Captaining Leicester Tigers is an honour – Ollie Chessum

By Mark Stevens

Match Preview – Leicester Tigers v Bath

It was quite the comeback for Ollie Chessum, not just personally, but collectively, as Leicester Tigers kicked off their new Premiership season with a last-gasp victory at Exeter Chiefs.

With the clock deep in the red at Sandy Park, the Tigers dug deep into their reserves to somehow fashion out a match-winning moment for replacement Tommy Reffell to help seal a 17-14 success.

Perfect Start

It sparked scenes of jubilations among the visitors and their supporters in the stands, whilst it also gave a winning start to life under new head coach Michael Cheika who, ahead of battle, had opted for Chessum as his new on-field leader.

In what was a first for the 24-year-old England international in Tigers colours, Chessum did not disappoint as he led from the front with a heroic display that augurs well for the future.

“Other than being capped at international level, this is probably the biggest honour I’ve had in rugby,” he said.

“It may only be for one game, who knows….. but it’s a huge honour.

“When Cheika said on Monday that he was thinking about making me captain and how did I feel? I was straight away like ‘yes’.

“When I first got to the club, I would have bitten your hand off to play one game – and I’d have certainly bitten your hand to take the captain’s role.

“My family weren’t going to make the trip down, but as soon as I told them I was skipper for the day, they were straight in the car.”

The Return

Chessum’s elevation as captain marked a special return to competitive action for the talented forward, whose last game came in a 21-19 defeat against Bristol Bears back in April.

Since then, he has been working his way back to full fitness following surgery on a shoulder injury that also meant he missed out on England’s summer tour to Japan and New Zealand.

Fighting fit again, however, Chessum’s return is not only a boost to the Tigers, but also to England and their head coach, Steve Borthwick, who started him in every match of last season’s Six Nations Championship.

Club Legends’ Encouragement

With little more than pre-season training under his belt, Chessum did not disappoint and was spurred on by some pre-game messages from Leicester legends such as Tom Youngs, Ben Youngs and Julian Montoya.

“I had Tom and Julian message me, guys of that stature at the club,” he added.

“Julian’s got other things to think about with Argentina, but it says a lot about the bloke that he’s messaged me and wished me well in the week.

“Equally, Ben came up to me and said just lead by being yourself, don’t change anything, don’t speak when you don’t feel like you have to speak, don’t feel you’ve got to play any better than you do, just lead by being yourself and that’s what I tried to do.

“There is a pressure and you can try and tell yourself not to be nervous, but when it’s your first game back in five months, then to be given the captaincy, yeah I was more nervous that I’ve been for many games. I loved it, though. I loved having an influence, especially on the team.

“You only have to look at the names in the squad around me. Hanro (Liebenberg) is previously captain of the club, Lenny (Ben Youngs) is the most capped England player of all time and Coley (Dan Cole) is there as well. I’m hugely grateful that I got their support – and that of the other boys – so it made for a good day.”

Previewing Bath

Chessum is looking to build on that victory in the coming weeks but is rested today for the visit of Bath to Welford Road.

“You can do as much pre-season work as you want, but I don’t think anything ever prepares you for the intensity and the physicality of a game like that,” he continued.

“Week one, I’ve got it under the belt now, so hopefully I’ll feel a bit better in the coming weeks.”

England duo George Martin and Anthony Watson make their first starts of the season for Leicester.

Martin comes in for Chessum to partner Harry Wells in the second row, while Watson faces his former club in a back-three alongside Ollie Hassell-Collins and Freddie Steward.