Tom Youngs showered praise on an amazing Welford Road crowd in their Heineken Cup match against French power house club Toulouse over the weekend and stated that their roar was enough for the Leicester Tigers to push into the quarter finals of the prestigious tournament. The Aviva Premiership Rugby Football Union club overcame a strong opposition in the form of the French club in their last pool match of the biggest club competition for rugby clubs in Europe in a pulsating match in which, three penalties from Toby Flood saw them win 9-5 and creep into the quarter finals stages.
There was a packed crowd present in sub zero temperatures with incessant snowfall, one of the biggest recorded in the history of England and Youngs stated that the constant roar of the home crowd was inspiration enough for the players to give it their all in the match. Toulouse had around 100 fans making the trip across the English Channel which left Welford Road with more than 24,000 Leicester Tigers fans and the roar of the crowd after the match with The Tigers qualifying for the knockout stages was deafening to the ears.
The Tigers and England international hooker stated that he doesn’t think he has heard the crowd shout so loudly and added that the crowd had been absolutely fantastic. He also hailed a masterstroke from Richard Cockerill, the Director of Rugby of the club who called on the fans over the previous weekend to come out in numbers and support the team.
The win against the French champions means the Leicester Tigers will take on the big spending Toulon side in the quarter finals of the Heineken Cup away from home in what is set to be the tie of the knockout stages with a place in the last four at stake.