Evans returns for Tigers clash

Posted on Apr 20, 2012 in Latest Rugby News

Harlequins go into their final regular season home game looking to secure a top two finish in the Aviva Premiership when they face Leicester Tigers in front of a sell out crowd at the Stoop.

Sam Smith retains his place on the left wing after last weekend’s Man of the Match performance, with Mike Brown and Ugo Monye in the back three. Nick Evans returns at fly half outside Danny Care at scrum half. Jordan Turner Hall and George Lowe continue to partner in the centres.

The starting pack remains unchanged from last week’s victory over London  Wasps. Joe Marler, Rob Buchanan and James Johnston provide the front row.  Olly Kohn and George Robson remain in the second row. Maurie Fa’asavalu continues at blindside alongside captain Chris Robshaw and Nick Easter at number 8.

The replacements see Aston Croall, Mark Lambert, Will Collier covering in the front row. Tomas Vallejos and Tom Guest will looking to impact in the second and back row respectively. Karl Dickson and Rory Clegg cover at half back, while Ross Chisholm covers the remainder of the backline.

Harlequins team to face Leicester Tigers

15. Mike Brown

14. Ugo Monye

13. George Lowe

12. Jordan Turner-Hall

11. Sam Smith

10. Nick Evans

9. Danny Care

1. Joe Marler

2. Rob Buchanan

3. James Johnston

4. Olly Kohn

5. George Robson

6. Maurie Fa’asavalu

7. Chris Robshaw (C)

8. Nick Easter

16. Aston Croall

17. Mark Lambert

18. Will Collier

19. Tomas Vallejos

20. Tom Guest

21. Karl Dickson

22. Rory Clegg

23. Ross Chisholm

Leicester Tigers team news for Round 21

Posted on Apr 20, 2012 in English Rugby, Leicester Tigers, Premiership

Geordan Murphy returns to lead out Leicester Tigers in the top-of-the-table encounter with Harlequins on Saturday.

The teams occupying first and second place in the Aviva Premiership Rugby table meet at the Twickenham Stoop in the penultimate round of league fixtures.

Skipper Murphy missed Leicester’s bonus-point win at Northampton last weekend but is fit to resume at Quins in the only change to the starting line-up.

Second-rower Graham Kitchener comes in for Craig Newby among the replacements and Scott Hamilton provides cover in the backline.

“We’ve got a tough run-in but we started that with a win in a very difficult game at Northampton last weekend and now we go to Quins before the last round against Bath,” said Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill.

“Harlequins have proved themselves over the course of a long season – they won at Welford Road, they beat Toulouse in Europe and they beat Saracens at Wembley just a few weeks ago, so they are still going well.

“We’ve been playing well too, we’ve got ourselves into a good position now and we are still going hard for a place in the semi-finals.”

Leicester Tigers (v Harlequins, The Twickenham Stoop, Saturday 3.15pm)

15 Geordan Murphy (c)

14 Horacio Agulla

13 Manusamoa Tuilagi

12 Anthony Allen

11 Alesana Tuilagi

10 Toby Flood

9 Ben Youngs

1 Marcos Ayerza

2 George Chuter

3 Dan Cole

4 George Skivington

5 Geoff Parling

6 Tom Croft

7 Julian Salvi

8 Thomas Waldrom

Replacements

16 Tom Youngs

17 Logovi’i Mulipola

18 Martin Castrogiovanni

19 Graham Kitchener

20 Steve Mafi

21 Sam Harrison

22 Billy Twelvetrees

23 Scott Hamilton

Steve Mafi Named March’s Aviva Premiership Rugby Player Of The Month

Posted on Apr 18, 2012 in English Rugby, Leicester Tigers, Premiership

Steve Mafi has been at the heart of Leicester Tigers surge up the Aviva Premiership Rugby table with some high octane, gut-busting performance. Director of rugby Richard Cockerill has recently heaped praise upon the young Tonga international, highlighting his fantastic attitude and commitment.

The Leicester Tigers forward was voted as March’s star player by a panel made up of rugby media representatives.

