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Leicester Tigers' depth chart offers promise after horror season
There can be no arguments that the 2018/19 season was one that Leicester Tigers will be keen to forget. A perennial playoff side in the Gallagher Premiership, not only did Tigers slip out of the coveted top four spots in the competition, they also failed to qualify for the Heineken Champions Cup, a tournament that they have competed in for 22 of the 23 seasons it has existed.
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Their one previous omission, the 1998/99 season, was the one season that no English teams competed due to a dispute between the RFU and European Rugby. The 2019/20 season will be the first in the club’s history that they will not be competing in the top tier of European competition due to their own performance.
To heap further misery onto a beleaguered fan base who are more used to lifting trophies than propping up the table, Leicester were also in the relegation mix as the season headed towards its conclusion.
A win over Newcastle Falcons in round 19, combined with three losing bonus points to finish the season, saw Tigers finish 10 points above the ultimately relegated Falcons, but it had been a far tighter affair than that for much of the campaign.
Leicester looked a mile off the pace of the teams in the top half of the table and were it not for Newcastle’s slow start to the season, hosting the likes of Saracens and Exeter Chiefs at Kingston Park and unable to build any early momentum, who knows how the season may have turned out.
(Continue reading below…)
The squad did not lack for talent at the top end, boasting international quality in the likes of George Ford, Ben Youngs, Dan Cole, Manu Tuilagi and Jonny May, although the chemistry and effectiveness of the team was certainly lower than the sum of its parts.
Depth was also an issue, as Leicester’s star-studded backline was frequently called upon by their respective international sides. Coupled with inevitable injuries, it was reduced to the bare bones at multiple times in the season.
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The coaching staff was in flux, too, as head coach Matt O’Connor was sacked following the 40-6 loss to Exeter Chiefs on opening day, paving the way for Geordan Murphy to takeover. The Tigers legend was initially appointed on an interim basis before taking on the role full-time midway through the season.
Defence coach Phil Blake was added in January and Mike Ford was hurriedly drafted in at the end of March, as the club faced the almost unbelievable possibility of relegation. It was, in short, a complete pig’s ear of a season.
Why, then, should the outlook for the 2019/20 campaign be any brighter? Firstly, the coaching staff is now settled, with Murphy continuing as head coach and Blake, Ford, Mark Bakewell, and Boris Stankovich all remaining in their respective roles, and former Tigers favourite Pat Howard returning to the club to mentor the current coaching team.
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There will be no excuses of disruption or needing to bed in, with the staff all in place for pre-season and able to get the players comfortable with playing the style of rugby that they are keen for Leicester to show next season. It’s this campaign – not the last – when Murphy will be judged as a head coach.
In addition to a more settled coaching staff, Leicester have not been shy in their recruitment. The back row duo of Jordan Taufua and Hanro Liebenberg headline the group of incomings and will add significant quality to the club’s starting loose forward trio.
Tomás Lavanini is susceptible to a yellow card or two but will add physicality in the engine room, Calum Green will bring a predatory threat at defensive lineouts and the South African pairing of Jaco Taute and EW Viljoen add positional versatility to a backline that was caught short a number of times last season.
On paper, it has created a pretty formidable looking XV at the club: 15. Telusa Veainu; 14. Jonny May, 13. Jaco Taute, 12. Manu Tuilagi, 11. Jonah Holmes; 10. George Ford, 9. Ben Youngs; 1. Ellis Genge, 2. Tom Youngs, 3. Dan Cole, 4. Tomás Lavanini, 5. Calum Green, 6. Hanro Liebenberg, 7. Guy Thompson, 8. Jordan Taufua.
When everyone is fit and available, Tigers should have a matchday squad that is capable of going toe-to-toe with any side in the Premiership.
That said, how often in a season does a club have everyone available? Between injuries and international call-ups, a club might be lucky to get two or three games at complete strength throughout the course of an entire season.
With mass international call-ups in September and October due to the Rugby World Cup, that problem is only likely to be exacerbated this season, making depth more important than ever at the Premiership clubs.
For Leicester, there is a reason to be buoyed by their emerging depth chart which, by the looks of the second string XV below, seems to be in a much better place than it was last season: 15. EW Viljoen; 14. Jordan Olowofela, 13. Noel Reid, 12. Kyle Eastmond, 11. Sam Aspland-Robinson; 10. Johnny McPhillips, 9. Ben White; 1. Facundo Gigena, 2. Jake Kerr, 3. Joe Heyes, 4. Will Spencer, 5. Harry Wells, 6. David Denton, 7. Tommy Reffell, 8. Sione Kalamafoni
From impressive under-20s such as Heyes and Reffell to standouts from last season such as Kerr and Kalamafoni, there is no doubt that Leicester are in a better place this season to survive injuries, rotate players and prosper during international windows.
