Back forecasts Tigers recovery

Neil Back believes Leicester will return to winning ways in the new season after a trophyless campaign in 2003/04.

Wasps dominated when it came to collecting silverware last term but former England star Back is confident the Tigers can build on their strong finish to the season in what will be his 15th year at the club.

Tigers lost 12 of their first 21 matches last season before an unbeaten run in their final 12 fixtures – after the appointment of head coach John Wells – took them to the Wildcard final where they claimed the final English place in the Heineken Cup.

Back told the club’s official website, www.tigers.co.uk: “We had a tremendous ending to last season – to remain unbeaten was tremendous.

“We set ourselves targets of simply winning ’the next game’, but it was something we knew we had to do in order to qualify for the Heineken Cup.

“John Wells did brilliantly when he took over and the guys just rallied around each other.

“If we can continue our form from the last three months we’ll be there or thereabouts.”

Back also believes England will bounce back from their disappointing summer tour in which Clive Woodward’s side suffered three heavy losses to the All Blacks and Australia.

Back, who has retired from international rugby, said: “I enjoyed watching it, but not because it didn’t go England’s way. It was just good to be away from the pressure and visualise what they were doing behind the scenes.

“It was always going to be a difficult tour, but if that squad can learn a lesson from the tour they’ll be a better side for it.”