Player of the Month Panel Chairman Paul Morgan commented: “Steve has made a huge impact on the Aviva Premiership this season and it was only a matter of time before he was honoured in this way. He’s an all-action, non-stop rugby player who has brought 100 per cent commitment to the Leicester Tigers challenge this season.”

Steve spoke of the pride he felt for being named March’s Player of the Month: “I am very surprised to win it but it feels really good and I am delighted.

“A lot of credit to the boys at Leicester, who are playing well together and working hard for each other.

“Aviva have given me £500 to donate to the charity of my choice – and I have selected the Matt Hampson Foundation.”

Leicester Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill said: “Steve has improved a lot since he first got here. He has a lot of athletic potential. He is learning all the time.

“He has done an outstanding job for us. We hope we can keep him for a long time.”

Louisa Cheetham, Senior Sponsorship Manager at Premiership Rugby’s title sponsors Aviva, added: “Steve is one the Aviva Premiership players who let his rugby do the talking. While many of his team mates were away on England duty during International duty, Steve really took his chance with both hands and is a big factor in Tigers battling it out for the Aviva Premiership title!”

Ben Youngs suspended for one week

Posted on Apr 2, 2012 in English Rugby, Leicester, Leicester Tigers, Premiership

Ben Youngs of Leicester Tigers was this afternoon suspended for one week after pleading guilty to striking London Irish’s Jamie Gibson with his knee, contrary to Law 10(4)(a), during the Aviva Premiership match at the Madejski Stadium on March 25.

The RFU Disciplinary Panel of His Honour Judge Jeff Blackett (chair), Robert Horner and Peter Budge suspended him from Wednesday, March 28 (the date of Leicester Tigers’ internal suspension) to Wednesday, April 4. He can play again on Thursday, April 5.

Judge Blackett said: “We decided that the offence was at the low end of seriousness, which carries an entry point of three weeks. There were no aggravating features and on the basis of his good record this was reduced by 50 per cent. Taking into account RFU Regulation 19.11.13 there was a compelling mitigating factor in that the player was being held down unlawfully for a substantial period and so we reduced the suspension further to one week. We would like to thank Leicester for their responsible attitude towards this case.”

Leicester Tigers season tickets hit 10,000 mark

Posted on Mar 9, 2012 in English Rugby, Leicester Tigers, Premiership

Leicester Tigers season ticket sales for the 2012/13 season have already topped the 10,000 mark.

This is a great show of loyalty for the best-supported rugby club in the country, especially as the current season still has two months to run.

Supporters who bought season tickets by January 1 were able to spread the cost over 12 months with Tigers’ new interest-free direct debit scheme and all prices were held at the 2011/12 rates until March 4.

By Sunday, Tigers had topped the 10,000 sales figure, including 725 supporters who have not previously held season tickets.

Leicester Tigers chairman Peter Tom CBE said: “This figure is an indication of the amazing loyalty and passion for the club from our supporters.

“We appreciate that this has been a challenging season on the field and that these are difficult economic times, but to have 10,000 supporters already committed to next season is a tremendous boost to everyone at the club.

“The players and the management team always appreciate the size and volume of support for the team, which has been built over many, many years.

“Commercially, the club works extremely hard to generate the incomes required to support the playing side in terms of recruitment, training and medical services, as well as continuing to invest in the Academy structure to find the next generations of Leicester Tigers, and the income from season ticket sales is obviously a major part of that.

“We thank all of the supporters who have already booked their places for next season and also hope we can give them something to cheer in the remainder of the current season.”

A Tigers season ticket guarantees entry to all home games in the regular season in the Aviva Premiership and two cup competitions, and this season includes the equivalent of five games free for every supporter compared with matchday prices.

Season tickets for 2012/13, and the direct debit plan to spread the payments, are still available. There are rates for Adults, Over-65s, Young Adults/Full-Time Students, Juniors (under 18) and Families.

Supporters aged under 10 years are able to claim a free Tigers season ticket when accompanied by a full-paying adult