Club captain Geordan Murphy has made over 300 appearances for the Leicester Tigers.
Murphy has had an illustrious career, earning 78 Ireland caps as well as honours with the British and Irish Lions.
Geordan spoke to Sports Mole about the new campaign as he enters his 17th season with the Tigers.
Are you happy with the way pre-season preparations have been going?
"It's been good. It's the first pre-season I've done in a while as I've had a couple of injuries and operations over the last few years, so it's been tough but rewarding. All the guys have enjoyed it and personally it's been great from my point of view. The science behind rugby now is fantastic and they look after us a bit better than when I started off all those years ago."
Leicester have been busy in the transfer market. Are you happy with the new signings?
"We've signed some fantastic players. It would be unfair to single anyone out because I haven't seen a couple of the guys carrying niggles, but all the guys have added something off the field. I think Vereniki Goneva looks exciting and I'm looking forward to seeing what he's got."
You've had some notable departures over the summer. Do you think the new guys will be able to fill their boots?
"There have been a good few departures but that's the nature of the game. We've signed exciting prospects in every position where someone's left so I think it's going to be an exciting time."
It's been a couple of years since you won a major trophy. Are you hoping for silverware this season?
"We want some silverware - we want to win every game we play - that's what this club's about. We go out in every game and think we can compete no matter what side takes to the field, but you cant win everything. We'd love to do well in the Heineken Cup but it's so difficult to win it. We haven't won it in over 10 years now and every team gears themselves towards it. We want to do well in the League and the LV too, so we've just got to go out and play rugby. Hopefully our performances will put us in a position to win something."
Will the way you crashed out of the Heineken Cup to Ulster last season act as extra motivation?
"It was disappointing. Last season was a very difficult season in that we had to come from the bottom of the league [following the World Cup]. There was a lot of pressure on the guys as every game was very important. We were scrapping for points the whole time and I think that fatigue showed when we got into Europe. When we went behind against Ulster we just fell off the tracks and didn't really have any responses to the punches that were thrown at us. We certainly had a decent finish to the season. We were disappointed by the final but that's the way things go and we've just got to move on."
Finally, do you have any plans to continue playing beyond this season?
"No, this is my last season, my last contracted year, so I'm hopefully going to sign off with some silverware."
Nik Simon
