Crossword Genius

Tighter second row, leaders of English rugby (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

stiffer

'tighter' is the definition.
('stiff' can be a synonym of 'tight')

'second row leaders of english rugby' is the wordplay.
'second' becomes 's' (common abbreviation).
'row' becomes 'tiff' (tiff is a kind of row**).
'leaders of' suggests taking the first letters.
The initial letters of 'english rugby' is 'er'.
's'+'tiff'+'er'='STIFFER'

(Another definition for stiffer that I've seen is " Less flexible".)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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