Back was appointed to his role at Headingley in June 2008

By Mike Henson

For Leeds Carnegie the transition from National League One to Guinness Premiership is not so much a case of making a step up, as scaling a sheer rock face.

At the end of each of the last four seasons, the club has found itself either clambering up to the higher reaches of English rugby or sliding back down to the foothills.

The latest attempt to end this yo-yo existence and settle more permanently in the top flight - as they did for five consecutive years until 2006 - is led by a World Cup winner in Neil Back.

The former England flanker joins two other members of the 2003 vintage - Jason Robinson at Sale, and Trevor Woodman at Wasps - among the coaching teams in this year's Premiership.

Back made an instant impact at Headingley last season in his first head coach role, after a stint as defence and reserve team coach at Leicester following his retirement in 2005.

Leeds won 28 of their 30 league games in League One, but it is the two games they lost that Back believes will stand them in good stead in the coming months.

RECORD OF PREMIERSHIP'S NEWLY-PROMOTED SIDES 2008-09: Northampton 8th, 49 points 2007-08: Leeds 12th, 12 pts 2006-07: Harlequins 7th, 51 pts 2005-06: Bristol 11th, 41 pts 2004-05: Worcester 9th, 43 pts

"It was rare for us to lose games last year and, although at the time I was annoyed when it happened, in a way it was a good thing," he said.

"The players continued to believe and didn't disappear. In the Premiership it will be important how we will manage defeat.

"Even Leicester at the top of the table lost more than a third of their games last year."

Leicester was, of course, where Back spent 18 years as a player and coach, and where many thought he would spend his whole career.

He was disappointed to be overlooked for the club's top job in June 2008 when the Welford Road grandees opted for Heyneke Meyer, only for the South African to be forced to return home mid-season with Richard Cockerill taking on the top job.

Back bristles at the suggestion he is attempting a wholesale transplant of Leicester practices and philosophy up the M1.

The 40-year-old says his style is also informed by lessons learned during an 11-year international career featuring 66 England caps, three World Cups and three tours with the British and Irish Lions.

By contrast to those Tests, his most recent trip to Twickenham was a 23-18 loss to Moseley in the final of the EDF National Trophy in May.

That day's headline fixture, the EDF Energy Cup final, proved an eye-opener for Back as he watched Cardiff Blues taking apart Gloucester 50-12.

Back made his debut with Leicester in September 1990

"I'd watched lots of games worldwide, from the Heineken Cup and the Super 14, but that was the first one I had seen live," he said.

"It really hit home to me the level that was required and, at the time, I thought we were behind. But now, after pre-season, we are ready."

Back's belief that Leeds's romp through National League One was less than ideal preparation for life in the Premiership may be based upon the club's last experience of the top flight in 2007-2008.

Leeds disappeared with barely a ripple, picking up just two wins in 22 matches.

But they are the only one of the five most recently promoted sides to have headed straight back through the trapdoor.

Northampton won all 30 of their matches on the way up in 2007-2008 and eighth place represented a solid season of consolidation in which they also won the European Challenge Cup.

Harlequins, Bristol and Worcester before them also survived at least their first seasons back in the big time.

The main thrust of Back's plan for Leeds to follow those examples bears some of the hallmarks of the man who oversaw most of his Test career, Sir Clive Woodward.

Back recruited Steve Nance, who oversaw Australia's conditioning work in their 1999 World Cup, as performance director last October, an appointment he regards as important as any on the playing staff.

606: DEBATE In only his second season as a head coach Neil Back will have his work cut out keeping his side up PcPete

"Steve has worked for world-class teams during his career but we challenged him with something he hadn't done before - taking a good team to a great team.

"We had some fantastically talented players here the last time we played in the Premiership, but our level of sports performance means we got relegated.

"I've spoken to people here and they agree. The players knew they were short, that they lacked the ability to do it for 80 minutes."

Certainly there was no lack of raw skill in the doomed squad of 2005-2006.

Danny Care, Tom Palmer, Jordan Crane, Justin Marshall and Iain Balshaw leapt from that particular sinking ship to contracts at Harlequins, Wasps, Leicester, Ospreys and Gloucester respectively.

The current crop may be lacking in star quality, but does include players of similar potential such as England Under-20 flanker Calum Clark, who Back believes "could be a star of the future".

Gomarsall was released by Harlequins while Paul signed from Harlequins RL

He has also recruited former England duo Andy Gomarsall and Henry Paul to provide some experience and help persuade more of the Leeds public to add union to their loves of football and rugby league.

The last time the team were in the Premiership they were also bottom of the table for attendances with an average of 7,238.

After eight games of last season Back appealed for more fans to get down to Headingley, but away fixtures in the rugby heartland of the South West against Cornish Pirates, Plymouth Albion and Exeter attracted more fans than the league leaders could muster in the corresponding fixtures back in Yorkshire.

Major backer Leeds Metropolitan University, who allegedly covered losses to the tune of £800,000 last year, surrendered their majority stake in the club this summer, two years into a 10-year deal.

But, despite the financial restrictions and the challenge of developing a larger support base, eight new players - including new captain Marco Wentzel from Leicester - have arrived to reinforce the squad.

"We have, without doubt, a top class Premiership standard coaching and management team, a top performing academy, excellent training facilities, a great partner in Leeds Met and in Headingley Carnegie one of the Premiership's finest grounds," maintains chief executive Gary Hetherington.

"All we need now is for our team to perform to their capabilities over a long, tough season and for the rugby union loving public of Yorkshire to show their support where it matters most."

If Back brings the same dogged determination to the task as he showed in stealing opposition ball as a player, then Leeds have half a chance of establishing a foothold among the elite.

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