Player of the Month nominee Will Wand has the magic touch

With former winger Harry Potter now long gone, Leicester’s Will Wand is resigned to copping all the magic gags in the Mattioli Woods Welford Road changing room.

The signing from Coventry is enjoying a real breakthrough season at Tigers, and it was his slight of hand that led to a lovely try assist in last weekend’s Slater Cup win over Gloucester at Villa Park.

By then, Wand had already pulled a rabbit out of the bag to score himself, a swivel of the hips and step bamboozling the Cherry & Whites’ edge defence.

Currently in a rich vein of form, the 24-year-old Tigers fan turned centre is on a four-man shortlist for the Gallagher PREM Player of the Month for March, along with Bath’s Alfie Barbeary, Exeter’s Tom Hooper and Northampton’s Archie McParland.

Laying his cards on the table, Wand says the unequivocal backing he’s received from head coach Geoff Parling has helped to elevate his game to new heights.

“I spoke to Geoff way back in pre-season and I think he just gave me the confidence to back myself,” said the England A international.

“I think the rest of the lads would say the same, Geoff has been really good at supporting the lads on a personal level.

“We are in a good spot at the moment, the lads are backing their ability and it’s definitely paying off.

“This year I have tried not to think over-think too much and I have tried to just stick to what I am good at, and I think it is going alright.”

At 97kgs and just over six foot tall, Wand has the physique to hold his own in contact as well as the skills to avoid it.

“I don’t mind doing the gritty work, I think coming into Leicester it is all about hard work and putting your head in places you don’t really want to. But I am all for doing that, getting stuck in. I don’t mind being that glue player as well.

“The backline this year has been amazing; we’ve had players who’ve really found form – Searly (Billy Searle), Woody (Joe Woodward) … all around me.

“We are just gelling nicely, and we just want to keep putting our best foot forward and do as well as we can.”

The Spalding-born player also has the ability to poke fun at himself, posing for his pre-season biography photo with a wand in hand.

“The jokes are never ending, I don’t think they will ever stop, but I don’t mind it at all,” he says.

“That photo was off the cuff. We were doing a few media shots and they were just laying on the side and I picked one up and had a go with it.”