Gigena is underrated at loosehead, Reid was only denied more starts by the strength and depth of Leinster and Spencer will be in the mix with Green and Lavanini to start when all three are fit.
This also doesn’t take into account the two under-18 title-winning sides of 2018 and 2019, 16 of whom will be contracted in the club’s senior academy for the upcoming campaign.
Freddie Steward at full-back, Sam Costelow at fly-half and Joe Browning on the wing could all put their hands up for selection in their debut seasons, while forwards such as James Whitcombe, George Martin, and Henri Lavin may have to be more patient, but also offer options if required.
If you drop down to the third-string Tigers XV, they start to feature alongside some of Leicester’s more veteran players: 15. Freddie Steward; 14. Adam Thompstone, 13. Joe Thomas, 12. Tom Hardwick, 11. Joe Browning; 10. Sam Costelow, 9. Sam Harrison; 1. Greg Bateman, 2. Tatafu Polota-Nau, 3. Gaston Cortes, 4. Sam Lewis, 5. George Martin, 6. Cameron Jordan, 7. Jordan Coghlan, 8. Henri Lavin.
?? "One thing we wanted to do was improve on our fitness and energy levels displayed last season, which we have addressed well in these first few weeks"
The boss shares his thoughts on the performance during the opening weeks of the pre-season programme.https://t.co/UQKyOr1rDe
— Leicester Tigers (@LeicesterTigers) July 14, 2019
A settled coaching staff, a strong first XV and improving depth, Tigers have – at least on paper – put themselves into a position to be better in 2019/20 than they were in 2018/19. However, the rest of the league haven’t been sitting by idly, either.
Saracens and Exeter, even impacted by substantial international losses, should retain their spots at the top of the competition. In all honesty, they are not clubs that Leicester are competing with on the table next season.
Moving down a tier and Gloucester, Northampton Saints and Harlequins will all be keen to retain their places in or around the play-off mix. Consolidating that has proven a difficult challenge in recent seasons, so Johan Ackermann, Chris Boyd, and Paul Gustard will all have their work cut out.
Among the sides that Leicester were more competitive with last season, Sale Sharks have strengthened considerably, and Bath have gone hard to bolster their front row, while London Irish have not been afraid to flash the cash following their promotion from the Greene King IPA Championship.
Worcester Warriors and Wasps have seen a large number of comings and goings and may be candidates that don’t look quite as strong on paper as they were before. But that should create opportunities for younger players, any number of whom could stake a claim and not look back just as Ted Hill and Jack Willis have done in recent seasons.
How high, then, can Leicester go this season? The play-offs seem a bridge too far at this point, but could a return to the top tier of Europe be on the cards? The club will, should they want to, be able to rotate players in the Challenge Cup competition, allowing them to stay fresh for their Premiership assault.
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??https://t.co/ynz3TWGHGC pic.twitter.com/HaG3FBnLWp— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) July 10, 2019
If Murphy and his staff can integrate the likes of Taufua and Liebenberg and ensure their transition to English rugby is as seamless as possible, it certainly looks as though Tigers have the quality to significantly improve on their efforts last season.
McPhillips could be a key man in Ford’s absences with England, so he will need to hit the ground running after making the move from Ulster, while youngsters such as Olowofela and Heyes could prove to be significant if they can ‘make the leap’ from impressive age-grade players to fully-rounded out seniors.
There are a lot of ifs, buts, and maybes at this point, but there is a reason for cautious optimism among the Leicester fans.
WATCH: Episode six of The Academy, the six-part RugbyPass documentary series on how Leicester Tigers develop their young players
Comments on RugbyPass
Leinster are going to win the world cup.
13 Go to commentsSuper Rugby desperately needs to lose at least 2, but up to 4 teams. Rebels quietly going bankrupt would have made that a bit easier. Teams like the Rebels and Force serve only to weaken Australian Rugby and Super Rugby more widely. In 13 years in the comp the Rebels are yet to win more games than they lose in a season, have never finished in the top half of the competition, and have come dead last a number of times. The Western Force, barring a brief stint of mediocrity under John Mitchell from 2007-2009 have been even worse. Sadly it’s hard to see a future for Moana Pasifika in Super Rugby. Likewise I think the writing is on the wall for the Highlanders, it’s hard to see how NZ rugby can continue to support 5 SR teams, and population distribution suggests one team in the south island would make the most sense.
41 Go to commentsNice that Connor Evans is happy to stay on here, that JD Schikerling is returning and Steven Kitshoff. Dobbo is careful to bring back just anybody but having a new financial lease of life, it has made the Stormers a more attractive club. On top of being good quality, having the financial backing helps a lot
1 Go to commentsEngland-qualified too, I believe.
1 Go to commentsThis might turn out to be emblematic of a real issue in Irish rugby. Ireland have one of the best -if not the best - senior sides in the world, and one of the best under 20s sides as well, but don’t seem to be giving graduating under20s players many opportunities to break through into URC starting lineups. There is a risk that a lot of the junior talent they are developing will either be wasted, or lost to other nations.
