Fylde have named their squad for the visit of Sheffield Tigers RUFC to the Woodlands on Saturday (2nd Sept).
Good luck to Alex Clayton who makes his first 1st XV start at fly-half (and goal kicker) in place of the unavailable Greg Smith.
It’s good to see both Matt Garrod and David Fairbrother amongst the replacements after them being out of the action in recent weeks.
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We are delighted to welcome the players, officials and supporters of Sheffield Tigers to the Woodlands to open the 2023-24 National League season. In recent seasons the Tigers have claimed the bragging rights over near neighbours Sheffield RUFC- as their strapline on their website claims “We are Sheffield’s most successful rugby union club”. That was really tested in terms of 1st XV league status at least last season. The Tigers finished the campaign in 9th place, just four points ahead of Sheffield in 10th. Battle Royale will take place next Saturday on Dore Moor as the two clubs meet – a rivalry almost on a par with Fylde & Preston Grasshoppers who themselves will be in their latest clash at Lightfoot Green on the same day.
Their ground is on Dore Moor, on the south west edge of the city, a staggeringly beautiful setting which can be, to say the least, a little cold in mid-winter!. It is high on the moors and in bad weather a very difficult place to play. However, it’s a very well organised club and has good facilities. It is currently fund raising to extend the number of pitches on the Moor.
There is no doubt about the ambition and progress of the Tigers in the past decade. They have yo-yo’d between National Two and the Midlands or North Premier divisions. In the last 13 seasons, they have had six campaigns at level 4 and seven at level 5. They finished in 9th place in 2021-22, 10th place in 2019-20 and 13th the previous year. Like Fylde, the Tigers run four senior teams and a healthy Mini-Junior Section.
This will be only the eight meeting of the two clubs, with the first three matches won by the Tigers, the last four by Fylde. A number have been very close indeed, by 7 points or less. For instance, the Lancastrians had a serious battle on their hands at the Woodlands last season before coming through by 20-11. The return game in Sheffield was a real nail biter, with Fylde eventually shading it by 30-33. There’s little doubt that today’s game will be equally hard fought, especially given the size and quality of the 2023-24 squad.
In early summer the Tigers announced the appointment of Mark Luffman as Head Coach, taking over that role from the long standing player/coach Jamie Broadley. Luffman has experience in coaching England Ladies, England U18s, Otley, Leeds Tykes and a host of other club and university sides. But within a few weeks he withdrew from the post for opportunities elsewhere and has been succeeded by former Rotherham Titans coach Adam Byron. He’ll be assisted by Karl Garside, former Premiership player with Northampton Saints. He currently plays for Doncaster and brings expertise -in forwards and set piece coaching.
The Tigers PR team has been in overdrive over the summer with a continual stream of announcements of no fewer than 35 players either re-signing or new arrivals to the 1st XV squad. Whilst they have talent across the board, their pack has been particularly effective and powerful. Whilst their backline can be very penetrative, it was notable that they only secured six ‘4 try’ bonus points last season one of the lowest in the division. In comparison Fylde notched 19 bonus points for scoring 4 tries or more in games.
They have a ‘leadership team’ made up of centre Jamie Broadley, scrum-half Ryan Holmes and backrow forward, Tom Calladine. Another incredibly influential player is the highly experienced fly-half and ‘goalkicker extraordinaire’ Mark Ireland. In their first visit to the Woodlands in 2018, Ireland won the game virtually on his own, with help from a very ill disciplined Fylde side, and he kicked six penalties including a last minute winner for a score of 24-25.