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.

Leicester Tigers wants quality signings, says Cockerill

Richard Cockerill, the Director of Rugby of the Aviva Premiership Rugby Football Union club the Leicester Tigers has ruled out the signing of any journeyman players ahead of the new season just to make up the numbers. The Tigers announced a deal to sign young fly half Owen Williams just a few weeks back from the Welsh side the Llaneli Scarlets. He mentioned that the reality is such that even the reserves in several key positions will have to play a lot of rugby, and as a result, not any and every player will do.

Speaking to BBC Radio Leicester, Cockerill stated that the team needs to cover all the bases. Even the second or third choice players in any position in the squad have to very good and they cannot just be a journeyman player brought in to just make up the numbers in the squad. The Leicester Tigers boss went on to state that they need players who can play at the very top level week in and week out, both in the Heineken Cup as well as the Aviva Premiership.

The club announced a couple of month back that Graham Ford, the club’s fly half would not be at the club in the new season and he has agreed a new deal with Bath Rugby and have already brought in the likes of Williams as well as Ryan Lamb, the number 10 from the Northampton Saints as his replacements for the new season at Welford Road.

Cockerill mentioned they wanted someone with the caliber of Ford, but only younger and Williams has all the attributes one requires to succeed at the very top level of rugby being a brilliant goal kicker and with the time he will have at the Leicester Tigers, he will develop really quickly.

Chuter future with Leicester Tigers uncertain

Former England international hooker George Chuter looks almost certain to leave the Aviva Premiership Rugby Football Union club the Leicester Tigers at the end of the current season, with his contract with the club coming to an end in the summer, and no talk of a new contract.

The 36 year old joined the ranks of the record winners of the Aviva Premiership almost 13 years back in 2000 and has been part of the greatest spell of the club, but he stated that talks over a new contract are yet to get underway. Continue reading » Chuter future with Leicester Tigers uncertain