Tigers won’t need to be in top gear for cup tie – league is the priority
IT’S ABOUT GOING THROUGH GEARS, SAYS GEORDAN
hopefully learning plenty that he can take back to help benefit Nottingham in their Championship season ahead.”
Steve Smith, chief operating Officer at Nottingham Rugby, said: “This is a great opportunity for Bola and I am sure he will thrive in the Tigers and Premiership environment.
“He’s a great ball carrier and we look forward to watching him in a Tigers shirt over the next few weeks alongside ex-Green and White backrower Jordan Coghlan.”
Centre Andy Forsyth has also returned to Tigers. Forsyth, who made his Tigers debut in 2009 and played more than 20 times for the club, has been brought in on loan from Coventry.
He also figured during Tigers’ Premiership Cup campaign last season when he was loaned from Yorkshire Carnegie. LEICESTER Tigers will not be focusing on hitting the opening round of the Premiership Cup in top gear when they run out at Worcester Warriors to start their season on September 21.
Head coach Geordan Murphy will naturally be looking for a good performance, and hopefully a win to go with it, but he said the main priority is getting ready for the first round of Premiership games which, strangely, takes Tigers back to Sixways to face the Warriors on October 19.
The bulk of the squad has been in training now since the end of June and, understandably, players and coaches cannot wait for the action to start.
However, they have to be wary, too, of not over-training, leaving players fatigued before the campaign kicks off.
“We have to be smart now and get the guys ready to roll in the cup and then in the Premiership,” said Murphy.
“We have still got five or six weeks before we start in the Premiership. It is a long time but I don’t think we will be 100 per cent there in round one of the cup.
“But it is about getting ourselves right and through the gears in order to be right in round one of the Premiership.
“It is an interesting prospect. World Cup years are always tricky in that you lose a lot of bodies and
We have to be smart and get the guys ready to roll in the cup and then the Premiership
Geordan Murphy
there are longer pre-seasons, but I think we have handled this one really well.
“From the experience in the coaching group and the experience in the club we are in a good spot and I’m really excited about getting started.”
Tigers players are now back training at Oval Park after a week in Portugal which caught the headlines following an alleged altercation in an Algarve bar.
Though the players trained well on the training camp, Murphy said the matter had come as an unwanted distraction.
“We are dealing with it as we speak,” he said. “The disappointing thing is we didn’t need that distraction. The boys have trained unbelievably hard for a period of time – we are into our 12th week of pre-season. “The evening they had off was sanctioned and the boys were in a bar enjoying themselves having a couple of beers, it wasn’t overly excessive.”
A spokesman for Tigers had said immediately after the reported incident: “The players made us aware of an incident when they were given a night off during a training camp in Portugal.
“The club have co-operated fully with the relevant authorities and, while we believe this is the end of the matter, we will take further action if appropriate.”