Head coach: Richard Cockerill
Captain: Geordan Murphy
Ground: Welford Road (24,000 capacity)
Last season: GP - 1st (Beat London Irish in Grand Final) HC - Beaten in final by Leinster
England elite squad: 9 (Chuter, Crane, Croft, Deacon, Kay, White, Ellis, Flood, Hipkiss)

Having almost completed the Premiership and Heineken Cup double in his first season, head coach Richard Cockerill will do well to go one better and improve on that achievement.

The Tigers have lost the services of goal-kicking French scrum-half Julien Dupuy, compatriot and hooker Benjamin Kayser, and retired club legend Martin Corry.

But with Geordan Murphy assuming the captaincy, Anthony Allen adding another option to an already enterprising midfield, and Tom Croft and Jordan Crane making waves it is difficult to imagine them not challenging on all fronts again.

"This season will be more demanding as we have smaller squads and the expectation is always high with us. We have nine players in the EPS squad and if you lose all nine of those players then it is going to hurt you. If injuries are unkind or international call-ups are unkind then you can get exposed and the teams that deal with the difficult periods will be the teams that are successful at the end of the season.."
Head coach Richard Cockerill