Leicester using Kevin Sinfield’s ‘apex of pain’ mantra in bid for Clermont scalp

Leicester will take Kevin Sinfield’s “apex of pain” mantra with them when they enter one of European rugby’s great cauldrons on Sunday.

The Gallagher Premiership leaders have dominated this season’s English domestic scene, winning 17 league games and booking a play-off place with four matches still remaining.

Tigers’ attention now turns to the Heineken Champions Cup, with French heavyweights Clermont Auvergne blocking their quarter-final path.

The round-of-16 clash will be played over two legs, and Leicester head to Stade Marcel-Michelin this weekend, where Clermont boast an outstanding European record.

Leicester have lost there on three previous occasions – although they did claim a 40-27 win in 2006, when wing Tom Varndell scored four tries.

One of the key factors behind Tigers’ resurgence this term has been Sinfield’s impact as defence coach.

And Sinfield, one of the most decorated players in rugby league history who made more than 500 appearances for Leeds Rhinos, knows all about pushing himself to physical limits.

He helped raise more than £2million from a 101-mile run from Leicester’s Mattioli Woods Welford Road Stadium to Headingley, on top of the £2.7m he raised after running seven marathons in seven days last December.

Sinfield’s efforts were in aid of his former Rhinos team-mate Rob Burrow, who was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in December 2019.

“There are all the technical things, and Kevin also talks a lot about the apex of pain and staying in there,” Leicester centre Dan Kelly said.

“That is something we are trying to engrain in us as a team in that when it’s in the fight, we stay in there longer.

“That is something he demands from us, and it is definitely making us more resilient.

“I think that’s why