'If we don't fulfil our potential under these guys then we will have let ourselves down'
Scrumhalf Ben Youngs believes struggling Leicester will deliver a different style of play under new head coach Steve Borthwick to end a barren run that has seen the former Gallagher Premiership champions stuck at the wrong end of the table for successive seasons.
Steve Borthwick has taken over as head coach after four years with England and Youngs believes a fundamental change of philosophy is taking place at the Welford Road as the Tigers prepare to finish off a delayed season that has them in 11th place – exactly where they finished at the end of last season.
Borthwick has the toughest possible start to his regime with a trip to Premiership leaders Exeter Chiefs when the season resumes on August 15 and they will travel with a squad missing Manu Tuilagi, Kyle Eastmond, Greg Bateman, Noel Reid and Telusa Veainu who have all left after failing to sign new reduced pay contracts.
Youngs, who will become England’s second centurion when he wins his 100th cap against Italy in October, admits the loss of the five players is a blow but remains convinced the 45 still at the club have the ability to deliver success after what he describes as “ an extremely” difficult period in his 13 year career with Tigers.
The 30-year-old said: “Without doubt we are going to improve on the last couple of seasons and we have the best opportunity I have ever had at Leicester and if we don’t fulfil our potential under these guys then we will have let ourselves down not having stepped up to the challenge.
“We probably lost a little bit of edge which comes down to conditioning, clarity and belief in terms of what we are about. What we want is everything about the old Leicester but make it new and in the last couple of years we have got a bit stuck with our past, thinking that was enough – it isn’t. I know when the team is playing well; the pack is confrontational and takes the game (to the opposition) which is not very nice, but for me it’s great.
“We need a bit of clarity and direction behind that and bring that bit of edge we once had and unfortunately have lost and Steve will be able to tap into that tactically and emotionally to channel it in the right way. I am not saying we are going to be a completely different team but we are going to work to make sure we are heading in the upward curve.
“It has been a challenging couple of years and we now have people in place to make it successful again. Sometimes in adversity like this it can galvanise a team and Steve will make the squad better rugby players and equipped to perform and everything is now there for us to perform. We have tried to iron out some bad habits we have had over the last couple of years and under the new regime we will be a far more competitive side and back to where we want to be.”
Having spent a considerable time with Borthwick in the England cause and with Leicester having now added Springbok World Cup strength and conditioning expert Aled Walters to the coaching set up, Youngs is keen to get back into action with Leicester.
He added: “Steve has his own philosophy on how he wants to play the game and it is about us upskilling our play to perform a that level in that game plan. There will be no lack of clarity from Steve and I have been lucky to work with him (at England) for four years and he will give us a good framework of how we want to play.
“There will be a different style to what there has been in the past and there needs to be because it hasn’t worked over the last couple of years and change in exciting. The boys are showing ambition and enthusiasm to throw themselves into it and start almost from scratch and get this new philosophy going.
“I had a year left until 2021 and got the opportunity to extend and wanted to do that and I have always played at Leicester. This middle period has been extremely difficult and now I want to be part of this with Steve and Geordie (Murphy, director of rugby) and help the young lads coming through. I have a young family and it is security but ultimately Leicester has always been my team.”
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments