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122-769: He made his debut for the Sale Sharks in 2006 against the Leicester Tigers . His debut season for the Sharks was the 2006–07 Guinness Premiership . He was Sale's first XV captain. He made his international debut for Argentina in 2004 against Uruguay . He was a part of the Pumas team that defeated Wales at home in a two Test series, scoring a try in one game. Fernández Lobbe featured in the side that defeated England at Twickenham in November 2006 as well as back to back victories over Ireland

244-472: A blood replacement . Wilkinson scored the penalty from outside the Australia half to put England ahead, 6–5. At 23 minutes, Wilkinson's long drop-goal attempt with his left foot went wide. Two minutes later, Ben Kay gathered the ball after Richard Hill kicked it through Australia's defence when Giteau dropped it after a Wilkinson tackle; Kay failed to score a try when he was tackled. Wilkinson sustained

366-501: A drop goal with his right foot to secure a 20–17 victory for England. England's win was their first Rugby World Cup title. They were the first Northern Hemisphere team to win the tournament, ending 16 years of dominance by Southern Hemisphere teams. They are currently the only Northern Hemisphere team to have won a Rugby World Cup title. Wilkinson was named man of the match , and the England playing and senior coaching team were appointed to

488-527: A 38th-minute try by Jason Robinson (which Wilkinson was unable to convert) gave England a 14–5 lead at half-time. The second half saw Flatley score three penalty goals in succession; regular time ended with both teams tied 14–14, and the match went into extra time . Wilkinson scored a fourth penalty goal to put England back ahead of Australia in the second minute of extra time before Flatley equalised again with his fourth penalty goal with two minutes of extra time to play. With 28 seconds remaining, Wilkinson scored

610-468: A 6–3 loss to the Cherry and Whites; the attendance was 25,282 - more than double the previous season. Cup success also coincided with Tigers' membership more than doubling from 750 in 1978 to 2,000 by the end of 1979. Leicester secured their first national trophy, the 1978–79 John Player Cup , by defeating Moseley 15–12. Tigers retained the cup in 1979–80 beating London Irish 21–9 at Twickenham in front of

732-407: A 7–3 advantage. England retook the lead when Wilkinson scored two drop goals and two penalties to give them a 12–7 lead at half-time. In the second half, Wilkinson scored a second drop goal and three more penalties to put England through to the final with a 24–7 victory. André Watson , a 45-year-old retired civil engineer and school rugby fly-half from South Africa , was selected as referee for

854-644: A 84–6 victory with one try each by Mike Tindall , Matt Dawson , Steve Thompson , Neil Back , Lawrence Dallaglio , Mark Regan , Dan Luger and Jason Robinson , two tries by Will Greenwood and Ben Cohen , and conversions by Jonny Wilkinson and Paul Grayson ; Wilkinson added two penalties. Georgia's six points were penalties by Malkhaz Urjukashvili and Paliko Jimsheladze . Six days later, England played South Africa at Subiaco Oval. The teams were tied 6–6 at half-time, with two Louis Koen penalties for South Africa and two penalties by England's Wilkinson. Two more penalties by Wilkinson followed, before he converted

976-402: A First XV stopped and Tigers adopted a more traditional membership club based approach with multiple sides. The "A XV" was to be re-introduced under the name "Extra First XV" with a third "Colts XV" also formed. The 1963/64 season saw David Matthews set the record for most consecutive appearances for the club with 109. Matthews was to become captain in 1965 and in 1966/67 lead the club to

1098-464: A Greenwood try and scored two drop goals to put England at the top of their pool with a 25–6 win. Their third group game was against Samoa at Docklands Stadium in Melbourne on 26 October. Samoa went ten points ahead with a penalty and a converted try by Earl Va'a before England levelled with a Neil Back try (converted by Wilkinson), after which Wilkinson scored a penalty. Two more penalties by Va'a and

1220-516: A Rugby World Cup record crowd of 82,957, with 22 to 30 million television viewers, and was refereed by André Watson of South Africa . Australia scored first when Lote Tuqiri scored a try in the sixth minute, but Elton Flatley failed to score the resulting conversion. England's first points were through a penalty goal scored by Jonny Wilkinson at 11 minutes; Wilkinson scored a second penalty nine minutes later to put his side ahead of Australia. A third Wilkinson penalty goal after 28 minutes and

1342-615: A collection of the best 14 and 15-year-olds in the county. Only six years later Paul Dodge became the first graduate to win an international cap. Tigers were not involved in the 1974-75 Cup and lost in the 1st round of the 1975-76 Cup . This forced the club into the Midlands qualifiers for the only time. This era saw a huge increase in the popularity of the Barbarians annual fixture with crowds of 15,000 in 1973 & 1975, 17,000 in 1974 and 21,000 in 1976. This contrasted with usual crowds in

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1464-411: A cramp, one minute later. Tuqiri was prevented from scoring a try when Cohen and Robinson were tackled from 5 m (16 ft) three minutes later; Wilkinson held the ball, giving Australia a line-out. England got a penalty line-out in the 96th minute when Rogers held onto the ball during a tackle. Dallaglio was penalised from coming in on the side and handling the ball in a ruck, giving Australia

1586-410: A drizzle, making the pitch damp. The match began before a World Cup record crowd of 82,957 at 20:00 local time with Wilkinson kicking the ball into Australia's right-hand defence, where it was collected by Nathan Sharpe . At two minutes, Rogers threw to Tuqiri; it threatened to overlap, but went into touch . A touch judge noticed that Woodman's right fist went outside at the back of a maul, and he

1708-461: A final peak rating of 15 million viewers. This was the highest viewership in the United Kingdom of a rugby union match since the 1991 Rugby World Cup Final was watched by an average of 13.6 million. The Seven Network's coverage of the final had a nationwide average of four million viewers in Australia and peaked at a total of 4.3 million viewers, making it the most-watched football game in

