Dave Reddin: 1996 Pilkington Cup Final, Leicester v. Bath

The 1996 Pilkington Cup final was my first experience of a game with a binary outcome at the end of it, my first at Twickenham, and my first of the bitter taste of losing! As I look back now at the team sheets from that day, the memories of the people, the personalities but also the stage of evolution of the game come flooding back. I was fortunate enough to follow the journey's of some of these great players for most of their careers, whilst others I was fortunate to know for only a short time. 

1996 was the last season of so-called amateur rugby in England, although the approach at Leicester was far from amateur. I was a skinny but passionate, former football playing fitness adviser working at Loughborough University and had been also working with Tigers for the previous 2 seasons.

A good mate of mine, Martin Dowson, had been the fitness adviser at Leicester as well as supporting the England teams through a project run by Rex Hazeldine at the University. Martin had finished a master's degree and decided to head home to New Zealand and I took over his work with the team; training on a Tuesday and Thursday evening at Oval Park in Oadby, and Saturdays at Welford Road or wherever games would take us.

Outside of those times, every player trained every day - early mornings before work or in the evenings afterwards. Dean Richards, John Wells and Dorian West would sometimes come to Loughborough to do a track session or a weights workout when their Police shifts allowed, Rory Underwood asked me to come out to his house to look at the incredible hill sprint intervals he would complete in-between flying duties with the RAF. The dedication of these guys was inspiring to watch and I felt privileged to be learning my trade alongside them - their banter was relentless but supportive, and they were grateful for any help I could give.

The season had been a good one, with the Tigers neck and neck with Bath all year, with Bath ultimately taking the league title by a single point, which made the cup final an even more important game to make our point. Bath were undoubtedly the masters of this tournament, however, having won all 9 of their previous appearances in the final. Twickenham that day was spectacular! The stadium bowl had recently been completed, with only the south stand not joined at the top.

On the 4th May 1996, 75,000 supporters packed the sun-drenched stands - a world record at the time for a club game - and the atmosphere crackled like the game. We strangled Bath for much of the game, squeezing the life out of them for much of the first half, but despite a late Matt Poole try, we were down at the half courtesy of a Mike Catt drop goal and some unusually wayward goal kicking by John Liley. In the second half, we regained our forward based dominance and carved out a healthy 15-10 lead with 5 minutes to go.

Bath roared on by their support put the Leicester line to siege & time and time we held them back. In the final throws, Bath came again and again which is when Steve Lander - who would later become a trusted colleague with England - became the star and from our point of view, the villain of the piece. Leicester were the masters of the breakdown but Lander warned us for slowing the ball. On the 3rd warning, and in an act of unimaginable bravery and cruelty(!) awarded a penalty try to Bath, converted by Callard which sealed our fate. And to cap it all, at the final whistle, Neil Back, standing next to Lander, apparently (!) mistook him for Andy Robinson, and pushed him the to floor.

I didn't stay on the pitch long after the whistle, and was first back to the dressing room, the sounds from the Bath supporters muffled by the walls and the firmly closed door. I was numb with shock at the manner of defeat, unable to move, stood alone with my back to the door in the calm of the space, my mind not yet processing what had happened.

I remember hearing the crunch of studs approaching, turning as the door opened violently, the unmistakable silhouette of Dean Richards filling the opening and the odd sensation of a breeze across my face as a pristine Pilkington cut glass runners up tankard whistled across the room to explode spectacularly against the far wall in a thousand pieces. The emotion and frustration of defeat in one moment. I didn't think it would be the time to ask Deano to clear it up!

Leicester: John Liley, Steve Hackney, Stuart Potter, Richie Robinson, Rory Underwood, Niall Malone, Aadel Kardooni, Dean Richards, John Wells, Neil Back, Matt Poole, Martin Johnson, Graham Rowntree, Richard Cockerill, Darren Garforth. Replacements: Jez Harris, Jamie Hamilton, Derek Jelly, Dorian West, Chris Tarbuck, Bill Drake-Lee.

Bath: Audley Lumsden, Phil De Glanville, Adedeyo Adebayo, Jon Sleightholme, Mike Catt, Andy Nicol, Eric Peters, Steve Ojomoh, Andy Robinson, Nigel Redman, Martin Haag, John Mallett, Graham Dawe, Dave Hilton. Replacements: Richard Butland, Andy Saunders, Darren Crompton, Neil McCarthy, Andy Reid, Ed Pearce. 

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