Tigers' Micke Gunter: 'We're working on buying into this theme of the underdog'

Micke Gunter is still on a high from helping South Africa reach the knock-out stages of the recent Women’s Rugby World Cup and is determined to make an impact at her new club Leicester Tigers in England’s PWR.

As part of the Springbok Women’s squad, the hooker played her part in the summer as they caused an upset to defeat Italy in Pool D to make it through to the last eight alongside France.

They were eventually knocked out in the quarter-finals by New Zealand, but she is buzzing from that experience and she wants to help the new-look Tigers cause a few upsets this season and, like South Africa did, make people sit up and take notice.

Since finishing eighth in the PWR last term and the league’s ever growing competitiveness, there have been sweeping changes at Tigers. With the scale of Leicester’s challenge this season demonstrated by their 46-17 loss to last season’s fellow strugglers Sale Sharks on the opening weekend.

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Fraser Goatcher is now director of women’s rugby, 26-year-old Scot Ross Bundy is head coach and 23 players, including big names like Meg Jones, Amy Cokayne and Francesca McGhie, have departed.

In have come a whopping 30 players, some of whom got game time in the recent PWR Cup, and now they will look to gel from round one of league action starting with a big away game against Sale Sharks on Saturday evening.

Gunter, who just turned 27, has arrived from Pretoria Bulls Daisies who have been the dominant force in South African women’s club rugby in recent years and, personally, she will look to be a dominant force for the Tigers in the coming months.

“I loved the World Cup and I had a three week break after the tournament when I headed overseas to Italy so I am feeling rested and ready to go with Leicester Tigers,” Gu?nter said.

“We’re working on buying into this theme of the underdog this year, we know there are squads in the PWR full of international players and we are maybe a newer squad with some newer names in it, but we are going to work hard week in and week out and we will make sure that anyone who plays against the Tigers will know they have been in a game for sure.

“Since I joined the squad I can just see the immense growth within the girls week in and week out and the excitement is growing for what we can achieve as a group.

“A lot of the girls have PWR Cup games under their belt and we’re just excited to set our standards and a platform and then work from there and see where we’re at as a squad. I am definitely excited for what’s to come and I am excited to be playing in this league.

“I came here for game time and I came here to play against other internationalists regularly in high quality matches. With so many internationals in the PWR after the World Cup the standard is likely to have gone up and that is exciting and a challenge we are ready for.”

As part of the PWR’s ‘Home of Heroes’ marketing campaign leading into the season, Gunter was depicted as ‘Iron Micke Gunter’ due to her power game and she is keen to make that a part of the Tigers’ armoury.

“I’m just excited to get a lot of game time, grow my game personally, help the team and play a different brand of rugby as what I might be accustomed to in South Africa,” she stated.

“I think the biggest ‘work on’ for me is focusing on my attack. I think I focused a lot on defence over the last couple of years and I’ve grown so much confidence in that space, but now I want to be an all-round player.

“I want to work on my ball carries, being more involved in that space and getting the team onto the front foot.

I think the style of rugby here excites me. There will be a lot of running rugby which is what I enjoy and I’m excited to get into the mix.

“In the coming weeks I will be working on just learning some techniques and tips and tricks from the girls around me and training with and playing against internationalists all the time can only help you as a player.

“As an experience, you can’t beat that. I’m also excited to be able to take what I learn here back home into the national squad and impart my knowledge to help South African women’s rugby continue to grow. Giving back is always one of the reasons why I do what I do and why I play rugby.

“For now though all of the focus is on Leicester Tigers and physically I’m ready to go and excited to get on the pitch and make my mark here.”