‘Wigglesworth to help nurture young Tigers’
FORMER LEICESTER SCRUM-HALF ELLIS HAILS NEW SIGNING
FORMER Leicester Tigers scrum-half Harry Ellis has praised the signing of veteran Richard Wigglesworth, although he did admit to some early scepticism about the move.
Wigglesworth left Saracens upon the conclusion of the 2019/20 season and was last week revealed as a Tigers player.
At the age of 37, he is just one year and 23 days younger than Ellis who made more than 170 appearances for the club, lifting numerous trophies before he was forced to retire from a knee injury more than a decade ago.
“To be honest, I was really, really surprised when I read that they’d signed him,” said the former England international.
“But, I’ve thought about it and I think what a really, really good signing he is.
“Clearly he is still playing well, by his own admission from what I’ve read, when he’s talked about himself, he’s fit, he’s on top of his game, and he is playing really well when I’ve seen him play.
“I was chatting to my dad about rugby, I think they may have signed him in a capacity, potentially a coaching role involved at the end of his contract. I don’t know how long he has signed for.”
Wigglesworth, who has 33 England caps to Ellis’ 27, is Premiership Rugby’s record appearance holder with 288 games in the top flight.
He played in 10 major finals with Saracens, winning eight, after joining from Sale Sharks in 2010 and will inject a vast amount of experience into Tigers’ options at scrum-half.
Ben Youngs clocked up his 250th club game last season but his international commitments show no sign of slowing down after becoming only the second man to play 100 times for England in the recent Six Nations victory over Italy, where he scored two tries.
Behind Youngs is a talented group of young options including Ben White and Harry Simmons, both aged 22, and 19-year-old Jack van Poortvliet.
“I think with what Eddie Jones has said in the press about Ben Youngs potentially getting 150 caps, that tells me that his plans are that Ben Youngs is going to be involved with England for a time being,” said Ellis, whose last Test match was for the British and Irish Lions in 2009.
“That gives a bit of a gap for someone like Richard Wigglesworth to come in and also nurture some of those younger lads who are playing at the club.
“You’ve also got Ben White, who I think is a very good player.
“Ben is someone I used to teach at Leicester Grammar School.
“He played in my first 15 for a couple of seasons, four or five years ago now, he was definitely someone who really impressed me and I earmarked him to do big things at the club.
“They’ve got a good young talented scrum-half to come through mixed with the experience of Richard Wigglesworth and Ben Youngs there.
“It’s looking good in the scrum-half position, which is a key position for the club.”