Stuart Lancaster hoping Leinster 'battle-hardened' for Tigers

Stuart Lancaster is not worried that Leinster are too lightly raced ahead of Saturday's crunch European quarter-final against Leicester.

Leo Cullen sent a youthful squad to South Africa for their last two United Rugby Championship fixtures, resting most of the front-liners who saw off Connacht over the two legs of the round-of-16 games and who had seen action with Ireland in the Six Nations.

That means that almost all of the match-day squad for the Heineken Champions Cup clash in Welford Road on Saturday (5.30pm) will not have played since 15 April.

Conversely, Steve Borthwick’s charges kept their Premiership title hopes on course with a 56-26 victory over Bristol on Saturday.

"Yeah, the Connacht game was the last game and that’s always the risk," said senior coach Stuart Lancaster.

"The challenge if we had have sent everyone to South Africa is that the team is only returning [Monday] afternoon.

"It’s very hard to prepare properly on the back of that.

"We made the decision and it’s important to get the training right and the right level of opposition to make sure we are battle-hardened and match-ready and we can deliver under pressure to the highest level.

"I take confidence from the break with had at Christmas due to Covid [cancellations]; when we came back we played well."

It’s a dynamic that Borthwick, whose team top the English table, was quick to play down.

"The context is quite different," said the former England captain, who took charge at Leicester in February 2020.

"Look at the size of their squad, the number of internationals in their squad and the nature of their league, it is very different.

"Compare that to where we are at, the Premiership is a fierce competition and we have had games we want to get results in and that