Leicester Tigers have apparently still not given hope of signing Fiji's explosive winger Rupeni Caucau.

The 28-year-old was reported to be on his way to Leicester to hold talks with the team but true to form, Caucau failed to turn up.

Caucau has been surrounded by controversy since the 2003 Rugby World Cup where he shot to fame and is frequently reported for not turning up and was even banned from playing for Fiji for 12 months in 2005 after failing to appear at several internationals.

However, Simon Cohen, Tigers director of operations, said Leicester is still hopeful of bringing Caucau to Welford Road.

Cohen said the situation with Caucau is that if he gets himself over to Leicester and impresses Heyneke Meyer, the head coach of Tigers, with his willingness to train and play under their structures and regime, at that stage they will sit down and talk about the possibility of a contract.

If the Tigers could get Caucau to sign for them and get him to appear for matches and training they would have a serious world class winger.