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'There has been a lot of upheaval but none of those decisions were made to deliberately get them wrong'
Ben Kay is hoping the dramatic overhaul at Leicester in recent times will eventually pay rich dividends and see the Premiership club back competing again in the Heineken Champions Cup.
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Having been in involved in the showpiece European tournament for 22 successive seasons (bar 1998/99 when no English club took part), Leicester have recently been banished to the Challenge Cup wilderness on the back of successive eleventh place finishes in the Premiership.
It’s a massive fall in reputation for the club that twice won the European Cup and was a serial presence in the knockout stages in that tournament.
Kay was part of the Leicester engine room when the trophy was won with back-to-back triumphs in 2001 and 2002 but their current Challenge Cup status means they are currently out of sight to the ex-England second row who is working with BT Sport on their Champions Cup coverage.
Leicester were semi-finalists in 2016, losing narrowly to Racing, but their form in subsequent seasons was a sign that they might fall out of the competition. Just four Champions Cup pool games were won in 18 matches across three seasons before inconsistent Premiership form consigned them to the Challenge Cup.
Finally @LeicesterTigers reaped revenge over @CABCLRUGBY for the 1997 Final ?
Impressive display from the two-time European champions on Friday night?#ChallengeCupRugby highlights ?? pic.twitter.com/lGFgHqOv3V
— EPCR Challenge Cup (@ChallengeCup_) December 15, 2020
It means that Leicester will be away at Bayonne this Saturday night rather than battling it out in the revamped 24-team Champions Cup that is accommodating eight rival clubs from England. Leicester opened last weekend with a 39-17 home win over Brive and Kay is hopeful it’s a good sign of better things to come from a revamped squad now under the thumb of Steve Borthwick following the axing of Geordan Murphy.
“It’s very, very difficult,” said Kay about the frustration that Leicester, a club when he is on the board, have been forced to play in second-tier European rugby. “The fans expect to be competing in the top tier of Europe but if you look at the performances over the last two years they don’t warrant being at the top table at the moment.
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“There has been a massive, massive change at the club, particularly in the last sort of 18 months to two years to get back to where they feel they belong, to where we feel we belong. Although the club certainly isn’t flying yet, there is a fantastic feeling about the direction the club is going. It was really a complete reset to try and stop dwelling on the past glory, stop looking at what was achieved in history and write a new history with the current crop.
“The fans have been fairly positive on the whole. I don’t want to bracket everyone together, and there will be people that have been frustrated, but you look at where we have got to now it’s certainly a lot more positive with the fans than it was a couple of years ago.
“There has been a lot of upheaval but none of those decisions were made to deliberately get them wrong. Sometimes you need to make mistakes to be able to learn from them and the club, with the current set-up, are in a brilliant shape to move forward. But we are not kidding anyone and saying by the end of this season we will be winning championships. It’s part of a building process over a couple of years to get back to where we feel we belong.”
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Comments on RugbyPass
It couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
25 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
13 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
25 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
13 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
77 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
13 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
13 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
13 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
13 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
13 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
44 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to comments