Tigers can look back with some satisfaction

IN a newspaper article previewing Tigers’ semi-final at Sale, commentator Stuart Barnes requested “an epic tie, please – with intensity revealed as both bright and bloody.”

He certainly got his wish! Tigers lost but they played with incredible physicality and commitment throughout a game which was only lost in the final 10-15 minutes when maybe the presence at number 10 for Sale of a man called George Ford and the absence of a man called Handre Pollard from that position in the Tigers team were crucial factors.

So Tigers will not take part this year in the Twickenham final and, inevitably, everybody connected with the club, and all their supporters, will be immensely disappointed at this defeat.

However, this has been a season which has demonstrated to all Tigers supporters why it is such a privilege to be a supporter of this fine club.

In the middle of the season, we lost our two most important coaches to senior roles with England

– while this was certainly anticipated, it was surely not expected before the end of the season?

After an understandably difficult time immediately after these departures, the remaining coaching team managed to rally our multi-talented squad to such an extent that we finished in third place in the Premiership and so qualified for the semi-final against Sale.

We also progressed to a European Champions quarter-final against most of the Ireland national team!

Nor is this achievement just about the players and the coaching team, because surely it has also come about because of the support of our various financial backers and the teams so ably led by our CEO, Andrea Pinchen.

Well done to all concerned – we look forward to next season under a totally new coaching team.

Alan Fletcher, Leicester