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'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.
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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.
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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
It’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
2 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
24 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
1 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
1 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
2 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to commentsMore useless words from Ben Smith -Please get another team to write about. SA really dont need your input, it suck anyway.
264 Go to commentsThis disgraceful episode must result in management and coach team sackings. A new manager with worse results than previous and the coaching staff need to coached. Awful massacre led by donkeys.
1 Go to commentsInteresting article with one glaring mistake. This sentence: “And between the top four nations right now, Ireland, France, South Africa, and New Zealand…” should read: And between the top four nations right now, South Africa, Ireland, New Zealand and France…”. Get it right wistful thinkers, its not that hard.
24 Go to commentsHow did Penny get the gig anyway?
3 Go to commentsNice write up Nick and I would have agreed a week ago. However as you would know Cale & co got absolutely monstered by the Blues back row of Sotutu, Ioane and Papaliti and not all of these 3 are guaranteed a start in the Black jumper. He may need to put some kgs before stepping up, Spring tour? After the week end Joe will be a bit more restless. Will need to pick a mobile tough pack for Wales and hope England does the right thing and bashes the ABs. I like your last paragraph but I would bring Swinton, Hannigan into the 6 role and Bobby V to 8
24 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can still get in to the Play Off’s. The imminent return of outstanding captain Scott Barrett and his All Black team mate Codie Taylor will be a big boost.There are others like Tamaiti Williams too. Two home games coming up. Fellow Crusader fans get there and support these guys. I will be.
1 Go to commentsCant get more Wellington than Proctor.
2 Go to commentsWhy not let the media decide. Like how they choose the head coach. Like most of us we entrust the rugby system to choose. A rugby team includes the coaches. It's collective.
14 Go to commentsHi NIck, I have been very impressed with him and he seems a smart player who can see opportunities which Bobby V _(who must be an international 6_) doesn’t see or have the speed to take advantage of. If he continues to improve and puts on 5kgs then he could be a great 8. He is a bit taller than Keiran Reid at 1.93m and 111 kgs, so his skill set fits his body size and who knows where it will lead. I hope the spate of Achilles tendon issues have been dealt with by the S&C people. It’s been a very long time since Mark Loane and Kefu stood out at 8. The question is will we be able to hold onto him, if he does make it he will be pretty hot property. I disagree with the idea of letting them go to the Northern Hemisphere and then bring them back.
24 Go to commentsBilly Fulton 🤣🤣🤣🤣 garrrmon not even close
14 Go to commentsDoes the AI take into account refs? hahaha Seriously why not have two on field refs to avoid bias?
24 Go to comments