Leicester's season is barely out of the blocks but already they are back in trophy-lifting mode. If the Orange Cup, pitting the champions of England against their counterparts in France, is not yet an established concept, Saturday's hard-fought 14-13 win away to Biarritz suggested that the Tigers will be as competitive as ever when the real stuff starts this weekend.
Going to France without a clutch of first-choice backline players through injury, Leicester looked understandably rusty at times and appeared to be heading for defeat when they trailed 13-7 deep into the final quarter.
As ever, though, Martin Johnson's side had other ideas and duly scored a splendidly worked 74th-minute winning try, rounded off by the replacement wing Steve Booth and converted by Sam Vesty.
Their first try from the 20-year-old centre Dan Hipkiss, who broke clear and neatly side-stepped the full-back to score just before half-time, was equally eye-catching and hinted that Tigers' conveyor belt of young talent is still in business.
Biarritz will also testify to the continued excellence of the visitors' defence which restricted them to one try from the veteran wing Philippe Bernat-Salles.
Yet the French side were ahead for much of the game thanks to two penalties and a conversion from their fly-half Julien Peyrelongue and had a chance to secure victory in the fourth minute of injury-time when Freddie Tuilagi was penalised for holding on too long near his own line. Happily for the Tigers the tricky angled penalty attempt by the former Newcastle full-back Stuart Legg proved about as accurate as the trophy engraver who managed to spell the winning team as "Leceister."
There was also an exciting conclusion to Northampton's final pre-season game at home to Stade Français which finished 33-33 after a late French try from Brian Liebenburg, converted by Jerome Fillol. The Saints managed five tries from Jon Sleightholme, Nick Beal, the new signing from Sapin, Oriol Ripol, a penalty try and Ben Cohen. They surged back from 26-14 down to lead 33-26 before Stade's final flourish.
Bristol also showed glimpses of backline potential in a 19-12 home win over Ebbw Vale, which featured tries from Shane Drahm, Brendon Daniel and the new captain Ross Beattie, but Bath's unsuccessful pre-season continued with a 12-10 defeat away to Cardiff. Bath, who lost at Bridgend last week, trailed 12-0 at half-time and although they played with plenty of commitment, could not take full advantage of their forward superiority and territorial advantage in the second half. Cardiff scored two tries through Jamie Robinson and Nick Walne, but Bath's Tom Voyce brought his side back into the game only for Olly Barkley, playing at full-back, to miss a last-minute penalty which would have snatched victory.
"The guys are showing great determination and guts which is extremely pleasing at this stage," said Bath's team director, Michael Foley.
Qualification for next year's World Cup is hotting up in the Americas pool as the United States were beaten 21-13 by Chile in a wet Santiago and Uruguay defeated Canada 25-23 in Montevideo. Canada are already in the finals but, in the race for the second qualifying spot, the US are only one point ahead of Chile, who have a game in hand and play host to Canada next weekend.