Leicester Tigers head coach Michael Cheika is embracing the special build-up that comes with Saturday's East Midlands Derby.

At home, in the league and with a lively Mattioli Woods Welford Road crowd expected for the 5:30pm kick-off; no game quite compares to this one for Leicester Tigers, and while it's his first East Midlands Derby, Cheika is no stranger to big games, at both club and international level. 

"It's not hard to work out when you're 40 minutes down the road from someone, you know. There's big rivalry that comes with the proximity of the village because you share a lot of acquaintances and therefore you want to have the bragging rights to those acquaintances and it hurts when you lose those.

"I know that from just growing up and playing footy myself, that crosstown rivalry. My club, we were Randwick. Eastern Suburbs was the club rivalry, and then I've been in the Stade Français, Racing. Castes, Toulouse when I played there. Leinster vs Munster.

"Even in the professional era, those things still exist and they're still strong."

The old days of internal scraps to sharpen the elbows, and the mind have gone, but Cheika admits the extra build up for some players is still helpful, as they prepare for the lift in intensity that comes with the derby. 

"There are players that just like to cross the white line and they're on. There are other players that want to have the build-up. As long as you're in control of it, it's great to have those emotions. I think that's excellent, as long as you're in control of them all the time.

"When it means something to you, then you'll keep getting back up off the floor. When you get knocked down, you'll come back for another go at it and I think that it's truly important in rugby that you're really passionate about what you want to do. "