Leicester coach Richard Cockerill has revealed that flanker Tom Croft will be sidelined for five weeks after sustaining a knee injury.
Flanker out for five weeks with knee injury
Leicester head coach Richard Cockerill has revealed that Lions flanker Tom Croft will be sidelined for five weeks after sustaining a knee injury.
Croft was helped off the field after 27 minutes during the Tigers' 47-8 victory over Viadana having damaged his medial ligaments, and the injury could jeopardise his involvement in the RBS Six Nations tournament.
"It's a blow for the lad to injure the same knee," said Cockerill. "And while England manager Martin Johnson might be concerned about Tom's Six Nations situation, my only concern is that we won't have him in Swansea next weekend.
"I have my job to do, Martin has his. But Crofty is a world class player who hadn't seen action for ages. He needed playing time, so I had no qualms starting him."
Frustrating
Cockerill believes the Tigers' performance against the Italian side was let down by their second half display.
"This game was difficult because only one team wanted to play rugby. Viadana came to stop us playing, which was frustrating, but we played well in the first half, scoring five tries," he said.
"The second half was pretty dire. I sent some boys on to freshen things up, and we scored two good tries at the end.
"Now it's time to move on. We scored seven tries, took the maximum points from the tie and we start planning for Ospreys immediately. We must win there if we are to win our group."
Man of the match Toby Flood, who posted a try and converted five for the Tigers, was satisfied with his side's performance but expressed sympathy for team-mate Croft.
"We are very pleased to have achieved the five-point target. Yes, it was a stuttering performance at times, but you have to do your job and remain focused in these types of games where you are expected to win," said Flood.
"We all feel sorry for Crofty, but he's not the type of lad to allow things to get him down too much. He's upbeat and determined.
"Now we go to Swansea looking for a very important victory, no small ask for any team."
