COOL AS LEICESTER

Leicester Tigers kick off the 2023/24 season with a Premiership Cup run of matches, but with a few new names on the fixture list. If you’ve been wondering what to expect from the likes off Caldy, Ampthill and Bedford, then read on as Stuart Keene runs through everything you need to know.

New Cup, new opponents & a returning rival

This year the revitalised Premiership Cup acts as an amuse bouche to the league season, which has its start delayed to October due to the Rugby World Cup. We face Caldy, Sale Sharks, Ampthill, Newcastle Falcons & Bedford Blues. Tigers’ fans will be well aware of Sale & Newcastle, who are regular foes on the Premiership circuit but just who are the other three?

Who are Caldy? And where is Caldy?

Not exactly a famous name, Caldy is a small village about the size of Woodhouse Eaves, located just outside Birkenhead on the Wiral peninsula in Merseyside.  The club has had a meteoric rise in recent seasons, as recently as 2020 they were in the 4^th tier facing clubs like Hinckley and Loughborough Students but promotion that year then a second in 2022 saw The Ravers promoted to the Championship where they survived last season, winning 7 of their 22 games.

Do they have anyone I’ve heard of?

Probably not, though you may have head of Sam Dickinson, he started for Northampton in their 2014 Premiership final win. Dickinson is a local & returned to Caldy in 2021 after 11 years at various professional clubs. Dan Bibby won an Olympic silver medal in Rugby 7s with Team GB at the 2016 Rio Games and joined Caldy last season, though he has no top flight experience in the full version of the game.

Anything else on Caldy?

Founded in 1924 their visit to Welford Road will be the first game of their centenary season, and first ever game against Leicester. With a mixed Tigers side expected to be named it is not beyond possibility that a motivated Caldy side give us an embarrassing bloody nose.

What about Ampthill? Weren’t they in Wacky Races?

No, that was the Ant Hill Mob, though Ampthill do take their nickname of “the Mob” from the cartoon show.  Ampthill is not a massive town, though much larger than Caldy, and is located next to Flitwick between Milton Keynes & Bedford. The club has made steady progress over the past 16 seasons rising from the 7^th tier in 2006/07 season to the 3^rd tier in 2015 then reaching the Championship in 2019.  In their four seasons in the Championship they’ve finished between 5^th and 8^th, where they ended last season.

Ampthill’s most famous former resident is Leicester “favourite”, ahem, Ben Chilwell who grew up in the town.

Oh, any Rugby links?

New signing Josh Bassett is from the area and played for Ampthill’s youth sides in his teenage years before joining Bedford. Former Tigers & currently Ampthill players are lock Charlie Beckett, fly half Tom Hardwick & the Tigers new women’s assistant coach full back Tom Hudson.

What should we expect from them?

Coached by former Wales international and maverick long-term coach Paul Turner, Ampthill will be ambitious, risk taking & willing to mix it up front. Former Worcester hooker, the Tongan international, Aleki Lutui is still turning out for the Mob aged 45 and leads a tasty pack of forwards.

Okay, now Bedford is a place I’ve definitely heard of. Are they a big club?

Bedford are one of the grand old clubs of England, founded in 1886 they were immediately added to Tigers’ fixture list and the two clubs have met 145 times in total.  Traditionally Tigers would open the season against Bedford, with the home side alternating one year to the next. Bedford were particularly strong in the 1960s when they provided two England captains, and in 1975 won the predecessor of this competition the RFU Knock Out Cup (a rugby version of the FA Cup), four seasons before Leicester won our first title.

But we’ve not played them for ages right?

Right. We last played them in a full first team game in 2000, that season was the most recent of their three years in the top division.  After having their fingers burned with a brief spell under the ownership of boxing supremo Frank Warren, Bedford have adopted a very conservative financial model and become mainstays of the second division, spending the last 23 seasons in the division.

So what about now, are they any good?

Last season they finished 4^th, making them the best placed of the Championship clubs we will face in the competition. Coached by former Wales full back Mike Rayer since 2005 Bedford have become synonymous with an attractive modern style of play, the current squad is a mix of full time, part time and young players seconded from Northampton Saints.  Whether those players are available, with Northampton having their own matches to play, will be key in determining whether Bedford are able to perform to their best.

This is the away game isn’t it? Can I go?

Yes, this is the away game with Tigers travelling to Goldington Road on Saturday 7^th October.  Tickets will be available from the Bedford website, and Bedford have hosted crowds in excess of 5,000 several times in recent years. Goldington Road has one main stand and several options round the pitch for standing though most of it is at pitch level.

Cool, so what are you predicting for the three games?

I don’t want this to sound too much like a total cop out, but it really depends on who is available.  I think we should have too much for Caldy first up, no matter what tight forwards we put out. Ampthill will likely come up against a stronger Tigers side as we get closer to the Premiership so I would expect that to be the bigger win, despite them being a better side probably. I could see any result against Bedford, it’s the week before we open the Premiership against Bristol so you would think we will be full strength and win comfortably, but we could have banked plenty of minutes early and rotate for that game only to get caught by a psyched-up Bedford in front of hostile crowd.

What ever happens I’m looking forward to facing new teams and old enemies, and it’s far more interesting that the alternatives we’ve been served up in past years.

Fact Files

Caldy

Founded: 1924
Nickname: The Ravers
Home Ground: Paton Field, Telegraph Road, Thurstaston, CH48 1NZ
Highest Finish: 10^th Championship (2023)
Honours: None

Ampthill

Founded: 1881 (re-founded 1950)
Nickname: The Mob
Home Ground: Dillingham Park, Woburn Street, Ampthill, Bedford, MK45 2HX
Highest Finish: 5^th Championship (2020)
Honours: None

Bedford

Founded: 1886
Nickname: The Blues
Home Ground: Goldington Road, Bedford, MK40 3NF
Highest Finish: 12^th Premiership (2000) & Courage League Division 1 (1990)
Honours: RFU Knock-out Cup Winners (1975), Midlands Merit Table (1978), Premiership Division Two Winners (1998), Cheltenham & Gloucester Cup Finalist (1998 & 1999), Powergen Shield Winners (2005).
Record v Tigers: Played; 145, Tigers won: 93; Bedford won: 43; Draws: 9.  Bedford won 31 of 56 at Bedford.