1830-400: A glimpse of life a little bit outside the boundaries of what I thought was possible – something bigger." Cannon described the drop goal as "like witnessing a car accident, you know it's about to happen but you don't want it to happen." Dawson said the win was "very surreal" after England's comeback from elimination in the quarter-final stage of the 1999 tournament. Greenwood said that during

1952-408: A minor shoulder injury when he tackled Giteau. In the 28th minute, England got another penalty kick after they won a scrum after a Flatley tackle and moved up the pitch. Wilkinson scored a third penalty goal from a narrow angle to extend England's lead to four points. Woodman was penalised two minutes later for incorrectly binding during a scrum, earning Australia a penalty. Flatley failed to score

2074-399: A penalty kick at 97 minutes. Flatley scored the penalty from outside the England area to level the score 17–17 and, potentially, require a match-ending penalty shootout . With more than one minute remaining, England won a line-out and moved towards Australia's area three times, including a dummy and run by Dawson that broke the line and brought England within drop goal range. Dawson passed

2196-408: A penalty kick two minutes later when Back held the ball too long in a line-out. England gained possession with breaks by Lewsey, but both teams had difficulty handing the ball and were cautioned by Watson. At 20 minutes, England got a penalty kick when Cohen was tackled by Larkham without the ball. Larkham sustained a lip injury for which he received medical attention, and Giteau was brought in as

2318-710: A penalty. Romania's eight points came from a Petrișor Toderașc try and a Ionuț Tofan penalty. At 18 seconds, Flatley scored the earliest World Cup try. The team's third group fixture was against Namibia at Adelaide Oval on 25 October. Australia won by a World Cup-record margin of 142–0, with a tournament-record 22 tries: five by Chris Latham , three each by Giteau and Tuqiri, two each by Rogers and Morgan Turinui and one each by David Lyons , Mortlock, Jeremy Paul , Nathan Grey , Matt Burke , John Roe . Rogers had one penalty try and 16 conversions. Australia concluded their pool matches against Ireland on 1 November at Melbourne's Docklands Stadium. George Gregan gave Australia

2440-509: A player, administrator or coach. A new generation of players debuted in the early '80s: Dean Richards , John Wells , and Rory Underwood . In 1985 in the penultimate step towards league rugby, the Merit Table A was launched for two seasons where Tigers finished fourth and second. League rugby was launched in England with the 1987–88 Courage League and all sides now played all other sides in a round-robin. Tigers lost only one match all season and

2562-431: A points deduction from Saracens for breaching the salary cap. On 13 November 2020, just 8 days before the start of the 2020-21 Premiership Rugby season Geordan Murphy left as director of rugby in a decision described as "mutual". With new head coach Steve Borthwick now in charge of team selection Leicester got off to a winning start against Gloucester . In his first season at the club Borthwick guided Leicester to

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2684-482: A re-match of the 2010 & 2011 finals. Ford wasn't to last long in the final withdrawing injured in the 23rd minute & being replaced by Freddie Burns . With the matching tied 12-12 it was Burns who scored the 80th minute drop goal to win Leicester their 11th English title, only two seasons after finishing in 11th place. Speculation began that Borthwick was in line to succeed Eddie Jones as England head coach after

2806-475: A record 11 English Championships , five RFU Knockout Cups and three Anglo-Welsh Cups , most recently in 2017 . Leicester most recently won the Premiership Rugby title in the 2022 season , and appeared in a record nine successive Premiership finals, from 2005 to 2013. Leicester is one of only three teams never to have been relegated from the top division. Leicester have appeared in five European finals,

2928-514: A record 33 wins. Chalkie White became coach in 1968; the same season Tom Berry became Leicester's first President of the RFU . White was credited with revolutionising Leicester's players in response to rule changes that opened up the game. 1970/71 saw Peter Wheeler emerge as first-choice hooker having made his debut the year before, he ended the season on England's tour to the Far East . Attendance for

3050-594: A record crowd of 27,000. 1979–80 also saw Tigers win the Midlands Merit Table for the first time. To celebrate the club's centenary a six-match tour to Australia and Fiji was arranged in August 1980, the first undertaken by an English club in the southern hemisphere. Prestige fixtures staged at Welford Road to mark the centenary were the visit of the Irish Wolfhounds , Romania , and Queensland . Tigers retained

3172-462: A scrum in the team's semi-final with New Zealand. Coach Eddie Jones replaced Darwin with Al Baxter at the tight head prop position. Jones also made Matt Dunning a prop reserve, and utility back Giteau replaced Grey as a substitute after Giteau's recovery from an ankle injury in Australia's quarter-final with Scotland. England coach Clive Woodward made one change to the side which began their semi-final against France; Tindall replaced Catt (who

3294-508: A second penalty by Wilkinson gave Samoa a 16–13 lead at half-time. England earned a penalty try after Samoa conceded a scrum , and Wilkinson converted it to return England to the lead. Va'a's two subsequent penalties put Samoa back in the lead, but England won 35–22 with tries by Wilkinson, Iain Balshaw and Vickery; Wilkinson converted a second try. England's final group match was against Uruguay at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium on 2 November. They had

3416-400: A single season, the third worst in the club's league history, McKellar was dismissed on 22 June 2024. On 27 June 2024, Tigers appointed fellow Australian Michael Cheika as the new head coach. Leicester Tigers formed a women's team on 15 July 2021, launched in partnership with Lichfield Ladies . * In 2001 & 2002 the winners of the league were considered champions with the winners of

3538-420: A team World Cup record victory of 111–13, with a national-record-equalling 17 tries scored by Lewis Moody , Josh Lewsey , Balshaw, Andy Gomarsall , Luger, Grayson, Stuart Abbott and Robinson (converted by Grayson or Mike Catt ) to qualify for the quarter-finals as pool winners. Uruguay's points came from two first-half Juan Menchaca penalties and a second-half Pablo Lemoine try converted by Menchaca. In

