Table topping Lions fill Collins with pride

LEICESTER Lions have lost just once in their last 25 games and head coach Gareth Collins believes the team’s incredible run is a result of the his side’s hard work and being able to stay injury free.

Operating without a second team and a paper thin squad of just over 20 players, Lions have ridden their luck this year with injuries but with the shrewd signings of prop Tom Williams from Blackheath and winger George Watkins from Hong Kong, Collins’ side came into this weekend top of National Two West, nine points clear.

He said: “This season has exceeded my expectation. There’s some very good sides in the league like Clifton, Dings and Redruth, and we probably saw them as just ahead of ourselves but we wanted to be in the mix. We would have been disappointed if we weren’t in the mix but I’m not sure we expected to be top of the pile with a bit of a gap at this point in the season.

“We don’t have huge numbers and have had to be lucky. We’ve had a couple of injuries this side of Christmas but before then we were incredibly lucky. Having that consistency with selection certainly helps with consistency in performance.”

Lions possess the best defence in the division, conceding 299 points in their opening 17 games and Collins is delighted with his side’s resilience.

He said: “Anyone that remembers me as a player will find that slightly ironic. I wasn’t known for my defensive capabilities but as a team we are really organised. We work hard on and off the ball, and it helps having the likes of Johnny Murdoch making big tackles which enable us as a team to be successful defensively.

“We’ve worked a lot on the big things like the culture, how we prepare for games and what we want our identity to be. We’re focused on one game at a time and try to prepare for that as well as we possibly can. We hope all the hard work in creating a good environment pays off and thankfully so far this year it has.”