Cole relying on Wiggy to drive Tigers standards

LEICESTER prop Dan Cole is backing veteran scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth to help his side surge to their best Premiership start in five years.

- NEALE HARVEY

Last week’s 38-15 thrashing of Gloucester was Tigers’ first opening day win since they defeated the same opponents 38-31 in 2016.

The year before that Leicester began the campaign with a pair of victories and, as they break new ground against London Irish at Brentford today, Cole, below, says the influence of 37-year-old Wigglesworth is crucial.

“Wiggy’s had a big impact very quickly,” Cole said. “He’s only been here two weeks and you notice his experience straight away. He’s obviously played a lot of rugby and been in very successful sides, so he fits how we want to play.

“You saw against Gloucester how seamless his transition was, which shows how professional he is and how well he prepared for that game. The No.9s and 10s here can learn a lot off him because we’ve got a very young group behind him and Ben Youngs.