England back-row Tom Croft believes the Six Nations provides an ideal opportunity for his Leicester Tigers team-mates to gain experience.
Flanker expects squad players to rise up and take starting role
England back-row Tom Croft believes the Six Nations provides an ideal opportunity for his Leicester Tigers team-mates to gain experience.
The 26-year-old is one of seven Tigers players to be called up to the England squad and the flanker feels it could be a great opportunity for younger players to establish themselves.
Croft himself took advantage of the international period when he was rising through the Leicester ranks as Martin Corry, Louis Deacon, Ben Kay and Lewis Moody all spent time away with England opening the door for him to stake a claim for a starting position.
Saturday's 33-6 win against Aironi saw the Tigers hand Heineken Cup debuts to fly-half George Ford, lock Graham Kitchener and hooker Jimmy Stevens ahead of the departure of the England men.
Challenge
However, Tigers academy graduate Croft believes that his side have the strength in depth to maintain their strong position on the domestic scene despite the number of call-ups.
"When those boys came off the bench against Aironi they stood up," he told the club's official site.
"The club is in a good place in the Aviva Premiership to push on there and we've got the LV=Cup in the next couple of weeks, which is a massive challenge for us.
"Regardless of who goes away on international duty we have the players here to keep going strong."
Leicester have an LV=Cup trip to Twickenham on Saturday to face Harlequins in their first of six matches without the internationals as the RBS Six Nations starts on February 4.
