Leicester Tigers 'superstar' Nemani Nadolo drops in on Level 8 Leicestershire club's training session

Those who braved a midweek training session for a grassroots Leicestershire rugby club were rewarded with a giant surprise.

Birstall Rugby Club play in level eight of the English rugby league structure and are currently second in Midlands Three East North with four rounds remaining.

While morale may have been dented by a five-game winning run coming to an end with a 32-10 defeat to Boston last time out, spirits were raised in midweek when Leicester Tigers superstar Nemani Nadolo joined in with their training session.

The Fijian powerhouse, fresh from a man-of-the-match display against London Irish when he scored two tries and provided a sumptuous assist for Harry Potter, arrived at the Coop Sports ground where - like Leicester Tigers at Mattioli Woods Welford Road - Birstall boast an unbeaten home record this season.

"Nemani arrived and got involved in some touch [rugby] straight away," said a club spokesperson. "He didn’t shy out of the fitness elements either, working hard along with the lads encouraging one another. "

"Around 25 lads attended the session on Tuesday which involved various aspects including a couple of fitness components, some detail surrounding the breakdown and some team run thoughts in addition to some touch rugby."

Nadolo is likely to be among a group of senior Leicester Tigers stars who will be rested this week as the Premiership Cup returns with a trip to Newcastle Falcons on Friday night.

The 6ft 5in star has scored eight tries in 14 appearances this term and hasn't tasted defeat in a game he has started for 10 months.

He said on Twitter: "Managed to get down to Birstall RFC for a run tonight. Thanks for letting me join in your session. The fitness at the start got me good. #Burpees #Grassroots