The piece of shed history that fires up Joe Heyes

Before Leicester embarked on their windy trip to Bordeaux for Sunday’s Investec Champions Cup clash against Bordeaux, Tigers tighthead prop Joe Heyes spoke enthusiastically about the formidable scrum battle that awaits him and his teammates.

If he needed any reminding, a little piece of Tigers history stored away in his garden shed amongst gardening equipment and assorted DIY tools does just the job.

“Boris Stankovich (former Leicester scrum coach), he had a sign here that said ‘pas de mêlée, pas de victoire’, because he played in Albi. It’s a saying in France that means, ‘no scrum, no victory’.

“He put it up, where the front rows sit in the changing room, and I actually nicked the sign, it is in my shed at the moment, I am still waiting for permission from my girlfriend to put it up in the living room.”

Leicester have won the most scrum penalties in the Gallagher Premiership this season (23 from seven) and Bordeaux-Begles have conceded the most, along with Stade Francais in the Top 14 (28 from eleven). But there is no danger of those figures lulling Heyes into a false sense of security.

“I think Bordeaux will be taking it incredibly seriously and I think we all know as a front row we have got a massive challenge coming up regardless because they are all ginormous human beings as well.

“I never doubted the French teams. The difference between English and French scrums is quite massive.”

Talking of massive, Heyes admits that there are few more iconic tightheads in world rugby than Tameifuna.

Tonga’s captain weighs an incredible 148kg –23 kilos more than Heyes, who will be directly up against the lighter loosehead, Jefferson Poirot, who tips the scales at a mere 117kg.

“I have come across him (Tameifuna) in a game against Bordeaux before, and there is a picture of  Tommy Reffell and me tackling him and he makes us look like children. He is the big icon for tighthead props.”

Leicester have had some superb tight-head props in the professional era – Darren Garforth, Julian White and Dan Cole – to name a few. And while Cole still has plenty of rugby left in him, at 25 years of age Heyes is very much the present and future.

The Nottingham Forest fan has already played over 100 Premiership games and has experienced plenty of big European days.

But it is the games over in France that really whet his appetite. Recalling the 16-13 win over Bordeaux-Begles three years ago, he said: “I don’t think there is any better place to be blooded into. It is intimidating and quite scary with the fans and all this kind of thing, especially as a young guy, so that was a big thing to go to France. You have got to fight for everything in France.

“I have had some of my best experiences there in a Leicester shirt. I remember being the travelling reserve for a Racing game and seeing their indoor stadium. All the French away days are amazing. I love playing in France, it is quite primitive.

“Seeing the away support as well. We played Clermont in 2022, my dad and his contingent came and they were singing, ‘take me home to Welford Road’,. It felt like a football atmosphere, it was amazing.”