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Tigers ABC to Z: O is for Obolensky, O'Connor & old

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We're up to the letter O in our Tigers ABC to Z series, which stands for O'Connor, Obolensky and for the letter O itself!O is for Full-Back World record points scorer Dusty Hare has worn the full-back shirt more than any other player in Leicester’s history – in the days when the team carried lettered rather than numbered shirts. The front row were ABC, running up to the letter O at full-back.   O is for Obolensky Alexander Obolensky was a Russian prince, educated at Oxford, whose claim to rugby immortality came in the two tries he scored on his Test debut in England’s first-ever win over New Zealand, at Twickenham in 1936. Click here to watch footage from the game https://youtu.be/Wjb8eO0bJ3U   Obolensky scored 12 tries in 17 games for Leicester (1934-39) and went to Argentina with the 1936 Lions. Sadly he was the first England rugby international killed in World War Two, losing his life in a Hawker Hurricane crash during a training exercise in Suffolk. A statue in his honour has been unveiled in Ipswich.   O is for Matt O’Connor Arriving as backs coach under Heyneke Meyer, the former Australia international centre stayed on to become a central figure in the Tigers set-up that won Premiership titles in 2009, 2010 and 2013, and also reached a fifth European Cup Final, against Leinster in 2009.   Tigers were among the league’s top try-scorers as O’Connor became head coach, working alongside director of rugby Richard Cockerill. He joined Leinster as head coach soon afterwards, celebrating a Pro12 title win in his first season in Ireland and reached a European semi-final a year later before departing at the end of 2014/15.   O is for Old Not just 1970s fly-half Alan Old, but oldest as in Graham Willars who played his final first-team game at the age of 47 years and 135 days against Waterloo in April 1987. World Cup winner Brad Thorn became only the fourth player in the club’s 135-year history to play a senior game past his 40th birthday when Tigers beat Sale Sharks at Welford Road in February 2015.   Thorn was already the club’s oldest European Cup player and try-scorer. Tighthead prop Julian white was just over a year short of his 40th birthday when he made his final Tigers appearance against Gloucester in March 2012.   The oldest team fielded by Tigers was for the 2001/02 league fixture at Wasps when 10 players over the age of 30 took the average age to 30 years and 251 days.   O is for O’Reilly Joining Tigers in 1958 with 17 caps for Ireland and an eye-catching tour with the Lions already to his name, Tony O’Reilly played just 17 games for Leicester from 1958 and he went on to make an even bigger name for himself on a second Lions tour to Australia and New Zealand in 1959 before becoming an equally big star in business after his rugby retirement.