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The Academy - Episode 1 - Behind the scenes with Leicester Tigers' academy programme
By RugbyPass
Leicester Tigers are steeped in the history of Rugby. Winning three Premiership titles and back to back European titles in the early 2000s, the club is a giant of the game.
Over the last two decades they have produced some of the best rugby players on the planet and their identity is the embodiment of the English rugby ethos: hard-nosed, fast-paced and at times ruthlessly brutal.
The club have a strong tradition of producing home-grown players. Tigers legends Martin Johnson and Graham Rowntree were developed from a strong youth structure and Tigers recognised very early that an Academy system was needed to develop players capable of playing professional rugby.
In 1998 the Tigers Academy was established with players such as Harry Ellis, Sam Vesty and Louis Deacon among the first to successfully come through the system. In 2002, Tigers were rewarded for their pioneering work with RFU Academy status.
The programme has produced more than 100 age-grade internationals as well as producing British & Irish Lions caps Tom Croft, Dan Cole, Harry Ellis, Ollie Smith, Manu Tuilagi, and Ben and Tom Youngs.
RugbyPass goes behind the scenes of the programme to see what it takes to become a Leicester Tiger; going on a journey with Academy hopefuls over the course of their championship. We see the laughs, we see the pain and we see what it takes to make it at the highest level.
RugbyPass presents: 'The Academy'.
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Latest Comments
English loose forward stocks are pretty healthy currently and already feature a kiwi or two. A move to the UK would have to be for the Premiership on its own merits - with no better odds for international honors - and would close the door on any further possible AB future. Increased work rate, motivation, energy combined with his obvious skills could see him back in contention in NZ but it is not going to be handed to him.
Go to commentsAgree with most of this. Sullivan (along with Umaga-Jensen) and Love were skillful, energetic and accurate. I don’t know if NZ teams will show their normal dominance in the comp this year as the Australian sides are definitely more competitive and some of the margins are pretty slim. This game stands out as a surprise because halfway through the first period you felt it could go either way - except the Canes defense was outstanding from the get-go. The unstoppable flow of points was very Hurricanes and I know they will be aiming for consistency. Walker-Leawere looks like an AB when he plays like that. If he can keep that work-rate and accuracy up consistently and avoid his tendency for penalties, he could find himself in Ryan’s sights.
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