Richard Cockerill: Heading back to the Auvergne
Leicester Tigers Head Coach Richard Cockerill is ready to return to Clermont Auvergne, five years after he last appeared for the French outfit.
The former England hooker played for Clermont over a two-year period between 2002 and 2004, before moving back to Welford Road for a second spell with the Tigers.
Cockerill lined up against his former French employers when the two sides met in his first season as assistant coach to Pat Howard at the Tigers but the 38-year-old is yet to take on Clermont as Leicester's main man.
That is all set to change over the next two weekends when the Tigers travel to the Stade Marcel Michelin on Sunday afternoon, before hosting Clermont in the East Midlands the following Saturday.
"It'll be nice to go back. It's changed a lot since I was there," said Cockerill, who won 27 England caps between 1997 and 1999.
"They're a great bunch of supporters and it's a fantastic club.
"I like the club a lot and I have a huge affinity with them. My son was born in Clermont Ferrand so we'll always have that connection.
"It will be nice to go back but it will also be nice to get one over on them too."
Cockerill admits that he still has plenty of contact with his former colleagues across the English Channel and that the banter started almost immediately after the draw for the group stages was made last summer.
But despite looking forward to his return, Cockerill knows more than most the danger Clermont pose to his side's chances of Heineken Cup progression.
And with Leicester, Clermont and the Ospreys all with one win apiece after the opening two rounds of action in Pool 3, Cockerill is aware that the ensuing two weekends could make or break the Tigers' chances of making it through to the quarter finals for the tenth time in thirteen seasons.
"I keep in touch with a few of the guys there and some of the coaching staff from when I was there are still at the club," added Cockerill.
"I spoke to one of them earlier this year and had some banter. They're a sleeping giant within the French game and they're a huge club.
"They've been in the last three French Championship Finals and lost them all. That's ten Championship Finals in their history and they've lost all ten.
"They've got great resources being sponsored by Michellin Tyres and they should be respected and feared because they are a very, very good team."
Cockerill saw a depleted Leicester side open their Heineken Cup campaign with a hard-fought draw at home to the Ospreys followed by a comfortable win at Italian side Viadana a week later.
A try-scoring bonus point in both those fixtures sees the Tigers currently top the Pool 3 table with eight points, two clear of both their Welsh and French rivals.
But Cockerill is aware that things can change so quickly when it comes to Heineken Cup qualification and he refuses to take anything for granted.
He dismisses any talk of the Tigers focusing on reaching a third Heineken Cup Final in four seasons, instead stating that a brace of wins over Clermont and then qualification for the knockout stages is all his side have on their minds.
"That's the key for us - to not worry about winning the tournament but just to worry about the first stage which is getting out of the pool.
"Once you get to a quarter-final, you can think about knockout games and one-off games and you can try and progress. That's what we did last year and we nearly got there.
"The Heineken Cup is the toughest of the tough so we want to get as far as we can in it. Losing in the final last year was disappointing but you've got to be in it to win or, or to lose it! Our target is to get out of the pool stage and then we'll see what happens."
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