WHEN Steve Borthwick described Leicester “as a big old ship” when speaking to the media last week, the immediate thoughts were of the Titanic heading for an iceberg.
Two consecutive 11th-place finishes, the sacking of club stalwart Geordan Murphy and the departure of other coaches, plus an outbreak of Covid-19 a fortnight ago cast a big shadow over the club's pre-season.
Only Newcastle, Worcester and London Irish are shorter odds in the betting to finish bottom.
While sad to see Murphy leave after 23 years of loyal service as player, coach and director of rugby, Tigers club captain Tom Youngs feels the issue “has been put to bed”.
“The Geordan Murphy factor is there, and that's been addressed and talked about and conversations go on and people come to me and chat to me about it, or you can hear conversations about it,” he said.
“But a lot of that was put to bed on Tuesday in some regards when we met up and everyone is moving on.
“Like everything in sport, you put your focus into rugby when you are here, you look at that, you look at the game, but maybe when you go away you think about other things.
“I've known Geordy since day dot when I came here, and to see him not here is weird, don't get me wrong.
“The guy has done a lot of Leicester Tigers. I think it just shows professional sport and the professional world is very ruthless. Geordy did his utmost, he's a 100 per cent man, who always wanted the best for Leicester Tigers.
“Having spoken to him on the phone a few times on the weekend, he is obviously digesting the news. He's obviously devastated, don't get me wrong, but he's digesting it, and has thrown himself into other things.”
Murphy's abrupt departure from Welford Road comes shortly after another club stalwart, scrum coach Boris Stankovich, and attack coach Rob Taylor left the club.
Mike Ford (defence) and head of performance Aled Walters remain on board, while Borthwick will also be assisted by academy coaches Matt Smith and Tom Harrison, plus new player-coach Richard Wigglesworth.
While Wigglesworth's arrival cannot fill the void left by Murphy, Youngs believes the scrum-half's acquisition is a “very cute signing”, especially with his brother Ben away on international duty for long periods of the season.
“It's a great signing. It reminded me of the Leicester of old – it's a cute signing that they've done, and I think it'll be very helpful,” he said.
“Ben White and Jack van Poortvliet (scrum-halves) will learn a lot off him and he just brings that steadiness into the ship.
“He knows how to play the game; he plays extremely well, and he is one of the best tactical scrum-halves about.”
JON NEWCOMBE
