'There's three things' - how Leicester Tigers will cope with 5 games in 20 days

Steve Borthwick has explained how Leicester Tigers plan to cope with five fixtures in 20 days as they continue to compete on three fronts.

A hectic April begins with Sunday's Heineken Champions Cup Round of 16 trip to Clermont Auvergne on Sunday before the reverse fixture at Mattioli Woods Welford Road six days later. Two matches in four days in London follow with a Gallagher Premiership trip to Harlequins on Saturday, April 23 before the Premiership Rugby Cup semi-final with London Irish at the Brentford Community Stadium (Tuesday, April 26).

The month concludes with a final fixture on April 30 when Bristol Bears arrive in Leicestershire. While a Premiership play-off place was secured with five rounds to spare, Tigers are still to lock-in a home play-off semi-final.

Addressing the challenges presented by the congested period, the Tigers head coach highlighted three factors that will stand them in good stead.

"One, we're very fortunate here we've got Aled Walters, who I think is a tremendous coach," Borthwick told BBC Radio Leicester. "He is brilliant at managing players and what they need and what is the right thing for them at that period in time. That's excellent.

"The second thing regarding that, the depth we wanted to build within the squad over this period of time, how it's been an opportunity, the Premiership Cup is an opportunity for me to see some of those younger players come through.

"Some teams have used it differently, some teams have played very, very experienced teams. We've not taken that stance. So we've seen young players come through, there's an expectation on them to perform. It doesn't matter who they are playing against, I expect them to perform."

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