By Denise
December 19 2002

The third installment of your poems about the one and only Neil Back. The winner of the competition will be announced tommorrow.

BrummyTiger

Neil Back he wrote a book,
I nearly didn't buy it,
But then I thought I'd take a look I
n fact that I would try it.

His boyhood years,
his dreams and fears,
Were all explained quite clearly.
His abstinence from beers and cheers
That made him Great, not nearly.

tjs10

Lander is no longer on his Christmas card list
Since our man thought he got Robinson but unfortunately missed.
That push in the Cup was not the last time
That the one “too short for England” committed a crime.
His palm to the ball in the Final in May
Led to accusations of less than fair play.
But for Lions & England, he’s the key to the pack,
Neil’s the only Tigers forward that’s also a Back.

TigerR

Neil Back, Neil Back,
Gets the ball, to attack
The other teams in our division
So we can be, without revision,
Number one throughout the land,
All over Europe, and Iceland.

Neil Back, Neil Back,
Gets the ball, to attack
The other teams in both spheres.
Thus England are, to great cheers,
Number one throughout the nations,
Including Wales, to Celt frustrations.

CraiginWootton

Neil Back, Unless you do contortion,
Or legs are made of rubber,
So they don't do what they ought to.
Or your knees are like flamingo's,
No not pink, geometry,
You can't Neil Back, just forward.

Razcal the abrasively charming

Travelling from Earlsdon to Welford Road,
Enjoy following the path Neil Back Strode.
Cynics say his size was in short supply,
Or his view of the offside line awry.
Blind to talent they demand more candour,
About one small push on loony Lander.
And still we have not arrived in Cardiff,
To see him strip ball from Munster midriff.

But lets make the best of him not the worst,
His great qualities have long been rehearsed.
Hands of velvet allied to arms of steel,
Lungbursting fitness and those skills so real.
Unerring radar leads him anywhere
Ball can be won thats what others can't bear.
A lineout near the line Tigers attack,
Yields "A try for Leicester scored by Neil Back".

Who has little shorty played for so far?
Notts, Tigers, Lions, England and Baabaas.
In each rugby country in the globe,
He has proved himself to all but tigerphobes.
All the early critics now just proven wrong,
From Geoff Cooke to Jack Rowell the list's long.
And those we heard too much from back last May,
Will one day be shown to have feet of clay.