Chuter renews with Leicester

Tigers hooker George Chuter is the latest international to sign a new contract with the 2006/07 Double-winners.

Chuter, who has been capped 19 times by England, joins fellow Englishman Lewis Moody, Argentinean Marcos Ayerza and Italian Martin Castrogiovanni in committing his future to the club.

"I'm very happy to have signed," said Chuter, who made his debut back in March 2001, having previously played for Saracens.

"I've enjoyed my time here so far," he said.

"I'm getting to the sort of stage in my career where there's not a lot of contracts left in the pipeline so, if I wanted to experience different types of rugby, then I'd have to do so before those doors close, but it came down to the fact that I'm enjoying my rugby and I'm still improving as a player here."

"I don't have that need to go elsewhere because there's still a lot I can achieve here with the club."

Despite receiving interest from elsewhere, Chuter admits that the winning culture within Leicester Tigers made his decision to stay with the club an easy one to make.

"I had a few offers but I didn't really go out with the intention of shopping myself around. We've still got unfinished business in terms of winning trophies and we don't want to rest on what we did last year.

"Getting to three finals was great but I think everyone's still hungry for more trophies.

"As long as I've got the hunger to keep winning then I'll continue to play rugby. I can't see myself just playing for the sake of it or just for the money - I'm in the sport to win games and win trophies and that's still a big goal of mine."

Tigers forwards coach Richard Cockerill, who has been both a team-mate and a coach of the 31-year-old, is equally pleased that Chuter will remain at the club beyond this season.

"He's a world-class player and we're delighted that he's decided to stay with us," said Cockerill.

"I know he's had a lot of interest from other clubs but he's been with us for seven years now and I'm really pleased he's committed himself for even longer.

"With the recent re-signings of Marcos and Castro, it keeps good continuity at the club and that's what we want. The squad is getting stronger and stronger and George is an integral part of that.

"We've had a lot of people coming and going in the past few years and it's good for our stability and continuity to keep hold of quality players who have been here for a while."