Aviva Premiership
Flood injury not serious
ESPN Staff
June 27, 2012
England's Toby Flood looks to pass the ball, South Africa v England, Ellis Park, Johannesburg, South Africa, June 16, 2012
Fly-half Toby Flood limped out of England's third Test clash with South Africa in Port Elizabeth © PA Photos
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Leicester Tigers fly-half Toby Flood is expected to be fully fit for the start of the new Aviva Premiership season despite limping out of England's tour of South Africa.

Flood was forced out of England's 14-all draw with the Springboks last Saturday after just 13 minutes with a knee injury. It was just the latest setback for the 26-year-old who missed the Tigers' Premiership run-in, including their final defeat to Harlequins, with ankle and groin injuries but it has since been confirmed he suffered no more than a bang to the knee in what was his 50th international appearance.

The bulk of the Leicester squad began their pre-season work earlier this week and Flood, along with the club's other international stars, are poised to join them next month after an extended break. Flood's international team-mate Tom Croft is not expected back until October as he continues his rehabilitation from neck surgery while England scrum-half Ben Youngs is also set to miss the start of the season having gone under the knife for a shoulder injury that brought a premature end to his tour.

Tigers boss Richard Cockerill, who will also welcome six new faces to the squad in the form of Miles Benjamin, Vereniki Goneva, Adam Thompsone, Robert Andrew, Matt Cornwell and Dan Bowden, is hopeful that with no Rugby World Cup over-shadowing the start of the season, that his big names will see more game time.

"Last season, our first-choice midfield of Toby Flood, Anthony Allen and Manu Tuilagi played together just six times and we won five of those six," he told the Leicester Mercury. "In the second row, probably our strongest pairing of Geoff Parling and Louis Deacon played together twice. And in the final, we were without Tom Croft, Deacon, Jordan Crane and Flood.

"They are not excuses as to why we lost the final because we just weren't good enough on the day. But over the course of the season, we hardly saw our best combinations in certain positions and that inevitably affects continuity."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

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