Richard Cockerill says the Leicester Tigers squad will need to "hit the ground running" when the Aviva Premiership season opens in just two weeks' time as they step up preparations away to Edinburgh this weekend.
Tigers started their pre-season programme at Nottingham last week and are now preparing for a trip to Melrose to face Edinburgh on Saturday before a final run-out, at home to Cardiff Blues, on Friday, August 29 (7.30pm).
“It’s a nine-month season and you have to keep that in mind while you’re in this part of the year,” said Tigers director of rugby Cockerill.
“In pre-season you work very hard and you get one or two niggles along the way because of the workload, but you put that work in now and look after people over a long season. It’s all about getting the best, fittest 23 ready for the start of the season and the rest of the season.
“Last week we had an opportunity to look at some of the younger lads because we made the decision to leave out those who had played during the summer. Now we have just a couple of games left in pre-season and then an eight-day turnaround to the Newcastle match and we want to hit the ground running.
“We’ll have more of the senior players back in the mix for this weekend and for the Cardiff game and the guys who have come in during the summer will be included.”
Tickets for the final pre-season fixture, against Cardiff Blues, are available from the Tigers ticket office now. Book at Welford Road, phone 0844 856 1880 or book online by clicking here. This fixture is included in Tigers season tickets.
Tigers started their pre-season programme at Nottingham last week and are now preparing for a trip to Melrose to face Edinburgh on Saturday before a final run-out, at home to Cardiff Blues, on Friday, August 29 (7.30pm).
“It’s a nine-month season and you have to keep that in mind while you’re in this part of the year,” said Tigers director of rugby Cockerill.
“In pre-season you work very hard and you get one or two niggles along the way because of the workload, but you put that work in now and look after people over a long season. It’s all about getting the best, fittest 23 ready for the start of the season and the rest of the season.
“Last week we had an opportunity to look at some of the younger lads because we made the decision to leave out those who had played during the summer. Now we have just a couple of games left in pre-season and then an eight-day turnaround to the Newcastle match and we want to hit the ground running.
“We’ll have more of the senior players back in the mix for this weekend and for the Cardiff game and the guys who have come in during the summer will be included.”
Tickets for the final pre-season fixture, against Cardiff Blues, are available from the Tigers ticket office now. Book at Welford Road, phone 0844 856 1880 or book online by clicking here. This fixture is included in Tigers season tickets.