Eight candidates to fill the head coach void at Leicester Tigers
There had been rumours swirling for a while that Matt O’Connor and Leicester Tigers were no longer the happy union they had once been, but it still came as a surprise when the club made the decision to move the coach on after just one game of the 2018/19 season.
It seems as though the 40-6 humbling at the hands of Exeter Chiefs on the weekend was the last nail in the coffin for the Australian and Tigers legend Geordan Murphy has been put in charge of the team on an interim basis.
It raises plenty of questions, such as if one disastrous result was enough to make the move on from O’Connor, why was the decision not made in the summer and a new coach allowed to prepare the group for the season?
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Either way, it is Murphy who is now tasked with improving Leicester’s waning fortunes. As interim boss, he will get first crack at proving he is the man to take the club forward and into a brighter future, but who else might be on Tigers’ radar?
We take a look at some of the prospective candidates.
Ben Ryan
The Olympic gold-winning coach has been vocal in the past about his desire to take on the day-to-day responsibility of running an entire program, something which makes a role at a Gallagher Premiership club more likely than the England attack coach position, a job he is constantly linked with.
A progressive coach who is unafraid to think outside of the box, Ryan doesn’t necessarily fit with the traditional conservative DNA at the club, but that DNA did not help either Richard Cockerill or O’Connor in recent years and perhaps a shake-up and an original approach is needed at Welford Road.
Jim Mallinder
He couldn’t, could he? The England age-grade coach was, with former assistant Dorian West, at the Premiership Shield match between Leicester and Northampton Saints on Monday night and though he was surely just checking in on his son, who was at 15 for Northampton, and some possible England U20 call-ups, the timing is too perfect to completely dismiss it out of hand.
The pair would certainly fit that Tigers DNA but given Mallinder’s recent hire by the RFU and the travails faced by the duo at Northampton in the final few seasons of their tenure there, it seems unlikely.
Nick Kennedy
It’s a shame Kennedy didn’t get more of a crack at London Irish, having proven that not only can he develop talent, but that he can also put together a coherent and effective game plan on match day. Irish weren’t relegated because of deficiencies at the director of rugby or coaching levels, they had less money than the other 11 teams and that showed in the quality and depth of the squad.
That’s not a problem Kennedy would encounter at Leicester, where there is the financial firepower available to build a team that is challenging for the title and not battling against relegation.
Mike Ford
Could a Ford triple-threat attack be the answer at Welford Road?
Everyone remembers the success Ford senior had with George at Bath and whilst making coaching additions purely to suit the playing style of a small group of players is a dangerous process, it is a tick in the positives column.
The delayed introduction of the Dallas Griffins to the MLR in the US mean that Ford is currently a free agent.
Stuart Lancaster
A vacancy has come up in English rugby, you say? Prepare to be inundated with calls for this man to make his return. Like Ryan, Lancaster would provide a fresh approach and a much-needed move away from the prescription, route one play of Leicester over the last 12 months.
There is no need for him to leave Leinster, where he is having a very enjoyable and successful stint, but increased responsibility at English rugby’s biggest club? If Leicester are willing to meet the compensation requirement to buy him out of his current contract, it must be a tempting proposition.
Scott Robertson
Rumoured to have been in the mix for the Harlequins role before Paul Gustard’s appointment, the two-time Super Rugby-winning supremo might be the hottest coaching property in the game right now.
Success in Super Rugby is no guarantee of success in the Gallagher Premiership, with the two competitions enjoying their fair share of differences, but you’d feel fairly confident predicting his ability to turn Leicester around and get them on a path back to the very top.
John Mitchell
We were all confident that Mitchell would be shortly announced as England’s new defence coach but what a switcheroo this could be.
A shot at Rugby World Cup glory with England is nothing to turn your nose up at but there’s also no denying the lure of being in charge of a group and trying to build something that can have success for years to come, as he would be able to do at Leicester.
Jake White
Perennially linked with every high-profile vacancy in rugby union, it would be remiss to ignore the possibility of White at Welford Road.
Currently the head coach of Toyota Verblitz in the Japanese Top League, White would certainly stay true to the style of play that Leicester’s success was built upon and he showed in the Top 14 with Montpellier that he can still craft an effective team in that manner.
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
27 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
27 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments