The men's Gallagher Premiership is set to kick-off tomorrow, with Leicester Tigers travelling to Bristol Bears; as fate would have it, this Saturday, October 14, will see the women's team also venture to the South-West as Round Three of the Allianz Cup sees Tigers women take on Bristol Bears at Shaftesbury Park.
Off the back of two losses in the opening rounds, there may be a temptation to rip up the gameplan and start anew, but Senior Coach Tom Hudson is clear that the club’s goals must remain steadfast.
“We are looking to continue progressing as a cohesive unit” the coach said.
“These matches are our first taste of elite women’s rugby, for all of Leicester Tigers.
“These games have seen 11 players make their debut for the club, 15 players play their first match at this level and we’ve given pitch time to 26 players to see what they can do in the Tigers jersey.
“This weekend, like we have with the last two rounds, we’ll trial some new combinations and we’ll keep getting a clearer picture as we get closer to our opening fixture in Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby”.
There were certainly plenty of positives to take from a back-and-forth defeat to Warriors Women in the last round of the cup.
Picking up their first point of the Allianz Cup, a try bonus point, Tigers bagged five tries in the match with the attack, at times, seamlessly creating space and scoring opportunities.
“I like to play attacking rugby and that’s very much my philosophy for this team” said Hudson
“When I joined the programme over the summer it was something that Vicky (Macqueen, Head of Women’s Rugby) was very clear was a key part of this side and you could see it when they were blowing teams away in Championship North 1 last season.
“Now, although we’re looking at a significant step-up in terms of the opposition we face, we need to retain the ability to cause defences problems and we always want to have that element of danger, that we can carve teams apart, no matter who we line up against”.
That desire to play a full-width game is evidenced by the side’s top scorers, wingers Charlotte Daley and Zoë Evans, both with two tries apiece.
The two both scored plenty of tries in last year’s Championship North 1 and Hudson has been impressed with the way a host of last season’s squad have stepped up.
This weekend will be the first time Tigers have faced one of last season’s play-off contenders, with Bristol Bears finishing last season’s Premier 15s, now Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby in fourth places, scoring 670 points as they made the semi-finals.
“The squad has impressed me immensely with the way they have risen to the challenges in front of them and I have no doubt this Saturday will see them continue to step-up.
“Bristol will 100% be our toughest challenge to date. They will bring an incredibly intensity, especially playing at home. Their infrastructure is well established, well-funded and they have gone from strength to strength in recent years.
“We know full well the firepower they bring in attack and we have to look to front up and match it, both in attack and defence”.
