Leicester Tigers Wheelchair Rugby team have retained the WR5 Premiership championship winning 12 matches from 12 to go the season unbeaten.
The reigning WR5 Premiership before Covid-19 postponed the season, the team also had to overcome the challenge of a depleted squad due to illness.
WR5s includes five players on court, whereas the Paralympic discipline has four. The Paralympic discipline of wheelchair rugby is aimed at tetraplegic players, whereas WR5s is open to anyone with a physical impairment and paraplegics.
The full season's results were as follows:
WEEKEND 1
- Tigers 21-16 West Country Hawks
- Tigers 21-9 Bournemouth Lions
- Tigers 25-3 Ospreys
- Tigers 21-10 Stoke Mandeville Maulers
WEEKEND 2
- Tigers 24-10 Hawks
- Tigers 26-6 Maulers
- Tigers 20-11 Ospreys
- Tigers 19-10 Lions
WEEKEND 3
- Tigers 26-9 Maulers
- Tigers 22-11 Lions
- Tigers 25-9 Ospreys
- Tigers 23-22 Hawks
In his capacity as club chairman, Rob Tarr, added: “On behalf of all from the Leicester Tigers Wheelchair Rugby Club, I would like to congratulate all the athletes and staff on winning the Premiership WWR 5’s competition, sweeping the board with four straight wins to take the title.
“This has highlighted the resilience and determination of the team, and set the high standard of performance for our D1 and D2 to inspire in January.
“What a great end to the year. We are all very proud of your achievements.”
Clearly all this success comes off the back of the hard work and commitment shown during training, which have been taking place weekly since September following the lengthy lay-off during the first Covid lockdown period.
Participation numbers have continued to grow, meaning that the club can now enter a second playing side into the national divisions.
Encouraged by the influx of new players, Darren Matthews, who coached the side in the WR5’s series, said: “Since we have returned from Covid restrictions, numbers have boomed at training. Sometimes we have not had enough chairs and we still have new players waiting for an opportunity to come and try our sport.
“Some sessions we have had six brand new players, which calls for some creative coaching.
“Getting new players in chairs and seeing them enjoy our sport is very rewarding. We now have enough players to enter two teams in the domestic season and hope to build on the momentum from the recent success of the WR5’s.”
Attention now turns to the WR4’s which starts in January, where the club will look to build on the success and chase a clean sweep of titles for 2021/22.
For information on getting involved with the team, contact Sam Swift by emailing [email protected].
