The Leicester Tigers Wheelchair Rugby Team were crowned BT Super Series Division One Champions for the first-time in the club’s history following a successful final weekend showdown.
The team were crowned champions after three wins out of three on the first of the two-day tournament giving the team the points needed to win the overall league.
Opening their weekend with a 60-40 victory over Gaelic Warriors at the University of Wolverhampton, the Tigers side then defeated LWRC Crusaders 53-38 in the second Pool A fixture to set-up a final match with biggest rivals for the title, West Coast Crash.
Taking just a one-point lead in to the first quarter against Crash, the Tigers side showed their experience and closed out the match with a strong finish to come away 47-44 winners and claim the Super Series title.
Tigers continued their winning ways on the final day of the competition with back-to-back victories over Canterbury (52-36) and Crusaders (54-46) to make it five from five for the Leicester squad across the weekend.
The on-court success of Tigers was also highlighted by the inclusion of three squad members being voted ‘Best in Class’ for their efforts. Nick Cummins (1.5), Gavin Walker (2.0) and Jamie Stead (2.5) were all named individual award winners, seeing Tigers with three representatives across the six categories.
Speaking after the weekend, Tigers head coach Darren Matthews said: “It really feels great. I cannot emphasise enough how much each member of this squad has played their part in this success.”
“Bringing the players together as one team alongside great camaraderie in training is where all the hard work has been put in.”
Tigers captain Jamie Stead added: I’m immensely proud of the team, we are the only team in the league history to win both Division One and Division Two so to do it within a four year period just shows how far the club as progressed.
It’s thanks to the support from the DMU, Matt Hampson Foundation and the Leicester Tigers Foundation and the commitment of the players, support staff and the great coaching system we have in place. Our attention now turns to the BT National Championships next month.
Leicester Tigers club-captain Tom Youngs and team mates Graham Kitchener and Sam Harrison, CEO Simon Cohen and Matt Hampson were just a handful of names to take to Twitter to congratulate the championship winning squad, as well as Tigers supporters who celebrated the news.
Just moments after the final whistle in the decisive victory over Crash, Youngs wrote, “Congratulations to our @TigersWR lads on claiming the BT Super Series Division One title today! Awesome stuff. Well done lads, from all of us at Welford Road!”
While Hampson, within minutes of the decider finishing, said, “So proud of @TigersWR who Became BT Super series Division one Champions today!”
With the Quad Nations taking place next month in Leicester, which includes four members of the Tigers squad selected to represent Great Britain, Tigers will be competing in the BT National Championships “which sees the Division’s top six teams in action next month.
