Loosehead:

Marcos Ayerza’s marriage to a Spanish national allows him to play as a EU player from the beginning of the season, making space in the overseas player quota on match day. Likely to be the first choice he will be supported by Boris Stankovich who had a season frustrated by injuries last time out. Dan Cole is likely to be 3^rd choice after impressing at Bedford last season. Martin Castrogiovanni can cover if needed, but it likely to be the first choice tighthead.

Strength: Strong. Ayerza’s new EU citizenship is a big plus and Boris is a great squad player. Will be interesting to see if Dan Cole can better players such as Dave Youngs and Mike Holford who came into the 1^st team squad but couldn’t hold a place down before moving on.

Hooker:

Muffin Davies’ strong run to the end of last season proved the squad had excellent strength in depth in this position. George Chuter had a mixed season finding him in and out of the team but a great run for the England Saxons showed he is still one of the best hookers in open play in the Premiership. Benjamin Kayser impressed in his first season but has the tendency to take the ball into tackle instead of releasing players outside him. If he can improve this side of his game he will be contesting for the starting place.

We will be lacking the magnificent Martin Castrogiovanni for the first few months of the new season as he recovers from summer surgery. Julian White could be playing his last season for the club as he had limited appearances last season when Castro wasn’t playing for Italy or on the physio’s table. Santiago Bonorino is the new Argentinean bulking up this area as a replacement for Alex Moreno

Strength: Mediocre. Worrying if Castro has another injury hit season putting more pressure on Julian White and Santiago. If Castro can return fit it would be a massive plus for the season ahead.

Locks:

Louis Deacon, Ben Kay, Marco Wentzel and Richard Blaze will contest for the two lock positions this season. Wentzel had an excellent first season with the club and offers speed and tenacity that will be important as the game is changing under whatever ELV’s are coming in this season. Louis Deacon was hampered by injuries and Ben Kay affected by form last season and both will be looking to get back on track this season. Richard Blaze started coming to the fore at the end of the season and a great Saxon’s tour shows him as a huge prospect. We could also see Martin Corry covering one of the lock positions this season if the club is looking to add more speed in the back row.

Strength: Strong. If Deacon can get back from injury and Kay back to form then we could make combinations of the power of Deacon and the speed of Wentzel.

Blindside flanker:

A great season for Tom Croft last season saw him catapulted into the England squad so he will be looking to push on this year. Brett Deacon is a very worthy understudy and Craig Newby is an extremely exciting recruitment by the club. His massive commitment, leadership, tenacity and versatility will be extremely important this season. Martin Corry could also make appearances from time to time, but this would mean a back row of Corry and Crane which is just a little too slow in my opinion.

Strength: Strong. Tom Croft needs to make this position his over the next few seasons with Brett Deacon not letting anyone down when called upon. Craig Newby will add experience and leadership when needed.

Openside flanker:

Ben Woods has been recruited from Newcastle to add more depth to the specialised openside position. Rumours that Ben Herring was not offered a new contract at the club was shocking to a lot of fans after such an impressive second half to the season. The word now is that he will be at least at the club until the New Year to cover for Lewis Moody’s injury and time for Craig Newby to assimilate himself with the English game. First choice when injury free goes to Lewis Moody who again had an injury interrupted by knee injuries. A menace when fit last season also saw him captain the club against Leeds.

Strength: Strong. Pleased that Herring has been kept on even if it’s not for a full season to cover for injuries. Ben Woods has had Saxon’s experience and will be looking to push his career on at Welford Road. Lewis Moody on his day is still one of the best, as proved in the last World Cup.

Number 8:

After being made Captain for another season Corry is still the man in possession of the 8 shirt. It’s now becoming an extremely close call however as Jordan Crane had the best season of his career thus far last season. His player of the tournament for the Saxon’s in the Churchill Cup will put more pressure on Corry, which could see the Captain moved to lock to accommodate the youngster. Craig Newby will also feature in this position when needed.

Strength: Strong. Corry’s leadership has been questioned at times last season but his effort and commitment can never be put into doubt. A true giant of the game with an excellent young deputy in Jordan Crane means we can play different types of game when needed.

Make no mistake; Marcello Loffreda was not sacked from Leicester because he didn’t win the two finals the club got into last year. There was a lack in confidence within the squad and confusion to the sort of game plan that was needed, which showed in the games such as the Ospreys EDF final. The club decided that a change was needed and although this went again what most Leicester fans wanted – a full season under Marcello – the decision was taken for Loffreda to step down.

The man brought in was no-nonsense South African coach Heyneke Meyer. After losing out on the SA job Meyer claimed he would never coach rugby again but seemingly the chance to mastermind the Tigers rise was too good to turn down. The big differences with Meyer and Loffreda are that Heyneke has a lot of experience working with a big squad week in, week out. Also, he has brought in specialist coaches in areas that were lacking last season. Matt O’Connor will be in charge of the backs, Cockerill continues with the forwards and rumours of McFarland coming in for the defence means that Heyneke will have an overall view which is something Marcello didn’t have last year.