3660-661: A third Flatley penalty put Australia ahead 13–3 at half-time. Flatley scored his final penalty to extend Australia's lead before Ignacio Corleto scored a 72nd-minute try. A Joe Roff try converted by Flatley two minutes later, however, gave Australia a 24–8 win. Australia's second pool match was against Romania at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on 18 October. They won 90–8, scoring three tries by Mat Rogers , two tries each by Matt Burke , Stephen Larkham and one try each by Flatley, Stirling Mortlock , Roff, Matt Giteau , Lote Tuqiri and George Smith ; Flatley adding 11 conversions and

3782-609: A torrid time in charge despite getting to two finals. After losing the Anglo Welsh Cup final to the Ospreys , Leicester became the first side to win an away game in the Premiership playoffs by beating Gloucester in the semi-finals, but lost to Wasps in the final. After this final Loffreda was sacked. Heyneke Meyer was the board's choice to replace Loffreda, but family circumstances led to his resignation. Richard Cockerill took over,

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3904-443: A try (converted by Iestyn Harris ) to put Wales eight points behind before a last-minute Wilkinson drop goal advanced England to the semi-finals, 28–17. England then faced France in the semi-finals in wet, cold conditions at Stadium Australia on 16 November. Wilkinson gave England the lead with a ninth-minute penalty before an England line-out error allowed Serge Betsen to score a try, converted by Frédéric Michalak to give France

4026-467: The 1930 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia . The first BBC radio broadcast of a Tigers game was against Waterloo on 29 November 1930; Tigers won 21–5. Bernard Gadney became the club's first home-produced England captain in 1934 and was captain when four Leicester players were part of the first England side to beat the All Blacks . Gadney also became the club's second player to captain

4148-461: The 1998–99 Premiership , the Tigers title was sealed in the penultimate match of the season. In the 1999-2000 Premiership season Leicester retained their title. Tigers' third successive Premiership title was sealed early on 17 March 2001. In the 2001 Heineken Cup final Tigers beat Stade Français 34–30 to secure the club's first continental title. Tigers had won the inaugural Premiership playoffs

4270-501: The 2012 final Harlequins beat Leicester 30–23. In 2013 Leicester finished 2nd and beat Harlequins 33–16 in the semi-final at Welford Road. Leicester won their tenth Premiership title by beating Northampton , 37–17. These nine consecutive finals is a record for consecutive appearances in a Premiership play-off final. In 2014 Leicester finished third and lost, 21–20, to Northampton in the semi-final at Franklin's Gardens . In 2015 Leicester finished third and lost to Bath, 47–10, in

4392-666: The 2013 Rugby Championship . He also played in the 2014 and 2015 Rugby Championships. He played at RC Toulon for nine seasons, between 2009 and 2018. Fernández Lobbe won the French Top 14 in 2014 and the Heineken Cup in 2013, 2014 and 2015 with Toulon . Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club ) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester , England . They play in Premiership Rugby , England's top division of rugby. The club

4514-401: The 2020-21 European Rugby Challenge Cup final and 6th place in the league , securing Champions Cup rugby for the first time in two years. Tigers started the following season strongly, five wins in the opening five rounds was the club's best start in the Premiership era, the club remained unbeaten for 15 games in all competitions, the second best start to a season ever, but failed to tie

4636-495: The 2023 Rugby World Cup , but after a poor 2022 Autumn internationals Jones was replaced by Borthwick on 19 December 2022. He was initially replaced as Leicester head coach in an interim capacity by Richard Wigglesworth , the club's starting scrum half in the 2022 Premiership final & previous attack coach. On 22 February 2023, it was announced that Dan McKellar would take the role on a full time basis from 1 July 2023, previously having been Australia 's forwards coach. After

4758-573: The Anglo-Welsh Cup , and sealed the club's first domestic league and cup double after winning the Premiership final 44–16 against Gloucester . However, Leicester lost the Heineken Cup Final to Wasps . Howard left the club at the end of the season. Howard was succeeded for one season by the coach of Argentina Marcelo Loffreda , who started after the 2007 Rugby World Cup . Loffreda had

4880-575: The British Lions on their tour to Argentina . 1936-37 was the worst season since 1889-90 for the club with only 14 wins from 39 matches. Tigers first televised game by the BBC was on 3 February 1951 when they beat London Scottish 14–0 at the Richmond Athletic Ground . The club underwent a significant restructure in the 1956/57 season. The practice of being an "invitation" club featuring only

5002-534: The Istanbul bombings in Turkey. The New South Wales Police adjusted its security measures to stop pitch invasions by spectators during the final. The British government was represented at the match by Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell . Both teams' coaches released their line-ups on 19 November. Australia were without prop Ben Darwin , who sustained a prolapsed disc in his neck (contacting his spinal cord) during

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5124-563: The Mayor of London , awarded the squad the freedom of Greater London . The team then met the queen and other senior royal family members at Buckingham Palace , followed by a reception at 10 Downing Street with Prime Minister Tony Blair . The match viewership on ITV1 peaked overnight at around 14.5 million (82 percent of the British viewership) between 11:20 and 11:25 am and averaged 12.3 million (a 77 per cent viewing share); it had

5246-712: The Order of the British Empire in the 2004 New Year Honours . England failed to defend their trophy at the following 2007 Rugby World Cup (hosted by France), losing 15–6 to South Africa in the final . Australia reached the tournament's quarter-final stage , where they were defeated by England. The 2003 Rugby World Cup , the fifth edition of the Rugby World Cup (the International Rugby Board 's (IRB) leading quadrennial rugby union tournament for national teams),

5368-465: The knockout stage . En route to the final, Australia finished first in Pool A with four wins and no losses or draws before defeating Scotland in the quarter-final and New Zealand in the semi-final. England finished on top of Pool C and, like Australia, went undefeated with four victories and no draws before beating Wales in the quarter-final and France in the semi-final. The final was played in front of

5490-625: The 1926–27 season Leicester started using letters to identify their forwards; The Birmingham Post report for the match against Bath on 6 October 1926 noted "Leicester's forwards were picked out easily as their jerseys were decorated with large bold letters A-G". On 12 September 1931 against Old Blues the practice was expanded to the whole team. This tradition lasted until 1998 when Premiership Rugby rules forced Leicester to abandon lettering and Tigers first wore numbers on 5 September 1998 against Harlequins at Welford Road . 2003 Rugby World Cup Final The 2003 Rugby World Cup Final

