Leicester Tigers head coach Richard Cockerill says Australian winger Lote Tuqiri has impressed everyone at the club during his first few weeks at Welford Road.

Tigers beat off several other sides in England and France to secure the signature of the 30-year-old veteran of 67 Tests for the Wallabies.

Having made his debut off the bench against South Africa, Tuqiri has started the last two games, against Newport and Gloucester, and has settled in well, according to Cockerill.

The Fijian back came to Leicester with his family after being sacked by the Australian Rugby Union for undisclosed reasons.

"He has great experience and he has come to us with a reputation of sorts," said Cockerill. "But he has been fantastic with us. His interaction within the squad has been really good and his family's interaction with the whole community here has been good.

"He is clearly enjoying his time at Leicester, and that's what it's all about.

"He hasn't had much of a chance to show his attacking abilities so far but he has made his tackles, has worked hard and hit his rucks.

"You can see he wants to play, and that he is a really good professional."

Tuqiri is expected to make his third start of the campaign tomorrow when Tigers meet Neil Back's Leeds Carnegie in the Guinness Premiership at Welford Road.

And he could be seen in tandem with fellow South Sea Island winger Alesana Tuilagi for the first time.

Tuilagi, 28, is set to make his first appearance of the season from the bench after recovering from a broken foot.

Tigers are awaiting a written instruction from the Rugby Union disciplinary panel to discern the extent of head coach Richard Cockerill's dressing room ban.

Cockerill, 38, was suspended for four weeks from any involvement with the Tigers team or match officials on match day until December 23.

It means Cockerill will have no involvement in Leicester's Premiership games against Leeds, tomorrow, Wasps a week tomorrow, and the back-to-back Heineken Cup clashes against his former club Clermont Auvergne.

He was also fined £2,000 by a three-man panel for abusing match officials during the LV= Cup game with Newport.

But chief executive Peter Wheeler said Tigers needed to await the full ruling before finding out exactly where Cockerill was allowed to go in the ground.