Leeds Carnegie v Leicester Tigers: No room for sentiment as Back prepares to face Tigers

The England World Cup winner wrote his name into Welford Road folklore after spending 18 years at the club as player and coach.

And while it will be warm handshakes all round with his old friends before and after tomorrow's vital Guinness Premiership contest, during the 80 minutes of action there will be no love lost between the two factions as Leeds go in search of a first home league win of the season.

"I had a fantastic 18 years there as player and coach and left on excellent terms and have a good relationship with everyone there," said Back, who won every honour, including two Heineken Cups, with Leicester.

"So it's a case of welcoming back old friends. But for those 80 minutes we're not friends we're bitter enemies. Regardless of the opposition we need to pick up points and our first home win.

"I would love to beat them – but no more than any other club. I want to win because of the hard work the players are putting in."

Back has already tasted success against his former club in the LV Anglo-Welsh Cup in November, although on their trip to Welford Road later that month in the league they were resoundingly beaten.

Leicester will be weakened tomorrow due to international call-ups with Lewis Moody, Dan Cole, Toby Flood and Lewis Deacon all representing England in Rome. Another Tiger, Mark Castrogiovanni, will be on the opposite side of the ball for Italy.

But with Dan Hipkiss, Jordan Crane, Ben Youngs and Scott Hamilton among a raft of returning internationals all involved at Headingley Carnegie tomorrow, Back believes his old club will be as strong as ever.

"I hear a lot about teams being weakened by call-ups and don't really buy into it," he said.

"They've got a very experienced squad and utilise the full salary cap – of which we are just over 50 per cent of that – and they've got five players out with the internationals.

"Last week they brought 250 caps off the bench so they're not short, and I don't see it as an excuse. It's a factor, but they'll still have a strong team out.

"We've got to do the basics well, we can't give them opportunities to score against us, we've got to play a tight controlled game that's managed really well."

Andy Titterrell makes his first Premiership start for Leeds after two impressive outings in the Anglo-Welsh Cup.

Hendre Fourie returns from England Saxons duty and slots into the back row, while Seru Rabeni and Scott Barrow line up in the centres.

Scrum-half Andy Gomarsall, who has become a crowd favourite at Headingley, said: "Hopefully we can get a big turn out on Sunday and we can give the fans something to cheer about."