Brad Thorn says it was "a huge honour" to captain Leicester Tigers in Aviva Premiership action for the first time.
All Blacks second row Thorn was given the honour of leading out the Tigers at Welford Road in only his fifth appearance for the club.
“I am really proud to wear the Leicester jersey, to represent the area and to captain the guys today,” said Thorn.
“It means a lot. Richard Cockerill asked me to come over here and I’m trying to repay him with performances and to be asked to captain is a real honour.”
Thorn paid tribute to the attitude of the entire team in earning a hard-fought draw against Saracens.
“It was one of those days, very slippery, wet weather rugby, the forwards had a good tussle,” he said.
“You play to win but we took what we could from the game. I thought the young guys were great. Look at Owen Williams, he missed a couple of goals early on but came back and kicked the goal at the end which took a lot of composure. I said to him, ‘Just enjoy this moment for a young 10 to kick to draw or win a game’. I tip my hat to him.
“It wasn’t pretty but we kept turning up, kept fighting to stay in it and got that draw in the end. No one opted out, we stuck in, that is what the Leicester jersey is about. I hope we can keep going and build on that.”
At 39, Thorn is the oldest player to lead Tigers as captain and is the club’s oldest player during the professional era, overtaking the mark set by hooker Mefin Davies in 2009.
All Blacks second row Thorn was given the honour of leading out the Tigers at Welford Road in only his fifth appearance for the club.
“I am really proud to wear the Leicester jersey, to represent the area and to captain the guys today,” said Thorn.
“It means a lot. Richard Cockerill asked me to come over here and I’m trying to repay him with performances and to be asked to captain is a real honour.”
Thorn paid tribute to the attitude of the entire team in earning a hard-fought draw against Saracens.
“It was one of those days, very slippery, wet weather rugby, the forwards had a good tussle,” he said.
“You play to win but we took what we could from the game. I thought the young guys were great. Look at Owen Williams, he missed a couple of goals early on but came back and kicked the goal at the end which took a lot of composure. I said to him, ‘Just enjoy this moment for a young 10 to kick to draw or win a game’. I tip my hat to him.
“It wasn’t pretty but we kept turning up, kept fighting to stay in it and got that draw in the end. No one opted out, we stuck in, that is what the Leicester jersey is about. I hope we can keep going and build on that.”
At 39, Thorn is the oldest player to lead Tigers as captain and is the club’s oldest player during the professional era, overtaking the mark set by hooker Mefin Davies in 2009.
