Will Wand has taken the road-less-travelled to the doorsteps of English rugby’s top-tier, but if you ask the lifelong Leicester Tigers fan, he wouldn’t have had it any other way.

The 22-year-old’s journey ironically began in the club's pathway programme, at SMB College, where he and brother Tom - who was part of the Under-18s side in 2023 - trained and played.

A chance to wear Tigers colours wouldn’t come in his junior days and so, at 19, Wand began his senior rugby career with Cambridge in National League One, playing 20 games as a teenager, before earning a move to Coventry Rugby in the Championship.

Wand quickly became one of the league's standout players. Last season, he took his game to another level, scoring 14 tries in 22 matches.

“Maybe I haven't taken the usual path, but I’ve played a lot of senior rugby because of that and I feel like I’ve got that base now to take this opportunity on,” Wand explained, mud-soaked but smiling after finishing another week of pre-season training at Oval Park.

"Arriving to Cambridge as a teenager, I just had to work hard and take my opportunities. It was the same at Coventry and it will be the same here.

"That game time (at National One), then going into Coventry, getting the chance to be full-time; it's stood to me and looking back now I'm happy I took that route."

Now, Wand is now less than three weeks away from what is likely to be his first opportunity to wear Tigers colours in the first of two pre-season fixtures at Mattioli Woods Welford Road, against Nottingham on Friday, August 30. 

"Playing at Cambridge and at Coventry, with so many boys around me having years of experience, I learned so much, and it's given me the chance to progress up the ranks,” Wand said, reflecting on his journey.

“With the pre-season games, with training; I just want to get involved as much as I can—on the ball, off the ball.

"The step up, it's been tough don't get me wrong, but I've enjoyed it as well. Coventry prepared me really well for this next stage and I can't thank them enough for my time there. These first months, it's probably given me more confidence and belief to show I belong at this level.

“Training with guys like DK (Dan Kelly), Izzy (Perese), they're all class players, obviously, international players. It does you good to be around them, to be amongst them, to pick their brains. They're all different in the ways they go about things, but it's been really good to get amongst them, seeing how they approach these things.

"For me, coming in from Championship level, I've just taken the attitude that if I work hard, keep my head down, and listen to the information coming at me, I'll be in a good spot.”

Tigers two pre-season fixtures are part of your 2024/25 season ticket so get down to Mattioli Woods Welford Road on Friday, 30 August (Nottingham) and Saturday, 7 September (Scarlets).