By Paul Smith 
Coventry Rugby head coach Alex Rae was beaming from ear to ear after his club claimed its first win at Leicester since 1992 in Saturday’s Premiership Rugby Cup round two clash.
Cov were good value for their 19-33 five-try success against opponents who surrounded talented academy players with a smattering of more experienced heads.
And according to local product Rae the reaction of Cov’s huge group of supporters as they greeted his players post-match created a truly unforgettable moment.
He said: “I got shivers down my spine at the end when I heard the Cov chant going round Welford Road – it was incredible.
“We said in the huddle after the final whistle that for old players like myself and coaches Gordon (Ross) and Scays (James Scaysbrook) those are the kind of special moments that you play for.
“The fans follow us home and away and to be able to share a moment like that with them is really special. This win is as much for them as for us and I hope we have many more similar moments this season.”
Rae believes his unbeaten team, which at times this season has struggled to see off opponents destined to finish in the lower reaches of the Championship, revealed just how good they can be when they rise to an occasion.
“This team seems to thrive on the adrenaline of the big games as the bigger the occasion the better is our performance as we showed today,” he said.
“Maybe the challenge for us now is finding ways to bring this approach and attitude to every game including those at smaller venues against teams that everyone expects us to beat.
“We have Northampton coming to town next and we need to be ready for the Premiership champions as we want to beat them and finish top of the group.
“We’re expecting the Premiership clubs will put out stronger teams in round three as they’re heading back into the league the following week so that game is a really exciting prospect.”
Rae said Cov’s famous win was built on a robust attitude that saw them physically dominate long periods of the first half when they built a substantial lead while scoring four tries in nine minutes.
“We did all the small things well,” he said. “We chased kicks really hard and I thought our physicality in defence laid the foundations for our win. There were times when every collision took Leicester backwards and it made us a very tough team to play against.
“Our maul defence was magnificent as for Leicester at Welford Road that is traditionally an area of real strength. They must have had six or seven opportunities to score from a five-metre lineout and the grit we displayed to keep them out was superb.
“The front row also did brilliantly well and denied Leicester any kind of platform at the scrum and that was another area where our determination and physical approach really served us well.”
In addition to praising his forwards Rae paid tribute to debutant fly half Tommy Mathews who recovered from an injury that has sidelined him since mid-August to play a pivotal role.
He said: “Tommy has only had two weeks of full training and he did a really good job for us today.
“I know lots of people were panicking when we lost Pat (Pellegrini) to Super Rugby in the Summer but we’ve managed to find two really good fly halves in Tommy and Liam Richman.
“They are very different players and characters but they have both controlled games really well for us this season. Today I thought Tommy showed great maturity about when to take the strain off scrum half Josh Barton and kick and he also got our attack going well at times with some lovely long passes.”
Tickets for Cov’s next home game in the cup against Northampton on Saturday November 23rd can be purchased at https://www.coventryrugby.co.uk/tickets/matchday-tickets/
