Nottingham were defeated at Mattioli Woods Welford Road by Leicester Tigers 36-19 last night, however there were plenty of positives to take from a very impressive and encouraging performance.

Playing in front of 10,000 supporters, Nottingham put on an excellent display to show the kind of performances we will be seeing throughout the season.

The game started with Tigers on the front foot and making their early pressure count as they drove into an early 10-0 lead after only 10 minutes through tries from Emeka Ilione and Joe Powell, with a conversion from Charlie Atkinson.

Strong Nottingham pressure was unable to be rewarded with points after several penalties were conceded by the hosts, however Tigers then extended their lead through a penalty try and a Harry Simmons try after half an hour.

Right before the half time whistle, Tigers added another converted try to make the score 31-0 at the break despite the outstanding efforts of Nottingham.

Nottingham quickly started the second half on the front foot, with David Williams diving over the line following an excellent break through the Tigers defence! Morgan Bunting was able to convert as Nottingham got the score back to 31-7.

A tight period of play following Nottingham’s first try of the evening saw no change in the score until the 65th minute when Tigers’ Dan Richardson scored to make it 36-7.

Nottingham finished extremely strongly, with Jack Dickinson scoring twice in the final 10 minutes after some excellent lineouts and phases of play. Sam Hollingsworth was able to convert once, making the final score 36-16.

Overall, an outstanding performance from Nottingham and one that the boys should be very proud of.

We now move onto the start of the Premiership Cup on September 9th away to Gloucester.