Club profile: Leicester

Josh Kronfeld will make life even harder for Tigers' rivals

After three titles in three years, in all likelihood, Leicester Tigers will make it four in four.

The Tigers swept all before them last year. As well the Premiership title, they won the Championship play-off and the European Cup in exhilarating style in Paris.

Opponents looking for a chink in the armour of a team who have turned Welford Road into a fortress, will take heart in the departure of Pat Howard.

The Australian, last season's midfield general, has returned to the southern hemisphere in an effort to win a place in the Wallaby Test XV.

If Martin Johnson is the man from whom the Tigers pack take their lead, Howard directed operations in the three-quarters.

Austin Healey may have stolen the headlines, but it was Howard who wrote the script.

However, coach Dean Richards will hope that the status quo remains after finding an identikit replacement.

In a straight swap with Howard packing his bags for the ACT Brumbies, another Australian, Rod Kafer, will make the reverse journey from Canberra to the east midlands.

Kafer, like Howard, has represented his country and can play at either outside half or inside centre.

He will also be a key figure on the training ground as well as the pitch.

The Australian's starting position on match days may hinge on whether Healey gets his way and starts the season in the number 10 jersey.

If the "Leicester Lip" unhinges the stable camaraderie within the confines of the dressing room with any more paper talk, drunken or not, demanding recognition of his adroit skills in the pivotal shirt, he may well end the season plying his trade elsewhere entirely.

Although Kafer may prove to be one of the wisest overseas acquisitions of the summer what is indisputable is that Josh Kronfeld is the biggest.

The New Zealander spurned Japan and France to take up the challenge of a three-way battle for the number seven shirt at Leicester.

The former All Black, who would still be an international if the NZRFU relented and picked players plying their trade overseas, will do battle with Neil Back and Lewis Moody, a pair of England internationals, for the openside berth.

Such competition for one starting spot encapsulates why the Tigers will be competitive, and not complacent, after last year's hat-trick haul.

Facts and figures

Ground: Welford Road
Coach: Dean Richards
Captain: Martin Johnson
Last season: Champions
Website: www.tigers.co.uk

Players in: Rod Kafer (ACT Brumbies), Josh Kronfeld (Otago Highlanders), Guy Manson-Bishop (Rotherham), Jim Naylor (Sale)

Players out: Pat Howard (ACT Brumbies), Winston Stanley (Worcester)