'I want to know there's a genuine opportunity to improve, perform, and be successful' - Aled Walters' first interview since joining Leicester
Aled Walters says the challenge of helping Leicester Tigers return to the top of the English game was too good an opportunity to turn down. Leicester’s new Head of Physical Performance joined the club after helping South Africa win the 2019 Rugby World Cup, and has outlined his ambitions for Leicester in his first interview since making the move to England.
Walters is highly regarded for his work with the Springboks, where he held a key role in Rassie Erasmus’ backroom staff, following previous roles at Scarlets, Taranaki in New Zealand, Australia’s Brumbies and Munster.
He joins the Tigers at a time of major change. New head coach Steve Borthwick recently stepped into the role vacated by Geordan Murphy, who has become Director of Rugby, while financial issues raised by the coronavirus pandemic saw a number of players, including the talismanic Manu Tuilagi, move on for pastures new.
The Tigers have begun to plug the holes those departures left in their squad with five new signings – namely Kini Murimurivalu, Kobus Van Wyk, Guy Porter, Luke Wallace and Matias Moroni – announced on Monday.
Headline signing Nemani Nadolo has also recently linked up with the squad following his signing from Montpellier earlier this year.
And as he helps Borthwick whip a new-look Leicester squad into shape, Walters said he is determined to help the Tigers return to the top of the English game following a number of underwhelming campaigns.
Having finished fourth and fifth in the 2016/17 and 2017/18 Premiership seasons respectively, the Tigers slumped to 11th last season, and occupied the same position when the current campaign was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In his first interview since joining Leicester, Walters told the club’s website that he believes the club “belongs at the top.”
“Effort, work-rate, and real honesty (are the three things I look for in players). And I hope that I can reciprocate that, but yeah, they’re the three things. Without that, we’re going to be lacking,” he said.
“I would like to see the supporters at Welford Road and at away games respect that the players are going to go as hard as possible.
“They’re going to have this unrelenting work-rate. There’s going to be an honesty to every performance.
“And while we might not get success immediately, (I hope) that everyone has got this drive to get the Tigers back to where I think they belong.
Tigers hit Pokemon mode this morning #catchingthemall https://t.co/i5VO1Zj0TN
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 20, 2020
“I think we belong at the top. So it’s (about producing) that real, unrelenting desire to improve.”
Walters added that the opportunity to work with Borthwick was the major factor in his decision to step away from the Springboks set-up.
“Why leave a World Cup winning team to go to Leicester? He’s (Borthwick) a massive reason in that. His reputation, the detail, and the teams that he’s prepared. The teams that he has played for, but (also) the teams that he has prepared. I’m thinking about the effect he had with Japan. Then the effect that he’s had with England over the last few years.
“When I join a team I want to know that there’s a genuine opportunity to improve, to perform, and to be successful. That was a massive, massive decision swinger.”
The Welshman added that the Tigers coaching team are currently in the process of evaluating their squad ahead of the resumption of the Premiership season.
“It’s pretty individualised. We’ve had to evaluate where they’re at, and again that’s a new challenge.
'I would love to come back and coach in England but there are certainly more opportunities in France'
Former England, Wasps and Gloucester lock Tom Palmer tells @chrisjonespress about life in France and his hopes for the future.https://t.co/qLxxfmSnPI
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 20, 2020
“It’s a long time since guys have played, so players are coming in and you have no idea what they are going to be like until they actually rock up on your doorstep, and then you go, ‘Oh we’re going to have to adapt your plan.’
“So flexibility in what we do and how we approach things is probably one of the key requirements at the moment.
“Taking the likes of Nemani and going, ‘Ok, where are you, where do we need to get you?’ And then having the best scenario to say, ‘Ok, we think you’ll be able to be reintroduced on this date’, or, ‘This will be a target game for him to be ready.’”
Leicester are due to restart their Premiership campaign with an away fixture against Exeter Chiefs on August 15.
Comments on RugbyPass
Don’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
9 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
33 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
33 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
33 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
33 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
33 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
33 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
33 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to comments