Champions Cup draw - 2016-2017

[RagingBull]

Racing Metro
Glasgow
Munster

2 teams we played last season.

[Suz]

So the draw is ongoing to the Champions cup.
We are in tier 3 and been drawn in Pool 1

Racing 92
Glasgow Warriors
Us
Munster

Tough group

[Robespierre]

Yeah, that's tough.
Each away fixture will be tough and away wins are so important and I think that
Tigers'll do well to go through

[Roly]

Racing 92 isn't it....?

[Roly]

Yeah, that's tough.
Each away fixture will be tough and away wins are so important a,d I think that
Tigers'll do well to go through

Good to see that we're getting the excuses in early.

[maroontrunks]

This is definitely the pool of death. I'm no kneejerk Cockers basher but realistically, the entire squad need to go up a level to be competitive in the CC and to have a chance at ending Saracens' dominance in the prem. To me this season may well be make or break for Cockers, depending on the performance.

Last season we saw some potential, particularly in the first Stade home game and the Munster away game, where the pack was immensely physical and competitive, and no doubt the presence of Williams and O'Connor, who were sorely missed later in the season, made a big difference. Later in the season, I felt the pack didn't match up to the physicality of Racing or Saracens and there needs to be a change of ethos to the big workrate and relentless that has characterised both Saracens' and England's recent successes.

With the presence of Toomua in the backline and hopefully a more settled in approach to back play, I feel its up to the forwards to take it to the next level and ultimately the buck stops at Cockerill for this. Personally, I think a lot of the criticism is unwarranted but this is the season to really front up and make Tigers compete.

[Skin_and_Muscle]

Last season we saw some potential, particularly in the first Stade home game and the Munster away game, where the pack was immensely physical and competitive, and no doubt the presence of Williams and O'Connor, who were sorely missed later in the season, made a big difference.

You're spot on. I think the loss of Williams had a real impact on our forwards at the end of last season.

We have the personnel this year to be able to develop both our attack and defence.

O'Connor, Evans, McCaffrey, Cole, Tuilagi, and Betham are so good over the ball that we can really frustrate opposition attacks. Having, Tom Youngs, Mulipola, Williams, Barrow, Tuilagi, Fitzgerald, and Veainu means we've got an abundance of metre-makers throughout the team. The ability of B.Youngs, Burns, Toomua, and Betham to invite support runners like O'Connor, Evans, and McCaffrey to keep the ball alive and spread it wide is invaluable.

I probably sound like I'm getting carried away - and it's sort of in the wrong thread - but I'm very excited about this season, despite a tough Champions cup draw. We have got the personnel to get the balance between aggression, speed, and skill right and I'd love to see that put into practice this year. I don't think it's necessarily Cockers' final chance if we don't win something but I would certainly be surprised if we don't start to build towards (consistently) great performances next season.

[Roly]

Last season we saw some potential, particularly in the first Stade home game and the Munster away game, where the pack was immensely physical and competitive, and no doubt the presence of Williams and O'Connor, who were sorely missed later in the season, made a big difference.

You're spot on. I think the loss of Williams had a real impact on our forwards at the end of last season.

We have the personnel this year to be able to develop both our attack and defence.

O'Connor, Evans, McCaffrey, Cole, Tuilagi, and Betham are so good over the ball that we can really frustrate opposition attacks. Having, Tom Youngs, Mulipola, Williams, Barrow, Tuilagi, Fitzgerald, and Veainu means we've got an abundance of metre-makers throughout the team. The ability of B.Youngs, Burns, Toomua, and Betham to invite support runners like O'Connor, Evans, and McCaffrey to keep the ball alive and spread it wide is invaluable.

I probably sound like I'm getting carried away - and it's sort of in the wrong thread - but I'm very excited about this season, despite a tough Champions cup draw. We have got the personnel to get the balance between aggression, speed, and skill right and I'd love to see that put into practice this year. I don't think it's necessarily Cockers' final chance if we don't win something but I would certainly be surprised if we don't start to build towards (consistently) great performances next season.

I wonder which 25% of that lot will be injured come the start of the season, it seems to be Tigers' de-facto starting position in recent years.

