Richard Cockerill says Leicester will 'always be in his heart'

Richard Cockerill says Leicester will "always be in his heart" after reflecting on his shock departure from the Aviva Premiership club on January 2.

Cockerill served the Tigers for 23 years as a player and coach but was sacked after a series of disappointing results.

He is already back in work, serving as a consultant to French side Toulon, but has written one last column in a long-standing agreement with the Leicester Mercury.

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"I don't think you ever truly realise what a good time you are having somewhere until it's over and you have a chance to reflect and look back," he wrote.

"Now I will have chance to do that. I am not one for overly reminiscing - sitting down and going through old times. But memories of my time at Leicester will always be at the forefront of my mind.

"Stories and little moments will, no doubt, always crop up. When your time at one club has taken up as much of your life as my time at Leicester has, that will be inevitable.

"With every year that went by as a player and then a coach, I felt a stronger and stronger attachment to it.

I don't think you ever truly realise what a good time you are having somewhere until it's over and you have a chance to reflect

“Not just the pitch, the changing rooms, the training ground and the team rooms, but to the people that have made the club what it is.

"The Tigers are in my blood and will always be in my heart."