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While I’ve been a rugby fan for the reason that mid-80s it has predominantly been for the worldwide recreation with solely a smattering of membership matches thrown in sometimes. Regardless of this I’ve all the time claimed that I’m a Leicester Tigers fan however my assist for them may be very totally different to that of town’s soccer staff.
Following the Tigers for me has just about been certainly one of simply checking their outcomes, seeing highlights on the information (again within the day) or YouTube (in additional fashionable occasions) with the occasional reside recreation right here and there, significantly cup finals. Again round 2010 although I did have a sports activities channel which confirmed reside Premiership rugby motion from the UK so I did see fairly a couple of Leicester Tigers video games round that point.
Within the final decade or so my curiosity in membership rugby has elevated, significantly right here in Japan the place I’ve begun to often attend Rugby League One matches which in flip has led to an elevated curiosity within the recreation and subsequently following the Tigers somewhat bit extra carefully.
As quickly as knew I used to be going to be again within the UK for the primary time in six years I seemed on the sports activities schedules for all of the native groups throughout the festive interval. While Leicester Metropolis had three residence video games, the Tigers sadly solely had one match on their very own turf so I set my sights on getting a ticket for that in early January which might mark my long-awaited return to their Welford Stadium stadium for the primary time since 2003!!
In the course of the early months of that 12 months, I used to be working just some minutes on foot from the Welford Street and so I did go to see a few matches on the again of some occasional Saturday morning shifts. There was really an opportunity six years in the past once they performed on the identical day as Leicester Metropolis however I wished to soak up the foxes’ FA Cup match in full fairly than speeding between the 2 stadiums. In hindsight although I want I had seen the Tigers at 3:00 pm adopted by Metropolis at 5:30 pm. Again within the current there was fortunately no option to make as they each performed on separate days.
The stroll from Leicester Railway station and throughout Nelson Mandela Park was so acquainted however with a distinct feeling to once I go to look at Leicester Metropolis whose stadium is situated a bit additional on alongside the identical preliminary route.
It was a bitterly chilly afternoon, so the Tigers membership store was much more interesting. It was fascinating to see what it was like in comparison with the soccer staff’s one. All method of scarlet, inexperienced and white items have been on sale however I assume I used to be a bit shocked to see some residence shirts on sale for 120 kilos!
A brief detour over the street from the stadium is a cool mural which I wished to see.
Contained in the stadium I used to be making an attempt to look as if I knew the place I used to be going but it surely really took me some time to work out the place my seat was earlier than realising it was proper the place I got here in!
There was no actual feeling of nostalgia having solely ever been contained in the stadium a couple of occasions. What I did love although was the old style really feel of 4 particular person stands.
Welford and Stealth appeared within the countdown to kick off and so I pushed a load of children out of the way in which * to get my very own photograph of the 2 mascots! (* Not true!)
The house aspect entered the sector to the enduring guitar riffs of ‘Smoke on the Water‘ by Deep Purple as anticipation of the followers constructed up.
This league match was a repeat of the 2022 Premiership remaining between Leicester and Saracens which noticed the previous win the title in dramatic trend with a last-minute drop aim from Freddie Burns.
Tigers have been off to a flyer with a few tries within the first 12 minutes earlier than Saracens acquired one again. A completely superb strive on 27 minutes had the house crowd on their toes. It started with Leicester defending on their very own 22 metre line and ended up with fly-half Billy Searle weaving his means via the opposition earlier than kicking it ahead for Adam Radwan to select up and end in effective fashion with a dramatic dive into the nook. I used to be really making a brief video for Insta tales within the buildup to this strive however stopped recording earlier than the actual pleasure. Had I not carried out that I might’ve had a poor-quality video of an awesome strive taken from a poor angle!!
One other strive was added earlier than the break to get the bonus level for scoring 4 tries. It was 26-7 at half time and was a extremely fantastic half of rugby however sadly for me it had all occurred down the opposite finish of the pitch! A breakaway strive for Radwan across the hour mark did occur in entrance of me and put the sport to mattress or so we thought!
Saracens scored a few tries to get their bonus level and make it appear quite a bit nearer than it actually was. There was additionally the addition of some gentle snow falling within the second half because the temperature dropped additional. The man subsequent to me had the correct thought possibly as he sneaked in a large bottle of whiskey which he polished off after including it to his frequent sizzling drinks.
Because the closing phases of the sport have been happening my ideas turned to getting the prepare again. The 5:00 pm prepare would’ve meant speeding off to the station 5-10 minutes earlier than the ultimate whistle while the latter one (5:45 pm) allowed for extra time within the freezing chilly situations! Because it was a one-off, I made a decision to hold round, and it proved to be an excellent resolution.
Last Rating: Leicester Tigers 36-28 Saracens
It was completely freezing by this stage as I briefly interacted with fly-half Orlando Bailey, winger Gabriel Hamer-Webb and scrum-halves Jack van Poortvliet and Ollie Allan. I used to be actually not anticipating to have the ability to meet gamers at this stage so was not ready which has resulted in some horrible photographs of me however that’s what occurs if you’ve solely acquired a few seconds to take them!
Click on right here to learn ‘I Met a Leicester Tigers & England Rugby Union Legend’
Click on right here to learn ‘Witnessing Historical past as England Play a Rugby Match in Japan for the First Time In 45 Years!’
Bonus: Lower than every week later I used to be again in Japan and having completed work very early someday I used to be capable of attend the Urayasu D-Rocks residence recreation in opposition to Yokohama Canon Eagles at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in Minato-ku. For a Leicester connection, D-Rocks at the moment are managed by Leicester legend Graham Rowntree and their quantity 8 is the South African Jasper Wiese who performed a starring position within the aforementioned 2022 Premiership remaining.
It turned out to be an awesome recreation and adopted an analogous sample to the Leicester Tigers one with the house staff scoring a number of first half tries. This one was far nervier although because the six-point benefit with 20 minutes remaining meant a transformed strive would win it for Yokohama. I used to be just about resigned to that occuring however surprisingly D-Rocks held agency to take the win.
Last Rating: Urayasu D-Rocks 28-22 Yokohama Canon Eagles
Click on right here to learn ‘TF High 10……Rugby Match Experiences of 2025’
Click on right here to learn ‘TF High 10……Rugby Match Experiences of 2024’
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