5612-631: The 1990s forced it to gradually be abandoned due to fixture congestion. Tigers won the Midlands Counties Cup three more times in four years to cement their place as the midland's premier side before the outbreak of war in 1914. The visit of the Invincible All Blacks on 4 October 1924 saw a record attendance at Welford Road of 35,000 that stands to this day. Tigers were beaten 27–0 by the tourists. Club captain Doug Prentice captained

5734-556: The 1995–96 season brought two important changes: rugby union (and consequently the Tigers) became professional, and European club competition began in the form of the Heineken cup . The 1995/96 season was another of just missing out to perennial rivals Bath who secured a league and cup double after defeating Leicester in the Pilkington Cup final . In Leicester's debut season in the Heineken Cup

5856-404: The 2017–18 season successive home defeats to Northampton and Newcastle in Leicester's final two home games saw Tigers miss the playoffs for the first time since 2005. After a 40–6 defeat in the opening game of the 2018-19 Premiership Rugby season O'Connor was sacked by the club with immediate effect. Geordan Murphy was placed in charge of the side on an interim basis. Murphy was then made

5978-426: The England 10-metre (33 ft) line. Flatley kicked for goal from where he could score a try, but failed to score the penalty. After 56 minutes, Australia substituted Larkham for Giteau. The team made a double substitution one minute later, bringing on Paul for Brendan Cannon and Matt Cockbain for Lyons. At 58 minutes, Australia earned a penalty after Vickery incorrectly bound in a scrum; Rogers failed to score

6100-524: The First XV an invitation side and introducing players from all over the country. Tigers first silverware was the Midlands Counties Cup won for the first time in 1898 against Moseley . Having won the Midlands Counties Cup every year from 1898 to 1905, they dropped out "to give other teams a chance". On their return to the competition in 1909 Tigers won the cup again. In 1903 Jack Miles became

6222-404: The Midlands Merit Table title in November with an undefeated record. On 25 April 1981 Tigers' Dusty Hare broke the world record for points scored in first-class fixtures with 3,658 points. Leicester retained the cup in 1980–81 by beating Gosforth 22–15. Leicester was knocked out in the semi-finals of the 1982 Cup . This was also Chalkie White 's last season with the club after 30 years as

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6344-523: The Premiership semi final at Franklin's Gardens. The next two years Tigers suffered heavy away defeats in the semi-finals to Bath (47–10) and Saracens (44–17). On Monday 2 January 2017, Leicester sacked Richard Cockerill as Director of Rugby. Aaron Mauger was placed in temporary charge of the team, winning the 2017 Anglo-Welsh Cup , until Matt O'Connor was announced as the new head coach. Under O'Connor Tigers secured their 13th consecutive playoff appearance where they lost narrowly to Wasps 21–20. In

6466-554: The World Cup. Australia had won the World Cup on two previous occasions, in 1991 and 1999 . Although England had never won the tournament before, they reached the 1991 final (losing to Australia, 12–6). The 2003 final was the 29th match between Australia and England. Since Australia and England first played each other in 1909, England won 16 of those meetings (including the previous four), Australia won 11 and drew once, in November 1997. The teams had played each other in three of

6588-435: The annual Barbarians game hit a nadir with a crowd of only 2,518. The 1971/72 season saw changes that would radically change both the club and the game. The RFU introduced a national Knockout Cup competition for clubs and on 16 November 1971 Tigers played their first competitive cup match since 1914, a 10–3 defeat to Nottingham at their Beeston ground. Also introduced that season was Tigers' first "Youth" XV, based on

6710-494: The appointment was confirmed as permanent on 17 April 2009. Cockerill lead Leicester to two Premiership titles in as many years. In the 2009 Premiership final Leicester beat London Irish 10–9, and Tigers retained their title the following year as they defeated Saracens 33–27. After an historic placing kicking competition decided the 2009 Heineken cup semi-final , Leicester lost the 2009 Heineken Cup Final to Irish province Leinster . On Friday 6 November 2009 Leicester hosted

6832-762: The ball to Wilkinson, who could not be stopped by Gregan and scored a right-foot drop goal from 30 m (98 ft) out with 28 seconds left to put England back in the lead. No further points were scored; Watson blew the final whistle, with England winning the match 20–17 for their first Rugby World Cup. Man of the Match: Jonny Wilkinson (England) Touch judges: Paddy O'Brien ( New Zealand ) Paul Honiss ( New Zealand ) Television match official: Jonathan Kaplan ( South Africa ) Fourth official: Joël Jutge ( France ) Fifth official: Alain Rolland ( Ireland ) Match rules England

6954-423: The ball to score a try in the corner after a short run. Flatley's attempt to convert the try from the right-hand touchline struck the inside of the left-hand post, preserving Australia's 5–0 lead. Robinson passed some Australian players; Lyons committed an infraction in a tackle, earning England a penalty kick. Wilkinson made it 5–3 after 11 minutes, scoring the penalty from 47 m (154 ft). Australia got

7076-468: The best team in the world by one minute." Wilkinson explained why he scored a drop final in the last minute of the match: "I didn't want the game to go to a drop-goal competition. I just wanted to win so much for the other guys. I had to make sure I hit the target when the chance came my way." In a 2019 interview with BBC Sport , he described the goal as "not a memory that I treasure because I don't have much memory of it – but just an experience which gave me

7198-459: The build up was focused on recently retired former captain Tom Youngs whose wife, Tiffany, passed away from cancer in week preceding the match. His brother Ben Youngs started the match, and it was his half back partner George Ford who inspired the victory scoring a "full house" with a try, conversion, penalty & drop goal for 22 points in a 27–13 win. In the final Leicester faced Saracens ,

