Reports of more coaching drama at Leicester

Matt Everard has left his role as defence coach of Leicester, the BBC has reported.

The 34-year-old joined Leicester from Wasps in November 2022, initially as an academy coach before stepping up to join the first-team coaching staff.

Leicester through and through, Everard grew up supporting the Tigers and went on to play for the club in the back row.

Everard’s coaching journey began at Nottingham, where he was head coach of the academy, and he spent five years at Wasps, as a valued member of Dai Young’s and then Lee Blackett’s coaching team.

In 2023/24, his first full season as defence coach, Leicester conceded the third-fewest points in the league, despite finishing eighth. Only two of the playoff teams, Sale and Saracens, had a better record.

It is understood that Everard hasn’t been sacked but recent heavy defeats won’t have gone down well with the club’s hierarchy, wherever the blame for that lies. Leicester have conceded an average of 36 points per game in their last five Premiership matches, including 54 at home to Bristol, and were also hit for 80 by Toulouse in the Investec Champions Cup.

This latest development adds further unrest to an already unstable situation at Welford Road. Since Richard Cockerill’s sacking in January 2017, the Tiger have had seven head coaches in almost as many years and are currently interviewing for another after it was confirmed that the latest incumbent, Michard Cheika, would be moving on after the end of this season after just one year in charge.

Speaking on BBC Radio’s Leicester Tigers Rugby Show, Leicester legend Tom Varndell said it’s another disappointing chapter in the club’s recent history, with the timing of the change also raising eyebrows.

“It was a bit of a shock as Matt Everard is a young coach who has got a bright future ahead of him, It’s just disappointing really,” the former England winger said.

“It’s an ongoing problem and has been an ongoing problem for quite a few seasons now, and they do need to sort it out.

“It can’t end up like football where they throw the baby out with the bath water. You have to stick with guys, to build that continuity, to build that consistency.”