Whilst in our history we can point to photo of Jonno as a junior ... and we all know what happened next there ... our clubhouse walls show us others who have gone on to represent us on other pitches. In very recent times George Thornton, Sam Grahamslaw, Tabitha Copson, Henry Joule and Jake Sterland have all worn age grade international shirts, Cam Jordan now wears the red and white of Gloucester and for those paying attention to the Tigers v Wasps Premiership Cup game at Welford Road this week, there was more evidence of the strength in depth graduating from our club that should inspire the current crop of young players.

In fact the Tigers matchday squad of 23 contained 3 players who progressed through our M&J section before joining the Tigers Senior Academy and were here playing for the senior team.

Finn Carnduff was on the bench. He was with us to U16. He recently captained England U18 throughout their Six Nations campaign.

Pictured here are the Manz brothers, with Josh (left) starting the game at 6 and Tom on the bench. They too developed through our M&J teams.

Our club focus for many years now has been on mixed ability rugby, ensuring there is the opportunity to play and develop for all players of all ability levels. That is our priority in age grade, the opportunities for enjoyment, friendships developed through sport and rugby values. That so many in recent years are making those next steps is great endorsement of that approach working.

We have a great crop of players leaving age grade to play for our senior teams, plus some like Finn, Josh and Tom wearing Tigers shirts and we wish them all well on their rugby journeys.