 |  If was marking myself for November I'd probably give myself a pass |
In his playing days at Leicester Pat Howard was regarded as something of a magician by the Welford Road faithful.
But even Howard, head coach for the season at the Tigers, found his mercurial talents stretched to the limit in a November where at one point he was missing 12 players on international duty.
Don't even mention the fact two of them started fighting each other.
Leicester's undoubted strength has always been their Achilles heel - they breed such good players that international sides cannot afford not to take note.
Six were on the pitch when England played Samoa, and Howard for one is glad to have his squad back to full strength.
"It's great to have all our players back after the break, and to give them credit they have all fitted in pretty well," he told BBC Sport.
"It is difficult when you return from international duty and it's really a case of dealing with each player on an individual basis, depending on how they did over the international period."
| Leicester v Northampton
Anglo-Welsh cup
LIVE: Sat, BBC1, 1425 |
Leicester may have a full squad, but there is one returning player who won't be featuring in the side for a while.
Lewis Moody was sent off for punching Samoan wing and Leicester team-mate Alesana Tuilagi, and must now serve a nine-week ban.
Howard insists that neither player holds any grudges, and there have been no training-ground repeats, but admits that Moody will have to learn from his experience.
"Lewis appreciates that he is going to have a reputation after what happened at the Samoa match," he said.
"He knows he will have to be whiter than white when he returns from the suspension, but I think he'll return stronger for it.
"It's just a pity that the nine-week suspension covers a club not an international period, which perhaps would have been more appropriate."
Moody's mentor during his lay-off will be the Tigers' coach Richard Cockerill - no stranger to controversy himself - in what has been a testing time for a youthful set-up.
Howard is a sprightly 32, Cockerill is 34 while Technical Director Neil Back tops the age scales at a whopping 36.
The trio are veterans on the field but still learning the ropes off it, and Howard admits that the last month, where Leicester won two and lost two, was testing for all concerned.
"We lost two tight games and it could easily have been a fabulous month - if I was marking myself I'd probably give myself a pass," he said.
"We were happy with our losing bonus point against Worcester and felt that we probably could have achieved the same in the win over Gloucester.
"A lot of credit has to go to Neil Back and all the team at the Academy for producing players who can fit straight into the first XV."
| DID YOU KNOW?
If Leicester win the Heineken Cup or Premiership this year it would make Howard the youngest ever coach to achieve that accolade |
Those players include the likes of Sam Vesty, Danny Hipkiss and of course Tom Varndell, who on Saturday became the latest player from the Leicester production line to play for England.
The Tigers now have two months before their internationals leave for the Six Nations to consolidate their position in the League, Heineken Cup and Anglo-Welsh cup.
Howard returns to Australia at the end of the season, and is targeting an end to three trophy-less years before he departs.
Their pack looks solid as ever, in Andy Goode they have a reliable kicker, and any side with Ollie Smith, Geordan Murphy and Tom Varndell in the backs will cause sides problems.
Northampton and Carlos Spencer loom this weekend, and the Australian is under no illusions as to what is expected of his Leicester side.
"We said from the start that we are a big club and that we want to be competing in as many competitions as possible," he said. "We want to win and win well."
If he can keep the fighting to a minimum, you wouldn't bet against him.
MMIX
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
