Tigers turn to past East Midlands derby clashes to inspire squad

Leicester Tigers’ coaching staff have looked to years gone by to inspire their players ahead of a clash with Loughborough Lightning.

Round 5 in Premiership Women’s Rugby will see the two teams meet for a fifth time, with Leicester looking for a first win of the 2025/26 season, while Loughborough want to maintain their top four charge.

Over the two teams’ previous four meetings in the league Leicester have tasted victory once. That effort came in February 2024 when Tigers squeezed past their rivals 22-17.

In men’s rugby this fixture has seen Leicester Tigers and Northampton Saints (who operate Loughborough) meet 255 times. Games are often categorised by their fiery nature and how temperatures can flare.

Ahead of Saturday’s fixture Leicester’s Director of Women’s Rugby, Fraser Goatcher, and head coach, Ross Bundy, have gone through the archives to show their first-year players what the contest means.

“We have a few girls who have never experienced it before,” Goatcher said. “So, we have done a little bit of education around it this week. That’s been good to hammer home the fact that this is the East Midlands derby. It’s the biggest derby in English rugby.

“We’ve lent quite heavily into some different clips and footage from games gone past. Both on the men’s side and women’s side. I thank that’s been a really good tool of giving everyone (an idea) what they can expect from the fame on Saturday.”

Tigers come into the contest two weeks removed from a 79-5 loss to Saracens in North London.

Their third loss in as many games means that the side have conceded 199 points and scored 22. A tough start to this campaign, the past two weeks have offered the opportunity to reassess.

“It’s been a really good chance for us to ask ourselves how we’re measuring success this season,” Goatcher said.

“We feel if we work on some simple things then we’ll start to see the results on the pitch. So, it’s given us the opportunity to go hard after those couple of weeks.”

Leicester came into this season after seeing star players Meg Jones, Francesca McGhie and Amy Cokayne all leave Mattioli Woods Welford Road.

In their place Goatcher recruited English rugby’s top amateur talents and players on the fringes of other PWR clubs.

Talented? Yes. But a squad completely ready to take on clubs boasting multiple storied internationals? Possibly not.

It is something that the club are more than aware of. An East Midlands clash at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens could well shrug off early season form and the glow of African Violet help Tigers see the try line more clearly.

“I’ve been very open that this is a development year for this squad, just with the age demographic that we have and the playing age,” Goatcher said.

“Success is going to be measured on some small wins for us. We’re working to targets every week for every game. As soon as we meet those targets we can move onto the next one.

“We’re really confident with that approach. Small wins are going to add up to a big one and once that big win happens then, hopefully, they’ll keep coming in.”