Press Release on behalf of Premiership Rugby:
Jake Farnworth says a young Leicester Tigers squad should aim to make the most of an evening in the spotlight at the Singha Premiership Rugby Sevens at Kingston Park on Saturday.
Academy graduate Farnworth made his senior debut for Tigers during the run to the semi-finals of the LV= Cup last season, as well as sharing in a memorable Welford Road fixture against the Barbarians, and he leads the team as captain in the North-East this weekend in the abridged version of the game.
“It’s a young squad and everyone’s looking forward to showing the coaches what they can do on a bigger stage,” he said.
“Sevens rugby is always seen as a bit of fun, but it’s also a first chance for young players in front of the TV cameras, so it’s exciting to be able to perform in front of people. It’s not just family and a few friends, like a lot of academy games. There are a lot of people interested in what you are doing for the first time.”
Farnworth is playing in his third season of Premiership Sevens after being part of the Tigers squad that reached the Final in 2013 and won the Plate Final at The Twickenham Stoop last summer.
“It was a good experience last year to win a trophy, especially as it’s the first competition of the season, and it gives the fans something to enjoy before the Aviva Premiership season kicks off,” he added.
“It’s my third year and at no point did I think I would be the senior member in the squad and captaining it. But I’m happy to take it on and I’m looking forward to it.”
Last season’s squad was led by first-team squad scrum-half George Tresidder and he will be keeping a close eye on Saturday’s fixtures against Newcastle Falcons, Sale Sharks and Worcester Warriors.
“Winning on Finals night last year was a really great experience,” Tresidder said.
“There are always some strong sides there and first of all you have to make it through the opening round and I hope the guys can do that. It will be the biggest crowd any of those younger players have played in front of – like it was for me last year – and they won’t have been on television before.
“You feel that pressure in the build-up but once you get on the pitch it is just the same game.”
Tigers open their Singha Premiership Rugby Sevens campaign against hosts Newcastle at 4pm, before games against Warriors at 4.55pm and Sale Sharks at 5.50pm.
Leicester Tigers squad: 1 George Nairn, 2 Jake Farnworth (c), 3 George Worth, 4 Stone Priestley-Nangle, 5 Ben Pons, 6 Wesley Douglas, 7 Will Evans, 8 Oliver Povoas, 9 Ben White, 10 John Hargreaves, 11 Paolo Odogwu, 12 Ryan Olowofela
Tickets are available now. For details, see www.premiershiprugby.com/7s
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