7320-512: The captaincy in the absence of Felipe Contepomi and defeated England in front of their home crowd in 2009. He was part of the Argentine squad at the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand and 2015 Rugby World Cup in England. He was the captain of the Pumas, a position he took over after succeeding Felipe Contepomi . As captain, he played every game of 2012 Rugby Championship and four during

7442-480: The club as head coach once his duties with England were finished. His start was later confirmed as July 2020. On 16 March 2020 the 2019-20 Premiership Rugby season was suspended for 5 weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom , with group training suspended indefinitely on 23 March. After the cancellation of games the club implemented 25% wage cuts on all staff, including players, on 22 April 2020 it

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7564-503: The club's total to six championships, tying Bath's record. During this time Leicester went 57 games unbeaten at home from 30 December 1997 to 30 November 2002 and earned 52 successive wins. During these four seasons, Leicester lost only 14 games out of the 92 they played. During the 2003–04 season, Leicester's form suffered and with eight games left in the season Dean Richards was sacked. After Richards' departure Tigers turned to his assistant coach John Wells , who guided Leicester to

7686-666: The competition's official song, replacing Kasey Chambers , who had withdrawn. Three young children from the Sydney Children's Choir sang the rugby anthem, " World in Union ", as part of the Rugby World Choir. The Australian national anthem, " Advance Australia Fair ", was performed by Alice Girle and performing-arts student Akos Miszlai before the English national anthem " God Save the Queen "

7808-506: The end of the 1987–88 season Tigers became England's first official champions. Tigers finished the 1988–89 Courage League in sixth place, their joint-worst ever finish. During the late 1980s and early 1990s several key members of the Leicester pack came through the youth ranks and became key first-team contributors, most notably lock Martin Johnson who debuted in 1989 and later became club captain; flanker Neil Back who joined in 1990; and

7930-517: The evening of 24 November, and arrived at Heathrow Airport (greeted by 8,000 to 10,000 people) early the next morning. Johnson, holding the trophy, was the first player to appear, and " Swing Low, Sweet Chariot " was sung. A national day of celebration was organised by the Rugby Football Union on 8 December, and was seen by almost a million people. The team paraded in open-top buses from Marble Arch to Trafalgar Square . Ken Livingstone ,

8052-433: The final 45–20 to Sale . In 2007 Leicester won their first title via the playoffs. They defeated Bristol 26–14 in semi-final before beating Gloucester 44–16 at Twickenham . On 18 May 2008 Leicester defeated Gloucester at Kingsholm to become the first team to win a Premiership semi-final playoff away from home. Leicester lost the 2008 final 26–16 to Wasps. In 2008–09 Tigers topped the table and beat Bath 24–10 in

8174-517: The final they faced Saracens, Freddie Burns scored an 80th minute drop goal to win the final 15-12 and seal Leicester's 11th English Championship. The next season in 2023 Leicester finished third and lost to Sale Sharks , 21–13, after travelling to the AJ Bell Stadium in Salford. Leicester hold the record for most Premiership titles (11), the most consecutive Premiership Final appearances (9) and

8296-464: The final. Watson had refereed two 2003 World Cup matches: the New Zealand–Wales and Argentina–Ireland matches in the group stage. He also refereed the 1999 Rugby World Cup Final and a number of Currie Cup and Super 12 finals. Watson was assisted by Paddy O'Brien and Paul Honiss of New Zealand , the two touch judges . Joël Jutge and Alain Rolland of France and Ireland were named

8418-499: The finals, with each team playing each other once in a round-robin format . The two top teams from each group advanced to a knockout stage . Rights to host the final were awarded to Stadium Australia , a purpose-built venue for the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney Olympic Park (an urban renewal project in the mid-west suburb of Homebush Bay ). The stadium played host to six other matches in

8540-458: The first half to the Irish side. Domestically they secured a first home play-off semi final since 2013, with two games to spare, after a 56–26 win against Bristol Bears . Tigers' winger Chris Ashton broke the Premiership Rugby all-time try scoring record in this match, his hat-trick taking him to 95 career league tries. In the semi-final they faced local rivals Northampton Saints , but much of

8662-437: The first home-produced England international. Leicester's status as a premier club was confirmed in 1905 when a crowd of 20,000 was on hand to see the club face The Original All Blacks , losing 28–0. December 1909 saw Tigers play the Barbarians for the first time, holding them to a 9–9 draw. The fixture became a vital feature in the club's calendar delivering large attendances until open professionalism and league rugby in

8784-488: The following year. And he was an integral part of the Los Pumas team in their 2007 Rugby World Cup campaign which succeeded in gaining Argentina's highest World Cup finish of third place. He played in every game en route to the semi-final which they lost to the eventual champions South Africa . He led his country for the first time in November 2008, a game which they lost at the hands of Ireland. However Fernández Lobbe retained

8906-590: The fourth and fifth officials, respectively, and South Africa's Jonathan Kaplan was the television match official . Tickets for the final sold out on 22 August 2003. The IRB returned an additional 2,000 tickets for the match to the Australian Rugby Union which it sold to the public since 13 November. Several Australian and British bookmakers cited England as the favourite to win the match. Australia coach Eddie Jones noted that World Cup finals were generally disorganised, and said that it would be good if

9028-488: The front row trio of Graham Rowntree , Richard Cockerill , and Darren Garforth who started 166 games together between 1992 and 2002. From 1993 to 2002 Leicester enjoyed a remarkable nine trophies in ten years. This streak started when Leicester won the 1993 Pilkington Cup . In 1993/94 Tigers finished runners up in the Courage League to Bath. Leicester finished as Courage League champion in 1994–95 . The advent of

9150-477: The goal. The rain began to increase in intensity, and both sides made more playing errors. In the 61st minute, Vickery was informed that he had illegally handled the ball on the floor in a ruck, giving Australia a penalty kick. Flatley took the penalty in front of the posts from the 10-metre (33 ft) line, scoring to put Australia three points behind England. Watson then called England for three consecutive infractions during scrums. A shot by Tindall spun to

