'It was a no-brainer to come and join... Leicester is a similar situation to the Bulls'
Hanro Liebenberg knew what he was letting himself in for when he signed for Leicester on July 2. The 24-year-old from Cape Town has been through the healing process before, plying his trade for a once-leading club that had fallen on hard times.
By the time he decided his future was best served away from the Bulls, the blindside had earned his stripes, helping the Pretoria-based Super Rugby side to rejuvenate and finish their 2019 season reaching the quarter-finals.
Now the mission is to revive struggling Leicester’s fortunes, a project he was given a big insight into with last weekend’s opening round 24-16 Premiership loss at Worcester which leaves Tigers in need of a quick fix at home on Sunday when they host defending champions Saracens.
It’s easier said than done. Leicester lost six of their 11 Welford Road games in last season’s Gallagher Premiership – their last four home games were all lost – but Liebenberg, who gave himself a fleeting taste of Europe by playing some Top 14 matches last season for Heyneke Meyer’s Stade Francais, is spoiling to get stuck in.
“I love to see myself as a player with ball in hand,” he told RugbyPass. “Someone who loves carrying the ball and is also confrontational on the gain line. Someone with a good work rate. I just want to contribute as much as I can to the Tigers season and put them on track again.”
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It was a video conference call from Leicester boss Geordan Murphy that initially plugged Liebenberg into precisely what he would be joining and while there were some offers from elsewhere after it was revealed he was in discussions about coming to the East Midlands, he was as good as his word about signing on the dotted line.
“At that stage, Leicester was the only option. There were other offers after that but I had already made my mind up. I was comfortable with that situation and England was one of the places I wanted to come to and further my rugby career.
“Geordie had video-called me when I was back in South Africa just to give me a brief background of the club and what he expects, his dreams and his visions. That made me at ease. Then when I first came they just gave me a tour of everything and introduced me to all the players, all the staff.
'This club expects to win trophies. We expect to be up there at the top and we’re not… this is not good enough'
– @TomYoungs87 talks to @heagneyl about Leicester's unprecedented battle with Premiership relegation ??? https://t.co/QdUuqKAjXJ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) April 4, 2019
“England is a lot different. I must say the first few weeks were quite different but I have settled into a nice place in Leicester and am quite happy. I have managed to get a few friends as well and the boys have been so welcoming and so friendly, they just help me whenever they can. They have made it quite easy to adapt and settle in.
“I was looking for a different challenge, looking for a different environment. I had watched a few games and when a name comes up like this, you know it is one of the most successful clubs in England. For me, it was a no-brainer to come and join.”
All the more so as he had been through the club revival process with the Bulls and knows what is now expected at Tigers, who finished last season just one spot above relegated Newcastle.
“You would be 100 per cent correct saying that it is a similar situation. The Bulls also went from the glory days and then a bad patch. That is where the Bulls were three years ago but they got more accountable about their situation, accepting the fact that games we would win in the past were no longer easy.
“Nowadays you can’t just assume that. Every team is above average and every team is going to give you a run for your money. That is just what we learned.
“We just adapted our training style, went back to the old methods of training hard and preparing yourself as best as you can… coming from a background with a team struggling in previous seasons and just contributing to get them back on track again. That is a nice challenge coming here.”
There is still so much more for Liebenberg to learn about Leicester. For instance, it will be a while yet before he gets to play alongside the six Tigers who were part of the England squad that dethroned New Zealand at the World Cup this weekend. But one that is certain is that he is living the dream as a rugby professional.
? TEAM NEWS
Here is the Tigers side to take on Saracens in Sunday's #GallagherPrem fixture at Welford Road ?? pic.twitter.com/qPSa0VBMMl
— Leicester Tigers (@LeicesterTigers) October 25, 2019
“That was my main focus, the main reason why I went to school, probably the main reason why I passed school as well. Rugby was always my dream, my goal in life,” he said in fluent enough English, a language the Afrikaans speaker started to first learn as an eight-year-old at school in Cape Town, the city he lived in before youths rugby at Boland led to a breakthrough call from the Bulls in 2015.
“Leaving family and friends behind is difficult, but you’re chasing your dream and doing what makes you happy in the long run. Your family and friends will always understand that and back you.”
Not that they are a million miles away. With his parents booked in for a two-week visit around Christmas and his brother only an hour’s flight away in France, Leicester can quickly become a real home away from him for him.
A rare win over Saracens – whom Leicester have only ever beaten four times in their last 19 meetings – would surely only accelerate that feeling.
WATCH: Former Leicester great Neil Back sits down with RugbyPass in the opening episode of the Rugby World Cup Memories series
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