Following an opening pre-season fixture in Brive at the end of the training camp in France last week, Tigers ran in eight tries in victory at neighbours Nottingham on Friday and Cockerill is happy with the progress so far.
“We had a really good work-out at Nottingham,” the Tigers director of rugby said “They played their part, they were gutsy and made us work really hard.
“All of the squad put up a good show and the combinations were a bit better after our first game against Brive.
“Now in the next couple of weeks we will integrate the internationals back into the squad.
“I’ve spoken to Martin Johnson and John Wells, and all of our England boys are are good, they’re in decent nick and did well at their training camp.
“The younger guys in our squad have got a taste of it in the last two weeks, and now we’ll start to refine it a bit going into the next two games against Munster and Leinster to get ready for the start of the season. We’ve given the internationals as much rest as possible and now we’ve got two games to go and we’ve got the ready for the first week in September.
“All of those guys will benefit from their involvement so far. George Ford got on at Nottingham, Ryan Bower got on and Charlie Clare made his debut in the senior team. Guys like Tom Armes and Jonny Harris are getting good experience with Nottingham, it will all do them good in the long run.
“At times some of those younger guys will be included. Last year some of them played in the LV= Cup and were in the squad for Premiership games. You’ve got to bring those young guys through and historically we have done that, we did it last season too.
“There is a lot of young talent in there. It’s good to see them playing and training day in, day out, and seeing how they go.”
While the youngsters stepped up, it was one of Tigers’ mature summer signings who claimed a hat-trick of tries at Nottingham, with winger lee Robinson making an instant impact after his introduction from the bench.
“All of the new guys have done well so far,” said Cockerill. “Lee came to a place where he knows he has to fight for his place, and that is the challenge he has taken on. But he did his job, he played his game and he has pushed his case.”
Robinson, who joined Tigers after five seasons with Bristol, said: “It was good to get a run-out like that but I think the hard work had been done in the first half and it was a case of being there to finish off the chances.
“I felt like I showed a bit better than I did against Brive last week. I wasn’t too happy with how I played there, but we were coming off a tough training camp and I was still getting used to things here. I’ve had another week of training and another week of settling in and getting to know the guys and I think that has helped.
“It was nice to get the tries but there’s not a chance of being able to relax, we’ve got two Magners League teams coming up next and then we are up against Premiership defences so we have to keep improving.”
Tigers are back in action this Friday with a trip to Cork to face Munster before the only home game of the pre-season programme, against Leinster at Welford Road on Friday, August 27. Season ticket holders are entitled to free admission and the game will be automatically loaded on to their season ticket cards. If you wish to purchase additional tickets for this fixture, please contact the Tigers ticket office on 0844 856 1880 or in person.
Tickets for all other supporters are available now, priced £10 for adults and £5 juniors. Family tickets (2 adults and 2 children) are also available at £25. Call the hotline on 0844 856 1880, visit the Tigers ticket office at Welford Road or click here.