9272-537: The inaugural IRB World Rugby Rankings ; Australia were ranked fourth. Australia qualified for the tournament as defending champions, and were drawn in Pool A with Argentina , Ireland , Namibia and Romania . Their first match, against Argentina on 10 October at Stadium Australia, was the tournament's opening game. Australia led 11–0 after two Elton Flatley penalties and Wendell Sailor 's try at 20 minutes which Flatley failed to convert. Felipe Contepomi scored Argentina's only penalty seven minutes later, before

9394-645: The joint-second most overall, as well as the two victories they have also lost finals three times, in 1997 , 2007 and 2009 . In 2021 they played in the European Rugby Challenge Cup final. Six Leicester Tigers players were members of the 2003 Rugby World Cup Final winning England side including captain Martin Johnson . Leicester Football Club was formed on 3 August 1880 by the merger of three smaller teams: Leicester Athletic Society, Leicester Amateurs and Leicester Alert. The club's first game

9516-516: The lead with a drop goal , followed with a try by Smith. Ronan O'Gara 's penalty put Ireland five points behind before a Flatley penalty restored Australia's eight-point lead. A second penalty goal by O'Gara gave Australia an 11–6 lead at half-time. Four minutes into the second half, Flatley scored a second penalty before a Brian O'Driscoll try (converted by O'Gara) put Ireland one point behind. Australia went four points ahead after Flatley's third penalty and, despite an O'Driscoll drop goal, advanced to

9638-437: The left-hand post). In the 79th minute, Catt was brought on for the injured Tindall. With 90 seconds of regular time remaining, Watson penalised England for collapsing a scrum and Woodman's failure to engage on their 22-metre (72 ft) line on the right side of the pitch; Woodman felt that Australia engaged too early, but a penalty kick was awarded to Australia. Flatley scored the penalty from 15 m (49 ft) out on

9760-491: The loss because he had been unable to clear the ball in the final minute, Flatley told him that he was not to blame: "A million things go on and in a game like that you can't really put it down to one thing. "It wasn't like I was about to slit my wrists or anything, but I was hoping to kick it up a bit further and make it even harder for them to score." Watson's refereeing was criticised by the media and rugby-world figures. Woodward's assistant Andy Robinson asked Watson during

9882-502: The low hundreds. 1976-77 saw the introduction of regional "Merit Tables" by the RFU, the first step on the road to full leagues. Based around traditional fixtures Tigers finished second to Moseley in the Midlands Merit Table with a record of played 8 won 6. It took 6 years before Leicester were drawn at home in the cup but in 1977-78 they received four in a row on their way to a first Twickenham final against Gloucester . The game ended in

10004-465: The match 33–16 for a place in the semi-final. They returned to Sydney's Stadium Australia to play New Zealand in their semi-final on 15 November. Australia opened the scoring at nine minutes, when Mortlock scored a try which Flatley converted. Flatley scored two penalties to increase Australia's lead before a try by New Zealand's Reuben Thorne , converted by Leon MacDonald , cut Australia's lead to 13–7 at half-time. Flatley scored three more penalties in

10126-473: The match and when he received his World Cup winners medal he thought about his son, Freddie, who died shortly after he was born in 2002. Gregan said that although the Australian team were disappointed, they had "a good deal of pride there as well. It was a gutsy effort, coming down to the last play of the game. My team didn't leave anything out so I couldn't ask for anything more." Injured prop Darwin said that he

10248-434: The match was contested "with a good balance between the important ingredients of rugby, and that is contest versus continuity": "Our responsibility is to play naturally and with freedom and our natural game is to attack, so we'll be keeping our part of the bargain. If we can get England to, and the referee to contribute, we should have a great spectacle. It could be the world's great game of rugby." England coach Clive Woodward

10370-635: The most Play off appearances (14). They were the first team to achieve an away semi-final victory in the Premiership play-offs (against Gloucester at Kingsholm on 18 May 2008). The club's formal name is Leicester Football Club but is widely known by the nickname "Tigers". The first known use of the name was after a game against Bedford School in February 1885, the Leicester Daily Post reporting that "the Tiger stripes were keeping well together". The origin of

10492-548: The nickname is uncertain most probably coming from the side's chocolate and yellow playing kit, but it may have come from the club's links to the Leicestershire Regiment , who had received the nickname 'Tigers' after serving in India , and from 1825 had worn a cap-badge with a 'royal' tiger to mark the connection. In their early years the side were also known as "The Death or Glory Boys" on account of their black shirts. In

10614-410: The non-commercial programme ABC Radio Grandstand and the commercial Macquarie Network in Australia and by BBC Radio 5 Live in the United Kingdom. Live sites were set up across Australia and London, with large screens to enable the public to watch the final. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer cautioned Australian citizens watching the final abroad to be mindful of their safety after

10736-491: The past four World Cups, and the 2003 final was their fourth meeting in the competition's history. The most recent match between them before the 2003 World Cup was played at Docklands Stadium in Melbourne on 21 June 2003, a 29–14 victory for England. England had won 21 of their previous 22 test matches, and Australia had lost four matches before the competition began. At the start of the tournament, England were ranked first in

10858-438: The penalty goal from the left of England's 10-metre (33 ft) line. Larkham returned to the pitch after 31 minutes, following medical treatment of his lip. Dallaglio passed Australia's mid-pitch defence seven minutes later and passed the ball to Wilkinson, who briefly ran with it before making a long pass to the approaching Robinson on his left. Robinson passed Sailor, scoring a left-corner try. Wilkinson failed to convert

10980-465: The permanent head coach on 18 December 2018 despite the team being on an eight match losing run. Results did not improve and a final day defeat against Bath saw Leicester finish 11th in the Premiership , their worst ever finish. After a delayed start to the season due to the 2019 Rugby World Cup Tigers fortunes did not improve, and on 21 January 2020 it was announced after months of speculation that England's forwards coach Steve Borthwick would join

