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CEO defends club’s wage cap

Simon Cohen, the chief executive of the Aviva Premiership Rugby Football Union club the Leicester Tigers has defended the compliance of the salary cap imposed by the Premiership.

The defense from Cohen comes in the wake of yet another attack on the club by Steve Diamond, the Director of Rugby of fellow Aviva Premiership club the Sale Sharks.

Diamond claimed in a heated press conference following his side’s 30-23 defeat at the hands of the champions as well as accusations of cheating in the scrum half from the Tigers head coach Richard Cockerill, Diamond responded by stating that the champions spend between £ 6 and £ 7 million on the team, a value far greater than the £ 4.23 million salary cap imposed on all the teams by the Premiership.

And Diamond has recently substantiated those claims by adding that he knows what the Tigers players are earning at the club. But Cohen, the Leicester Tigers CEO did not bear any grudge when he hit back at those claims, stating that he understood those claims coming from Diamond. He added that the club does spend more than any other club in the Premiership but does so within the strictly monitored salary cap placed by the league management.

He stated that the club spends all its allowances in and around the standard salary cap of £ 4.26 million up to 5.1 million adding that if the Sharks spend £ 4.2 million on the team, then it is obvious that the Leicester Tigers spend a lot more money on the team.

Cohen also mentioned that the clubs in the Premiership have a salary cap manager and there is an audit report at the end of each season, so whatever Diamond is claiming that the club does is out of a lack of knowledge.

Slated signs new deal with Leicester Tigers

Ed Slater has put pen to paper on a new deal with the Aviva Premiership Rugby Football Union club and the reigning champions the Leicester Tigers ending months of speculation over his future.

And Slater, who is one of the most valuable assets at the club as well as one of the first names in lock that is picked by Director of Rugby at the club Richard Cockerill, the does so with immense praise from the club boss ringing in his ears.

The 25 year old lock has already made 77 appearances for the first team in the three years he has been at the Welford Road club and during his time at the club, the player has gone from being virtually an unknown quantity to someone who has been described by Cockerill as the new Louis Deacon in the making.

Speaking about the player, Cockerill stated that Ed has been fantastic for the team and with his attitude; he is just the perfect fit for the Leicester Tigers. With Slater signing a new deal for the club, however, Cockerill will have one less thing to worry about with news emerging that another lock George Parling has injured his shoulder and will need at least three months off following surgery.

And with the likes of Tom Croft, Ant Allen as well as Mat Tait all on the sidelines, Cockerill will be glad to be able to call on the services of Slater who is slowly but steadily returning to full fitness and will be ready by the end of the month.

The Leicester Tigers boss stated that there was no difficulty in agreeing the new contract with the player because the player wanted to stay and the club wanted him to stay and it all went accordingly after all that.

Leicester Tigers to miss Flood

Toby Flood, the fly half for the Aviva Premiership Rugby Football Union club and the defending Premiership champions the Leicester Tigers has been ruled out of the club’s season opening fixture against the Worcester Warriors.

However, the good news for the player and the club is that he can make a swift return from injury to take on Bath Rugby the following weekend. The 28 year old had to be hospitalized following a very high tackled from Ulster player Dan Tuohy during the club’s pre-season match against the Irish side in a match they won 30-10 in the end. Reports from the medical team later revealed that Flood had suffered a concussion following the tackle and that inevitably rules him out for this weekend’s season opening fixture against The Warriors.

However, tests and scans that were done later on at the Leicester Royal Infirmary later revealed that the Leicester Tigers player has not suffered any long term damage.

According to Richard Cockerill, the Director of Rugby at the club, the player will without a doubt miss the first match of the new season but he is confident he will bounce back soon enough and will be ready for the next few round of matches for the club.

Cockerill mentioned that the player was concussed but the good news is that there were no broken bones and the scans also didn’t reveal any long term problem so everything seems good for the player. He went on to add that the Leicester Tigers will stand him down for the weekend’s match because that was the medical advice given to the club. However, he mentioned that they will integrate the player soon enough and he might as well be given a chance to play against Bath Rugby next weekend if everything is cleared.

New backs coaching duo huge hit

Niall Morris, the winger for the Aviva Premiership Rugby Football Union club and champions of last season the Leicester Tigers has said that Geordan Murphy and Paul Burke, the new backs coaches at the club, have been instant hits among the players at Oval Park.

Burke has taken over the duties as backs coach from the departing Matt O’Connor and the Irishman Murphy will serve as his right hand man at the club after hanging up his boots as a player at the end of last season. Continue reading » New backs coaching duo huge hit

Leicester Tigers announce new Tuilagi deal

The new Aviva Premiership Rugby Champions the Leicester Tigers have announced that Manu Tuilagi, the England international centre, has signed a new long term contract with the club after agreeing terms over the new deal. The 22 year old, who is currently in Hong Kong with the British and Irish Lions, is a product of the youth system of the club and has scored 19 tries in just 62 appearances for the club, including a try in the club’s Aviva Premiership play-off final match against their arch rivals the Northampton Saints.

Richard Cockerill, the Director of Rugby of the club stated in a statement that the player is absolutely world class and he has taken on every challenge that has been thrown his way without the slightest hesitation in the last three years as a senior professional and it was important that the Leicester Tigers made their best efforts to hold on to the youngster and he is extremely pleased that he has agreed an signed the new deal.

Cockerill further mentioned that anyone who follows rugby knows what Tuilagi is capable of but the best thing about him is that he is still developing and maturing, so every season, he just keeps getting better and better and that could only mean good news for the club as well as the England team ahead of the 2015 Rugby World Cup on home soil.

Cockerill also admitted that Manu Tuilagi was thrilled to have been able to follow in the footsteps of his brothers into the club, before going on to add that the Leicester Tigers is his home and everyone at the club and the player himself is thrilled that the relationship between them will last for the foreseeable future as things can get only better from here now for both.

Flood urges Leicester Tigers teammates to bounce back

Toby Flood, the captain of the Aviva Premiership Rugby Football Union club the Leicester Tigers has urged his team mates to quickly get over the shattering loss they suffered at the hands of Toulon in the quarter finals of the Heineken Cup and look forward to the next matches that the club have in front of them. Leicester went into the game against the star studded French side as the underdogs, but they did their level best in pushing the French side to the limit before losing out eventually thanks largely to the brilliance of Jonny Wilkinson.

And according to the fly half of The Tigers, being out of the competition obviously hurts; but he did state that it makes him proud that the boys pushed Toulon to the limit. He further added that he was extremely proud of the way his side led the French powerhouse club for one complete half and the players deserve the due credit for the performances.

He mentioned that the Leicester Tigers players knew and appreciated the magnanimity of the task ahead of them but having pushed the French side so close to elimination, being knocked out in the end actually hurts more than it would actually have had they been thrashed. The Tigers opened the match in a blitzkrieg and went 9-0 ahead and held on to their lead till the break. But they eventually cracked after Toulon piled on the pressure in the second half.

Flood stated that the entire game was dictated by goal kicking. He stated that much of the game was played in the middle third of the park and while both sides had opportunities to score from open play, none actually managed to get over the white line and it was the brilliance of Wilkinson that proved too strong for the Leicester Tigers.