Lewington relishing chances

Leicester Tigers winger Alex Lewington is determined to make the most of the opportunities to establish a regular first team place.

Back looking to stake his claim for a starting position

Leicester Tigers winger Alex Lewington is determined to make the most of the opportunities to establish a regular first team place. Lewington scored one of three Tigers tries in Saturday's 19-9 victory at Harlequins as the squad's emerging players got the opportunity to showcase their talents. Tigers coach Richard Cockerill used the side's LV=Cup match to give Lewington and fellow developing players a chance of first team rugby and was impressed by what he saw. "They could be thrust into playing games that are more important," Cockerill told the Leicester Mercury. Although it is expected that a stronger side will be fielded by the Tigers for their final group tie against Newcastle on Saturday, Lewington is relishing the opportunity to stake his claim for a starting position.

High

"I just want to play as high as I can and, if the coaches like me and want to pick me, I'm fine with that," he said. "We have won the A League, which is nice, but it is good to win a cup competition." The 19-year-old captained the Tigers Premiership Rugby Sevens Series side and believes that it has been beneficial to his game. But former England U18 Lewington admits that playing with senior members of the squad has also enabled him to develop his game. "Playing open rugby really suits us and I enjoy playing the competition," he added. "It's a bit looser than the Premiership as teams are under less pressure. "We have gone down in games like this before but not had the core of senior players we did on Saturday. It is nice to have guys like Boris Stankovich and Ben Woods in there, guys who lead the team and try to keep you on track."