Still no fly-half replacement

By Denise
July 8 2002

At a press conference today Tigers announced three new signing to bolster the squad. Unusually for Tigers none of them is English. The biggest signing that of Franck Tournaire the French prop came as little surprise after being linked with him most of the season.

Indeed it is a relief to have signed a player with such experience in such a vital role. The impact the loss of Darren Garforth had on Tigers European campaign in 1999-2000 proved that our lack of cover in that position cost us games.

The second signing proved that not all of what is said on message boards is rubbish. Although not linked with Tierney in the press, Tigers were associated with him on the Shannon messageboard and today the Munster Rugby web site. Tom plays scrum-half, a signing that is vital now that Tigers only have one fly-half in Austin Healey, which opens up the scrum-half spot.

The third signing and the least expected and experienced is Rhys Williams a Welsh Under 19 hooker who must step up to replace the irreplaceable Richard Cockerill. Hopefully he will prove to be as good a servant to the club as Cockers.

Deano stated:
"Rhys is a good player, Tom is an international player and Franck is a world-class player. I have a huge amount of admiration for all three of them and they are the type of players this club is looking for."