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Steve Borthwick singles out the Leicester staff member he says has especially driven recent improvements
New Leicester boss Steve Borthwick has insisted the club are moving in the right direction under his baton, the former England assistant this week singling out Aled Walters, the World Cup-winning Springboks conditioning coach, for the influence he has started to wield on the fallen giants of the English club game.
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It was last May when the Gallagher Premiership strugglers announced that the Welshman – who wound up in South Africa after working under Rassie Erasmus at Munster – would become their head of athletic performance.
Walters linked up with Leicester during the lockdown around the same time that Borthwick began work as head coach on July 1. The Tigers won just two of their nine Premiership matches when the 2019/20 campaign resumed in August and was played to a finish in October.
However, they have fared better so far in the 2020/21, winning four of the nine league matches they have managed to play so far in a virus-hit campaign where two of their other games were cancelled. That has been enough to lift Leicester up to eighth in the table heading into this Friday’s round twelve fixture at home to London Irish, an improvement on their successive eleventh place finishes these past two seasons.
Asked to reflect on his time so far at Leicester, Borthwick made special mention of the role that Walters has played in implementing change. “There are foundation factors you need in rugby. To be able to move forward you need to be able to be fit, you need to be a tough, hard-working team,” explained the head coach.
The last of the 5?? Tigers who took a stance against salary cuts and left Leicester last July has finally found a new home#PremRugby #SuperLeague
https://t.co/zfRPOijLNZ— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 3, 2021
“Fortunately with Aled Walters I have an incredible coach working alongside who has got the team into a good condition. We have got plenty to do and we are not on the level we need to be. We have got plenty still to develop in the team but he has done a great job to get that foundation element in place.
“With that, there is also the foundation elements of you have got to have strong set-piece, you’ve got to have good defence. These are the foundations to help you build. Are we where we want to be right now? Not yet but I’m very clear on where we want to go, I’m very clear on the building blocks that we need to take to be able to get there.”
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A particular stumbling block this winter has been the limited time that Borthwick – who has been linked with a 2021 Lions tour assistant’s job – has had with his entire squad at his disposal. “In terms of where we are over this last period, I have been in place about seven months now, you have the plans in place and if you write one plan you are probably a fool because things change very, very quickly so you usually have about three different plans,” said the head coach in a week when Leicester announced the appointment of Leigh Jones as their new general manager of rugby.
“For an example with that when we were planning this season we didn’t know that our internationals were going to be missing for this spell, for this period of time. What are we now, we’re going into round twelve this weekend, played two European games, and out of those 14 games our internationals have played less than a game-and-a-half for us, so you have got some top quality players there who haven’t played.
“I’m proud of them that they have the opportunity to play for England, I’m delighted for them. Then we have a three-week pre-season before this season and we have a Covid outbreak, so we did a week of it and then during that window when I had the internationals back and I got the squad together, the first time I got the squad together, there was another Covid outbreak.
“In the time I have been here I have had this squad together for one week. So what I would say with that is we are constantly trying to keep moving and keep making progress and what we have got to do is keep being adaptable and flexible to the different scenarios we find ourselves in. That is going to be something for some time now. Do I think we are making progress? Yes, we are making progress.”
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The evolution of Leicester without Geordan Murphy has taken another twist#PremRugby
https://t.co/CuHmSimuPZ— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 2, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks 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?
3 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
3 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt 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….
84 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!
3 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?
45 Go to comments