Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
NZ NZ

'On a one-to-one basis he has warned me to up my physicality to make me be the best Premiership player I can be'

By Liam Heagney
Tommy Reffell of Leicester Tigers (Photo by Tony Marshall/Getty Images)

Safe to say, this has been the longest breakthrough season for all young players in England. When Tommy Reffell stood at the campaign starting line 13 months ago, the development grade back row’s ambition was to grab a few Premiership Cup outings while the Leicester big-hitters were all away at the World Cup in Japan.

ADVERTISEMENT

He never fathomed he would blossom so quickly, that he would be signing off on the 2019/20 season with a senior contract inked, a breakthrough player of the year award won and a 13th Premiership appearance this Sunday coming hot on the heels of a rousing European show of semi-final breakdown defiance at Toulon.

Leicester’s results all the while might not inspire much confidence – the Tigers have lost seven of their nine post-lockdown outings under new boss Steve Borthwick, and some of the porous collective defence has been downright horrible.

Video Spacer

RugbyPass goes behind the scenes at the Leicester Tigers Academy

Video Spacer

RugbyPass goes behind the scenes at the Leicester Tigers Academy

But in the likes of Reffell, there are locally nurtured green shoots that offer some promise of better days ahead, happier outcomes that are badly needed given the sobering realisation that but for Saracens’ automatic relegation for breaching the salary cap it would be Leicester who would be facing an ignominious demotion to the Championship.

The pressure is on then to make genuine improvements in time for 2020/21 and while there was an extremely busy revolving door at the club during the pandemic-enforced layoff, one thing Leicester have banked the house on is a renaissance in their famed academy.

View this post on Instagram

Great to be back on the pitch with the boys?

A post shared by Tommy Reffell (@tommyreffell) on

It used deliver talent on tap to the club who were ahead of the curve nationally in England when it was founded in 2000. So many first-team success stories owed their development to the machinations of their Oval Park laboratory before something went awry.

It’s back in sync now, Leicester winning a hat-trick of Premiership Academy League titles, two outright and a share of the honours at the top of this year following a tied final with London Irish.

ADVERTISEMENT

RugbyPass followed the second of those triumphs every step of the way in a compelling six-part, fly on the wall documentary series that rounded off with an Allianz Park showpiece win over Louis Rees-Zammit’s Gloucester in February 2019 and the optimism it ignited was clearly evident in senior skipper Tom Youngs when he spoke to the camera in the aftermath.

“I hope I get the opportunity to play with these guys because there are some really good guys coming through,” he enthused. “The guys who come through the academy are the backbone of Leicester and have been for years and we have probably lacked that in recent years. Hopefully, as senior guys, we can teach them a thing or two and they can take the future of the club on.”

Reffell Leicester
(Photo by Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images)

Reffell is like a sponge in the company of Youngs and co. The Class of 2019 wasn’t his particular academy group – the 21-year-old had graduated some years previously at Tigers after initially being on the radar of Ospreys’ wider academy in his native Wales.

ADVERTISEMENT

But it can only be encouraging for the Leicester faithful that Borthwick isn’t shy of giving youth its fling and current development squad names such as Freddie Steward, Thom Smith, Jack van Poortvliet and Archie Vanes have all figured in recent months, mucking in with newish senior squad members like Reffell, Joe Heyes and Jordan Olowofela to stake a selection claim.

Reffell is enjoying the fresh Borthwick hard edge. “On a one-to-one basis he has come in and warned me to up my physicality, that sort of thing, just try to make me better and be the best Premiership player I can be,” explained the Welshman, happy that his hunch in sticking with Tigers this past summer is bringing first-team rewards after he ignored the regional flirtations that enticed recent academy graduate Sam Costelow across the Severn to Scarlets.

“I’m happy at Leicester. I’m enjoying my time. If I’m lucky enough to have anything to come my way like that (at international level), well then that’s when I’ll talk about it,” he added, referencing the recent media speculation about supposed England interest even though he has proudly skippered Wales at age-grade level.

“Look, I just want people to know that every time I go out in the Tigers shirt that all of us are giving it our all. It’s not just the young players in the team. It’s a privilege for the squad to go out and play but yeah, from a young players’ point of view, it’s about building consistency in our performances and having the belief that we are good enough to play at that level.

“Freddie is a few years younger than me so he is doing remarkably well at the moment. He has come in, has got an old head on young shoulders. We do talk a lot as young players. We always give each other advice. Sometimes you see these players and they are not young players anymore because they are confident in their abilities and are starting to become emerging leaders as well.”

Leicester rookie Reffell will glimpse the other end of that leadership spectrum up close on Sunday at Welford Road, former England skipper Chris Robshaw set to make his 300th and last appearance for Harlequins before topping up the pension Stateside with a switch to San Diego.

If the promising Tigers back row can go on and enjoy that type of longevity he will surely have a career to savour, but Reffell isn’t thinking like that just now, his concentration focused on taking further baby steps in the hope of convincing Borthwick he really does have what it takes to become a feared Neil Back-like menace at the Leicester breakdown.

“We rate Chris Robshaw as a hell of a player for Harlequins and England. It’s his last match and he’s going to be really up for it. They will want to send him off with a nice performance but we have to concentrate on ourselves. We’re at the start of a journey as a team ourselves, we can’t really be concentrating on the other teams too much.

Reffell Leicester
Tommy Reffell slides in for Leicester Tigers

“The start of the season seems so long ago now. To be honest, I was just looking forward to playing in the Premiership Cup and then just showing what I can do around the training ground. I feel like I have made some good steady progress and I want to keep pushing that on now, It’s been a massive learning curve, especially with the back-to-back games. You have to learn faster than you would normally, two or three days to prepare for a team.

“It’s just building that consistency and backing it up. This is my first proper season playing Premiership rugby and I’ve really enjoyed it. I’m enjoying the level of physicality you’re asked to bring each week and I’ve definitely grown as an individual. I’ve got to really stay motivated now and when the season is over, look back and reflect on how it has gone and take all the learnings into the next one. It’s nice to have that breakdown (poaching) come back into the game.

“There are still a lot of big men playing in the Premiership, so that (physicality) hasn’t gone away at all, but it’s just about working on that breakdown, the speed into the breakdown, the accuracy in the breakdown, all of that stuff. The laws have come in to particularly look after the jackaler. If you can get on the ball with speed and accuracy you’re more likely to earn a turnover for your team.”

Earn a turnover and earn kudos from Borthwick from on high. For sure it has been a breakthrough season to remember for Reffell.

View this post on Instagram

That one felt good

A post shared by Tommy Reffell (@tommyreffell) on

 

ADVERTISEMENT

Join free

Aotearoa Rugby Podcast | Episode 6

Sam Warburton | The Big Jim Show | Full Episode

Japan Rugby League One | Sungoliath v Eagles | Full Match Replay

Japan Rugby League One | Spears v Wild Knights | Full Match Replay

Boks Office | Episode 10 | Six Nations Final Round Review

Aotearoa Rugby Podcast | How can New Zealand rugby beat this Ireland team

Beyond 80 | Episode 5

Rugby Europe Men's Championship Final | Georgia v Portugal | Full Match Replay

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

J
Jon 5 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

35 Go to comments
j
john 7 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

30 Go to comments
A
Adrian 9 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

30 Go to comments
T
Trevor 12 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
FEATURE
FEATURE Andy Christie: 'Diversity breeds strength in a group rather than weakness' Andy Christie: 'Diversity breeds strength in a group rather than weakness'
Search