11102-457: The playoffs considered champions from 2003 onward. Leicester have participated in 16 of the 22 Premiership Play Offs, reaching nine consecutive finals between 2005 and 2013. Leicester finished first in 2004–05 going directly to the final; in Martin Johnson & Neil Back 's last game for the club they lost 39–14 to Wasps . The following season Tigers finished second beating London Irish 40–8 in their first Play Off semi final before losing

11224-507: The post-match celebrations why England were penalised for scrum infringements, and was told to review the video footage. Watson defended his decisions: "I was satisfied with my handling of the match and that includes the scrum infringements .... I ref what I see and nothing else and I was happy with my performance. If there were any problems, they will have been noted by the IRB and I have not had any comebacks from them." The team left Sydney on

11346-552: The posts and put England back in the lead. Larkham came off the pitch again for Giteau because he was still bleeding, and an injured-looking Lewsey came off for Balshaw. Catt unsuccessfully attempted to score a drop goal on 89 minutes because Phil Waugh stopped him with a knock-on. Wilkinson also tried to score a drop goal a minute later, but his shot went wide. This ended the first half of extra time, with England leading Australia 17–14. At 92 minutes, Australia replaced Young with Dunning; England substituted Moody for Hill, who had

11468-528: The quarter-finals 17–16 as pool winners. Their quarter-final was against Scotland at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium on 8 November. The sides were tied 9–9 at half-time, after three penalties by Flatley and two penalties and a drop goal by Chris Paterson . Tries by Mortlock, Gregan and Lyons were converted by Flatley, who scored his fourth penalty in the second half to put Australia 24 points ahead of Scotland. A last-minute Robbie Russell try (converted by Paterson) gave Scotland seven extra points, but Australia won

11590-470: The quarter-finals, England faced Wales at Suncorp Stadium on 9 November. England scored the game's first points with a Wilkinson penalty, but Wales led 10–3 at half-time after tries by Stephen Jones and Colin Charvis (which Jones failed to convert). England moved 15 points ahead of Wales with a Greenwood try (converted by Wilkinson), followed by five successive penalties by Wilkinson. Martyn Williams scored

11712-479: The record after losing to Wasps on 9 January 2022. A week later Leicester overcame an 18-point deficit in the second half to beat Connacht , a Hosea Saumaki try sealing the win on the final play of the game, and secure progress to their first Champions Cup knock out stages since 2016. In Europe, Leicester progressed past Clermont Auvergne over two legs, despite getting red cards in both matches, but lost at home to Leinster 23–14, after falling behind 20–0 in

11834-649: The regular season top of the league in his only full season. In Martin Johnson and Neil Back 's last game for Leicester they lost the Premiership Final to London Wasps . Pat Howard succeeded Wells as the Head Coach. Howard coached the club for two seasons losing a Premiership final to Sale in his first season. Over the summer of 2006, the core of a new pack was recruited, and in Howard's second season Leicester won their first piece of silverware for five years, winning

11956-418: The right at 68 minutes, and Greenwood gathered the ball. Greenwood was prevented from scoring a try by a left-footed leg tackle from Rogers, which brought the ball into touch just before the try line. After 71 minutes, Australia substituted Roff for Sailor. After England secured a line-out one minute later, Lewsey got the ball and passed it to Wilkinson (whose second attempt to score a drop goal went wide of

12078-468: The right of the England half with ten seconds left, bringing on extra time with the teams tied 14–14. One minute into extra time, England substituted Vickery for Leonard. England were awarded a penalty kick a minute later, when a line-out Johnson was pulled down by Justin Harrison . Wilkinson opted to take the penalty, and kicked a shot from 44 m (144 ft) out wide on the right which went between

12200-468: The second half and, although MacDonald scored a late penalty for New Zealand, Australia held on to win the match 22–10 and a berth in the final. England qualified for the finals by reaching the quarter-finals of the 1999 World Cup, and were placed in Pool C with Georgia , Samoa , South Africa and Uruguay . Their finals campaign began on 12 October at Subiaco Oval in Perth against Georgia. The team secured

12322-413: The semi-final. The final was the closest yet, Tigers winning 10–9 against London Irish . In 2010 the side retained the trophy winning 33–27 against Saracens , Dan Hipkiss scored the decisive try in the closing stages. Tigers reached the 2010–11 final for a rematch with Saracens losing 22–18. 2011–12 saw Tigers finish second in the table and beat Saracens 24–15 in the semi-finals at Welford Road. In

12444-460: The semi-finals. In 2016 Leicester finished fourth and travelled to Allianz Park where they lost to Saracens , 44–17. In 2017 Leicester finished fourth and faced Wasps at the Ricoh Arena , losing 21–20. After a four-year spell of missing the play offs Leicester returned to the play offs in 2022 after finishing the regular season top. In the semi-final they beat Northampton Saints 27–14. In

12566-647: The stadium. Wilkinson was named man of the match and won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award . Every member of England's playing and senior coaching staff was appointed at least a Member of Order of the British Empire in the 2004 New Year Honours . In May 2004, the England squad received the Laureus World Sports Award for Team of the Year and Woodward was knighted. According to Woodward,

12688-540: The team reached the final , losing 28–9 against Brive . Leicester won the 1997 Pilkington Cup Final 9–3 against Sale . That summer Martin Johnson was named as captain for the 1997 British Lions tour to South Africa . In February 1998 Dean Richards was appointed as Director of Rugby following Bob Dwyer 's sacking. Under Richards, Leicester entered a golden age, winning four consecutive Premiership Rugby titles in 1999 , 2000 , 2001 and 2002 , as well as back to back Heineken Cups in 2001 and 2002. During

12810-423: The try almost from the touchline, and the first half ended with England leading 14–5. Flatley began the second half of the match by kicking deep into the England half, and England started making errors in a scrum or a line-out . Seven minutes later, England made two errors in succession from consecutive line-outs and Australia earned a penalty kick when Dallaglio was penalised for being offside when he thought it

