Leonardo Ghiraldini will go head to head with Leicester Tigers team-mates this weekend in his national colours.Tigers hooker Ghiraldini wins his 72 cap for Italy as they face England at Twickenham on Saturday, with Dan Cole in the opposite front row and Tom Youngs waiting for an opportunity from the replacements bench.
“I played against some of the Leicester players in the last few years two or three times with Italy, but it will be different as a Leicester player,” said Ghiraldini who has made 17 appearances for the club since his arrival in the summer.
“But it is still a game and we will be friends before and after, but just not for the game!”
The Italian is in a competitive position in the Tigers squad with fellow international Youngs sharing gametime so far, while Neil Briggs and Harry Thacker were in the squad for the Aviva Premiership fixture against Gloucester on Friday and development squad player Jake Farnworth was with England Under-20s.
“It is good, I like those challenges,” he said. “There are good hookers here.
“When I signed for Leicester I knew that, but I chose this club also for that. Every big club has big players in every position, so we do not have just one good prop or one good hooker. We have more in the squad and that is good.”
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