Leicester captain Geordan Murphy will be hoping to lead the Tigers to Premiership glory again this season © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

News: Crane set for lengthy lay-off

Matches: Northampton Saints 27 - 19 Leicester Tigers

Tournaments/Tours: Aviva Premiership

Teams: Bath Rugby | Exeter Chiefs | Gloucester Rugby | Harlequins | Leeds Tykes | Leicester Tigers | London Irish | Newcastle Falcons | Northampton Saints | Sale Sharks | Saracens | Wasps

Grounds: Welford Road

Leicester

Last season: Champions
Captain: Geordan Murphy
Coach: Richard Cockerill

Ins: The most significant piece of summer paper pushing at Welford Road may prove to be the campaign that ended in gaining Manu Tuilagi a visa to remain in the country. The 18-year-old wing is the latest offering from the remarkable Samoan family that has seen Freddie, Henry, Alex and Andy all play professionally. Manu has spent most of his secondary school years in Leicestershire and may yet gain an English qualification. No doubt Martin Johnson has been warned about the explosive runner who played for Leicester in the famous win over the Springbok tourists last November. Apart from the excitement over Tuilagi junior, Leicester have recruited honest grafters to replace a host of departing stars. New Zealander Thomas Waldrom and Wasps lock George Skivington are expected to make an impact up front while Horacio Agulla, another Argentinian following in the footsteps of Lucas Amorosino, and Bristol wing Lee Robinson should get some opportunities out wide.

Out: The salary cap looks to be the major reason why Leicester have allowed a host of big names to go. The biggest shock was Lewis Moody who spurned a short-term deal to join rivals Bath. Such a move would have been unthinkable 15 years ago when the two clubs were dominant. Now, in the full professional age, anything goes. Leicester have also lost the services of two other England internationals in scrum-half Harry Ellis, who has retired due to knee problems, and Ben Kay, the World Cup-winner, who has opted for the commentary box of ESPN rather than another year of full-time rugby elsewhere. Overall, Leicester's squad looks to be a little weaker due to the loss of some consistent troops in hooker Mefin Davies, flanker Brett Deacon, wing Johne Murphy and the versatile Sam Vesty. Another leaver is New Zealander Aaron Mauger after two seasons of trying to overcome hamstring and back problems.

Coach: Richard Cockerill, now the club's director of rugby rather than head coach, seems to be sanguine about the top players lost. He is looking forward to building a new team that may be more expansive than Leicester teams of previous seasons. "The game has moved on and we must expand our horizons," he says.

Prediction: Despite the big turn-around, Tigers expect to be challenging for honours come next May. Failure is not taken lightly at Welford Road and Cockerill has the Tigers ethos seared into his core.