1 Go to commentsYou ask good questions, Nick. The group who have put together the proposal to play out of Tarneit and participate in the growing of the ground’s capacity are not a bunch of white knights who have been dragged in post-crisis; they were around whilst the Rebels accummulated $23m in debt. Why do we come up with ideas that might make the franchise affordable after it’s broke and not when it might have prevented the trainwreck this offseason was? As for Gordon/Kellaway v Lolesio/Wright, they are both good options. I think the former are better rugby players but the goal kicking of Noah may be decisive when Schmiddy makes his choices. I know Harry Jones has the hots for Edmed but I think it’s one of his few poor choices and he and Jorgensen aren’t close to the other pairs. By coincidence, the wife and I went into town over the weekend to watch Brian Cox and Patricia Clarkson in Long Day’s Journey into Night. Beautifully acted but it was 3.5 hours in the chair and very hard work. Like the Rebels, there were only small bursts of joy to go with a lot of bad news and a depressing story line. In the end, I was hoping it would end and I could give my sore butt a break. Again, familiar.
41 Go to commentsGood decision, very good player but not international quality. But so was Jamison Gibson Park …..
3 Go to commentsLoose forwards always look good going forward and winning. It’s the same loose forwards for the Crusaders and the Canes this year as last year. Too much of the shiny new things getting noticed here while older consistent ones getting bagged. It’s early days. Calm the farm.
6 Go to commentsThanks Nick, and on the money. We tend to be apathetic until something REALLY BAD happens, then we aren't! At least this applies to the Reb players and coach, if not the spectators. They seem to be getting very quick ball at times. Have they altered something, or is it just all of the skills coming together at the right time? It seems almost the opposite of the Reds, who started the season with quick ball, but haven't been showing that in the last 3 losing games. Is it attitude (McDermott hasn't looked “right” to me for 3 weeks), or something else?
41 Go to commentsGood summary. As said, Sevu Reece has been electrifying for the Crusaders. Great try and he has been everywhere. Amazing he is now equal with Caleb Ralph , club record of 52 tries for the Crusaders. That record beckons. Good to see Dallas McLeod getting regular starts at last. A big few weeks are ahead.
6 Go to commentsGood article/interview.As was said Christian Lio-Willie was barnstorming when he came on for the Crusaders. What happened at the end, self-explanatory.Captain fantastic Scott Barrett is due back soon as well, once they are back from Aussie. Great to see Ethan Blackadder back last week.
1 Go to commentsYou must have been watching one team, Andrew - and even then you missed the brightest star in the Chiefs pack - Naitoa Ah Kuoi, 2 turnovers, genuine line-out presence and grunt around the field, and the soft hands of a back.
6 Go to commentsHaha what a crock of sh!t these headlines are. Moorby’s best year was that first. Still doesn’t seem to have the same game about him as when he was fresh but has bounced back well this season to be playing consistent tight accurate footy
3 Go to commentsIt’s even dumber than Bernard Foley not kicking the penalty to touch in the Melbourne Bledisloe in 2022.
3 Go to commentsYes, they are traveling well but it’s early days. The Chiefs were in front with 20 to go while they snatched a last minute win v the Reds. Keep calm.
1 Go to commentsThe failure of the Irish system / rugby playing style to produce their own backs has them looking elsewhere for innovation and flair - not that Jordie has much flair. He’s a converted fullback. The Canes have plenty of other younger options.
13 Go to comments1.Watch Wallace Sititi be the wild card AB. A genuine full time no 8 2. Luke J like Sotutu has not delivered. 3. Chiefs have all the right cattle but badly miss the leadership of Webber. LJ is about as unconvincing as Sam Cane when under the pump. They had the winning of that game in the second half then fell apart.
6 Go to commentsYes the Rebels are showing signs of life because they are literally playing for their live -lihoods and thanks to their Australian attack coach. However they are still playing an essentially dull boring south african style for the rest of the time. And Geoff Parling must be the most useless lineout coach ever. Worse than Steve Hansen even. Interestingly we are starting to see more cheap shots and attempts to get away with cheating by Australian players, now they are being influenced by Joe Schmidt. It was exactly the same when Rennie started out as Wallaby coach and thru his tenure. Trying to teach Australians to play like kiwis doesn’t work, as the last 20 years has conclusively demonstrated. Especially when we are not as good at it as kiwis. Which of course is the whole idea …..
41 Go to commentsGreat signing, not sure where he’ll fit in though. As for him ‘playing alongside RG Snyman, that’s highly debatable given the likelyhood that the latter will spend most of the season on sick leave.
13 Go to commentsWowee!
13 Go to comments