Jono Kitto was a young man in a hurry in Treviso on Friday night as his two tries in the opening eight minutes sent Leicester Tigers on the way to a first victory of the pre-season programme.
After sharing gametime with fellow scrum-half Sam Harrison in the opening run-out at the Ospreys last week, the duo were both involved again in Italy as Tigers recorded a 33-10 win at the end of a week’s training camp in Italy on Friday.
“I didn’t dot down too many times when I was in New Zealand – perhaps it’s the start of a new trend!” said Kitto before Tigers headed home from their second pre-season fixture.
“I was just happy to finish those two chances but I was more happy that the team went well.
"I was just in the right place at the right time for those scores. Other guys had done the hard work up front and gone through gaps and were able to get the ball free, and I was able to finish them off.
“We got off to a good start, we played with some pace, got some good carries and we got go-forward ball to create those opportunities.”
Kitto played the opening 40 minutes and, with Tigers rotating the squad to share gametime during the build-up to the new season, was expecting to watch much of the second period from the touchline. Instead, he returned less than 10 minutes after the restart as Oli Bryant took a knock and Harrison moved to the fly-half berth.
“I was told I might get back on late in the game,” Kitto said. “But to get back on after about five minutes was a bit unexpected. It was tougher for Sammy because he was playing out of position, but he did an outstanding job and made it easy for me.”
Reflecting on the work during a full week in Italy, where England players Ben Youngs and Dan Cole rejoined the squad and JP Pietersen teamed up with his new colleagues after his arrival from South Africa, Kitto said: “I think we got what we wanted out of the week in terms of being together as a group, getting closer as a team and having a good hit-out in training.
“It was a good game to end the week and a step in the right direction. In hot conditions we did some really good stuff at times and it’s got to help with the conditioning too.”
Tigers are in action again this Friday with fixtures against Nottingham at Oval Park (4.00pm) and the Ospreys at Welford Road (7.45pm) in a final run-out before the Aviva Premiership season opens the following weekend.
Season tickets and match tickets for 2016/17 are available now from the Tigers ticket office. Call in at Welford Road, phone 0116 319 8888 (option 2) or click here for more information or to book online.
After sharing gametime with fellow scrum-half Sam Harrison in the opening run-out at the Ospreys last week, the duo were both involved again in Italy as Tigers recorded a 33-10 win at the end of a week’s training camp in Italy on Friday.
“I didn’t dot down too many times when I was in New Zealand – perhaps it’s the start of a new trend!” said Kitto before Tigers headed home from their second pre-season fixture.
“I was just happy to finish those two chances but I was more happy that the team went well.
"I was just in the right place at the right time for those scores. Other guys had done the hard work up front and gone through gaps and were able to get the ball free, and I was able to finish them off.
“We got off to a good start, we played with some pace, got some good carries and we got go-forward ball to create those opportunities.”
Kitto played the opening 40 minutes and, with Tigers rotating the squad to share gametime during the build-up to the new season, was expecting to watch much of the second period from the touchline. Instead, he returned less than 10 minutes after the restart as Oli Bryant took a knock and Harrison moved to the fly-half berth.
“I was told I might get back on late in the game,” Kitto said. “But to get back on after about five minutes was a bit unexpected. It was tougher for Sammy because he was playing out of position, but he did an outstanding job and made it easy for me.”
Reflecting on the work during a full week in Italy, where England players Ben Youngs and Dan Cole rejoined the squad and JP Pietersen teamed up with his new colleagues after his arrival from South Africa, Kitto said: “I think we got what we wanted out of the week in terms of being together as a group, getting closer as a team and having a good hit-out in training.
“It was a good game to end the week and a step in the right direction. In hot conditions we did some really good stuff at times and it’s got to help with the conditioning too.”
Tigers are in action again this Friday with fixtures against Nottingham at Oval Park (4.00pm) and the Ospreys at Welford Road (7.45pm) in a final run-out before the Aviva Premiership season opens the following weekend.
Season tickets and match tickets for 2016/17 are available now from the Tigers ticket office. Call in at Welford Road, phone 0116 319 8888 (option 2) or click here for more information or to book online.