12932-462: The victory was "very important and it is just a big thank you to the Premiership clubs and the Rugby Football Union. We have just put the icing on the cake and we want to keep this going." His counterpart, Jones, conceded that the better side won the final: "You slug it out for 100 minutes and get beaten in the 99th – yeah, that would qualify as a photo finish. England were outstanding and are

13054-419: The week before so also sealed an unprecedented treble. That summer Martin Johnson was named captain for the 2001 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia , becoming the first man to lead two tours. Leicester became the first side to retain a European title after beating Munster 15–9 in the 2002 Heineken Cup Final . Leicester also retained their fourth successive Premiership title in 2002. This brought

13176-434: The world champion Springboks of South Africa and the young Leicester side triumphed 22–17. Domestic success continued with Tigers reaching Premiership finals but losing in 2011 and 2012, against Saracens and Harlequins respectively, and winning the 2012 LV Cup . In 2013 Tigers won their record extending 10th English title defeating local rivals Northampton Saints 37–17. The next year Northampton beat Tigers 21–20 in

13298-413: Was open play ; Watson, however, decided that a ruck was being formed. Flatley successfully scored the penalty from inside Australia's half to put Australia three points behind. Soon afterwards, Australia made a change when David Giffin came on in place of Sharpe. In the 53rd minute, Dawson and Lewsey made an illegal cross that caused an accidental obstruction and gave Australia a penalty kick inside

13420-486: Was a scoreless draw on 23 October against Moseley at the Belgrave Road Cycle and Cricket Ground . On 10 September 1892 Leicester played their first game at Welford Road against a Leicestershire XV. Tom Crumbie was appointed secretary on 2 August 1895, a position he held for the next 33 years. Crumbie has been credited with dragging the club to national prominence. He disbanded reserve and third teams making

13542-566: Was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home matches at Mattioli Woods Welford Road in the south of the city. The club has been known by the nickname Tigers since at least 1885. In the 2023–24 Premiership Rugby season Tigers finished 8th, this entitled them to compete in the 2024–25 European Rugby Champions Cup . The current head coach is Michael Cheika who was appointed in June 2024. Leicester have won 21 major titles. They were European Champions twice, back-to-back in 2001 and 2002 ; have won

13664-408: Was frustrated to be unable to play in the final. Flatley described the pressure he felt when scoring the two penalty goals which meant that the match would go into extra time: "I had my hands together praying and I didn't see either kick. I had my eyes closed. It was scary pressure. There wasn't a great deal going on in my head ... I just had to knock them over." Although Rogers blamed himself for

13786-418: Was held in Australia from 10 October to 22 November 2003. In the finals, 20 teams played a total of 48 matches. The eight quarter-finalists in the 1999 Rugby World Cup automatically qualified for the tournament; the remaining twelve spots were decided in qualifying rounds played between 23 September 2000 and 27 April 2003 by teams from a record 81 nations. Teams were divided into four groups of five in

13908-466: Was made a substitute) to counter Mortlock's running ability, and indicating that England wanted to run more with the ball, and not rely on Catt and Wilkinson's dual kicking strategy. The final was the last time that captain Martin Johnson and Back represented England; both players retired the following year. Low cloud cover and sporadic downpours fell in Sydney on the morning of the match; it tapered off to

14030-399: Was my dream final. We have one objective and we're now one game away from achieving it. We certainly haven't come out here to finish second." A closing ceremony was held before the match. It began with the release of 18 of 20 inflatable cylindrical figures (representing the 20 qualifying teams), placed in a circle outside the pitch. Kate Ceberano performed Cyndi Lauper 's " True Colors ",

14152-607: Was played by Rugby World Choir members Belinda Evans and James Laing. The match was broadcast live on television by the Seven Network in Australia, Sportsnet in Canada, and on ITV1 and S4C in the United Kingdom. The Theatre Broadcasting System of the Department of Defence carried coverage of the final for Australian troops stationed in Baghdad. Radio coverage was by ABC Radio on

14274-402: Was pleased with Australia for their organisation of the tournament and the quality of their players and said about his team's chances for the final, "My only goal when I left my business to take his job six years ago was to make England the best team in the world and win this thing. Now we have a real chance of doing exactly that." Woodward added, "When the tournament began, I would have said this

14396-423: Was reported that Tigers players were unhappy with this and had engaged a solicitor to represent them, though this was quickly denied, on 11 May 2020 CEO Simon Cohen left the club after an 8-year tenure and was replaced by Andrea Pinchen. On 4 June 2020 it was revealed that Tigers were set to lose up to £5m of revenue during the coronavirus enforced shutdown, eventually making 31 employees redundant. On 29 June it

14518-514: Was reported that the pay dispute which started in April could result in several players leaving the club after refusing to cut their pay, with 5 players including Manu Tuilagi and Telusa Veainu leaving later that week after refusing to amend their contracts in light of the global pandemic. The completion of the delayed 2019-20 Premiership Rugby season between August and October saw another 11th-place finish for Leicester, saved from relegation only by

14640-443: Was reprimanded by Watson. A penalty on England's 10-yard (9.1 m) line was awarded to Australia, but the team decided that it was too far for their players and Rogers should kick into touch. Australia earned a free kick when England had too many players in a line-out , but opted for a scrum. Gregan passed the ball to Larkham, whose high shot was directed from right to left. The taller Tuqiri out-jumped Robinson, and gathered

14762-476: Was the final match of the 2003 Rugby World Cup , the fifth edition of the Rugby World Cup competition organised by the International Rugby Board (IRB) for national rugby union teams. The match was played at Stadium Australia in Sydney on 22 November 2003, and was contested by Australia (the tournament hosts) and England . The 20-team competition consisted of a group stage, from which eight squads qualified for

14884-534: Was the first Northern Hemisphere nation to win the Rugby World Cup, ending 16 years of Southern Hemisphere dominance. IRB chairman Syd Millar presented the runner-up medals to the Australian side. The victorious England team received their medals from Australian Prime Minister John Howard before Johnson held up the Webb Ellis Cup presented to him by Howard. The England team then took a lap of honour around

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