Matt Toomua says it's a "huge honour" to be asked to captain the side after the Australia international was given the role by former Tigers captain, now head coach, Geordan Murphy for the trip to Llanelli to face Scarlets in Round 5 of this season's Heineken Champions Cup pool stages.

The versatile back also makes the switch to fly-half in George Ford's absence for the Parc Y Scarlets fixture and, speaking to LTTV after the final session before boarding the bus to Wales from the club's Oval Park training base, admitted this weekend's match presented opportunities for a host of players after nine changes were made to the side that defeated Gloucester at home last weekend.

"It's been a big week this week ... guys are pretty keen to out there," said Toomua.

"There's a lot of opportunities for guys this week, myself included.

"It's a huge honour and big responsibility as well. It's nice to sit back and feel privileged, but it's about performing for the club so I'm very focused on that."

When asked about Saturday's opponents, Toomua said: "They're really good down there and like throwing the ball around a bit."

The Tigers have taken 11 points from the past three Premiership fixtures, including two bonus point wins at Welford Road, and Toomua believes a win against Scarlets will go a long way to reinforcing the positive steps taken after a disappointing start to the 2018/19 season.

"We need to get back to back wins now, to show we are making steps forward," Toomua said.

"The Champions Cup is awesome, playing against different stars and different teams ... and is a chance to test ourselves on the biggest stage."

Watch the full interview with Toomua below on LTTV.