Leicester, the Premiership’s 11th-placed team, insist there is no feeling of relief in their dressing-room despite the 35-point deduction handed out to Saracens this month for breaching salary cap regulations. The Tigers have won only one of their four league games this season but now have a 26-point cushion over Saracens going into Saturday’s east Midlands derby against Northampton.
According to their head coach Geordan Murphy, however, the punishment handed to Saracens has made no difference to team morale as his side enter a crucial period with most of their World Cup players back and available. “It doesn’t change anything for me and the players,” said Murphy, keen to avoid any repetition of last season’s fight against relegation.
“As a group we just need to focus on our own performances. I don’t want to be in the bottom half and we don’t deserve to be any higher now. We need to get our form together, put some wins together and start climbing the table.”
Murphy believes last year’s experiences may make his squad more resilient this season. “The old expression that you have to experience the bad to appreciate the good is certainly true. Last year was really difficult. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. It was a particularly tough time. We were numbers down, we had a lot of injuries, we were fighting for our lives.
“We did just enough but a lot of people really came to the front at the back end of last season. When things are as dark and bleak as they can be you learn a lot about people. You learn about who wants to front up, who wants to work harder, who’s here on a Monday morning at 6am trying to make things better.
“We managed to keep ourselves out of the mire and that’s why I’ve got total belief in this bunch. We just need to keep chipping away. We haven’t once mentioned any other team in the Premiership. It’s not something the players are looking at.”
With a freshened-up training base in Oadby, including a covered section of all-weather pitch, Murphy is also optimistic. The club’s World Cup players will lift spirits when they return to action. “It almost feels like if you’re in a band and you’re missing a drummer and a bassist,” said the former Ireland full-back. “You can still go out and perform, you’re just missing the trumpet section. It’s nice to have those bodies come in.
“When they’re not here you focus on what you can control, but they certainly add something. You start the season without 10 of your international bodies and that stretches you. We performed particularly poorly in our last outing in the Premiership and now we get to go to second-placed Saints, who are really on fire.”
