WELCOME FROM THE CHAIRMAN

Peter Tom CBE CHAIRMAN

Opening words from the Chairman of the Leicester Tigers.

Welcome to matchday and to our third successive game at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.

Today we welcome the players and officials from Newcastle Falcons in the quarter-final of the European Challenge Cup, just a fortnight after the two teams met here in the Gallagher Premiership.

Both sets of coaches will no doubt have studied that last meeting closely and their teams will run out feeling some confidence following Round of 16 triumphs last week, so we should be in for an entertaining afternoon.

As Steve said immediately after the game last Saturday, there were a lot of positives to take out of the victory over Connacht on their first-ever visit here.

Connacht have had a strong run of performances and results away from home and had targeted a run in the Challenge Cup, but a young and largely inexperienced Tigers team came through to secure a very good win and a place in the last eight.

I’m sure those players will have learned a lot from the game, in particular from their response to the period when Connacht fought their way back into it during the second half before we came through to confirm the win.

Games like that can only help the development of strength across the squad and I’m sure you’ll join me in sending congratulations to Nic and Will who made their debuts in that game.

As well as a development opportunity for our young

players, it was also a big evening for the more experienced members of the squad in helping to guide them through it.

The likes of Luke Wallace and Matías Moroni were important in that, while Charlie Clare is enjoying good form since returning to the club where he played as academy captain in his teenage years. It was also a first Tigers appearance since January for Ben Youngs and it was great to see him back and playing so well as captain on the day, having dealt with the mental and physical challenges of a long international campaign with England.

Steve described the game as another step forward and, alongside Aled and the other coaches, he continues to drive that on a daily basis.

As ever, I thank you on behalf of everyone at the Tigers for your support and hope we have some more big days to share in the remainder of the season.

Ben Youngs captained the side on his Tigers return