I Cavalieri Prato)
Angelo ESPOSITO (Benetton Treviso)
Alisoon GOBBO (Vea-FemiCZ Rovigo Delta)
Filippo GUARDUCCI (Marchiol Mogliano)
Stefano IOVENITTI (Paganica Rugby)
Vittorio MARAZZI (Crociati Rugby)
Simone MARINARO (Fiamme Oro Roma)
Maxime Mata MBANDA' (Rugby Grande Milano)
Pietro Amedeo MORESCHI (Rugby Viadana)
Alain MORICONI (UR Capitolina)
David Michael ODIETE (Zebre Rugby)
Edoardo PADOVANI (Marchiol Mogliano)
Sami PANICO (Mantovani Lazio)
Giacomo RIEDO (Zhermack Badia)
Jacopo SALVETTI (Cammi Calvisano)
Luca SCARSINI (Cammi Calvisano)
Andrea TROTTA (Nuova Rugby Roma)
Gianmarco VIAN (M-Three San Donà)
Alessio ZDRILICH (Cammi Calvisano)

3 Tiger Cubs named in England youth squads

Flanker Will Owen and Full Back Tom Hudson have been named in England's U-18 squad for this year whilst Scouse Lock Charlie Beckett has been named in the U-17 squad.  Congratulations must go out to those three individuals.

Overall Tigers will be disappointed with the low numbers, even remembering age group recognition is no guarantee of success, as Northampton lead the way 9 players of the 2 squads whilst Bath and Wasps both have 8.  Tigers tie 10th with Worcester, out of 14, in terms of pure numbers only Gloucester, Newcastle and Bristol have fewer players selected.  Maybe the new U-18s league will provide a few players a platform to prove the England selectors wrong.

Tigers first academy league fixture confirmed

Sale have today confirmed their fixtures for the forthcoming Academy League, also confirming its structure.

It will mimic the A league with Northern and Southern Conferences, with all 14 RFU Regional Academies featuring.

Tigers fixture with Sale has been announced as being in Leicester on February 9th.

Wells and Price named for England Under 20s

Academy forwards Harry Wells and Tom Price have both been named in England's Under 20s Elite Player Squad for the 2012/13 season.  

Price, a 6'9" lock originally from Stratford-upon-Avon, retains his place from last years squad.  Born on 22nd January he will be one of the oldest players in the age group which has a cut off date of the 1st of January.

Wells, a lock-cum-flanker is a Peterborough native and this is his first call up by England at any level.

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.

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.

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.