[sapajo]

Last season we saw some potential, particularly in the first Stade home game and the Munster away game, where the pack was immensely physical and competitive, and no doubt the presence of Williams and O'Connor, who were sorely missed later in the season, made a big difference.

You're spot on. I think the loss of Williams had a real impact on our forwards at the end of last season.

We have the personnel this year to be able to develop both our attack and defence.

O'Connor, Evans, McCaffrey, Cole, Tuilagi, and Betham are so good over the ball that we can really frustrate opposition attacks. Having, Tom Youngs, Mulipola, Williams, Barrow, Tuilagi, Fitzgerald, and Veainu means we've got an abundance of metre-makers throughout the team. The ability of B.Youngs, Burns, Toomua, and Betham to invite support runners like O'Connor, Evans, and McCaffrey to keep the ball alive and spread it wide is invaluable.

I probably sound like I'm getting carried away - and it's sort of in the wrong thread - but I'm very excited about this season, despite a tough Champions cup draw. We have got the personnel to get the balance between aggression, speed, and skill right and I'd love to see that put into practice this year. I don't think it's necessarily Cockers' final chance if we don't win something but I would certainly be surprised if we don't start to build towards (consistently) great performances next season.

I wonder which 25% of that lot will be injured come the start of the season, it seems to be Tigers' de-facto starting position in recent years.

Struth Roly, I am trying to desperately to remain positive about our chances of finally getting rid of this injury curse and fielding a full strength starting XV.

[BeeJ]

Struth Roly, I am trying to desperately to remain positive about our chances of finally getting rid of this injury curse and fielding a full strength starting XV.

Don't bother, mate. Roly couldn't be positive if his life depended on it. After reading his posts, I normally go and listen to some Leonard Cohen to cheer myself up.

[Tigerbeat]

​ Leicester Tigers' reaction to European Rugby Champions Cup draw

Richard Cockerill says the pedigree of each team in the Leicester Tigers pool of next season's European Champions Cup shows the quality of the whole tournament.

The draw was staged in Neuchatel, Switzerland, on Wednesday afternoon and Tigers, preparing for a 20th season of competition in Europe's elite club tournament, were pulled out alongside Racing 92, Glasgow Warriors and Munster Rugby in Pool 1.

"Racing are now the French Top 14 champions and obviously they beat us to get to the Champions Cup Final this season,” said Leicester Tigers director of rugby Cockerill. "Glasgow won the Pro12 league title in 2014/15 and were losing semi-finalists this season, and of course we know all about Munster and what they've achieved in the league and in Europe.

"It is a tough pool, possibly the toughest in the draw, but that is what this competition is all about, bringing the best teams from across all the countries together.”

Tigers reached the semi-finals in 2015/16 – with five wins in the pool fixtures and a quarter-final victory over Stade Francais before a 19-16 defeat by Racing at The City Ground, Nottingham – and have come through the pool stages 13 times in the team's 19 seasons in the competition.

"You have to be at your very best in every game in Europe,” said Cockerill. "And you have to work hard for every single point. You don't get too many opportunities so you have to make them all count.

"We had a good run to the semi-finals this year, with some good wins against the likes of Munster and Stade Francais. All of those players will have learned a lot from the experience, particularly the ones who hadn't been involved at that stage or in this competition before.

"We look forward to welcoming Racing, Glasgow and Munster and their supporters to Welford Road, and I'm sure our supporters are looking forward to the opportunity to follow the Tigers in Europe.”

Order of fixtures, and the confirmed dates and kick-off times for the opening four rounds will be announced by tournament organisers European Professional Club Rugby and their broadcast partners later this summer. The opening weekend is on October 14/15/16.

[MurphysLaw]

Well that's a really tough group.
Anyone who saw the way that Racing got through to the Top 14 final, and then win it by beating Toulon, with 14 men for the majority of the game, can see what a quality side they are.
Munster will be looking for a bit of revenge, and Glasgow are dangerous.
There should be some cracking games to look forward to!

[strawclearer]

Excellent! Good to get rid of Racing at the Pool stage!

[WhitecapTiger]

Excellent! Good to get rid of Racing at the Pool stage!

+1

[Nailsworthstiger]

Gee that's going to be a tough group, but I have confidence we can do it. Also hopefully with a new job on the horizon I also see it as 3 good weekends away!