LONG READ ‘This may be the end of an era at Leicester but the future looks bright’

Is this the end of the beginning for Leicester Tigers or the start of something new, a trigger point for a sustainable future? Not surprisingly, Michael Cheika has only got eyes for the task in hand and even if that stretches beyond Saturday’s home semi-final against Sale Sharks it is only because the wily, well-travelled Aussie has desires to win the entire competition at Twickenham rather than just being a valiant participant in the play-offs.

Whatever does eventuate, it is curtains closing for Cheika as it is for a host of other key figures at the East Midlands club, an emptying of rugby intellectual property that has had few precedents in the entire history of the Premiership. Joining Cheika on his sunset ride are the likes of Ben Youngs, Dan Cole, Mike Brown, Julian Montoya and Handre Pollard. It is a generational changing of the guard and, with it, marking a sense that Leicester have managed to claw back respectability over the last few years, starting with Steve Borthwick’s title achievement in 2022 and now Cheika’s salvage job to put them on an emotionally sound footing for what might lie ahead.

It would be presumptuous to say that Leicester are back where they belong (in the play-offs for a record 16^th time) given the calibre of other honours-seeking Premiership clubs such as a Saracens or European finalists, Northampton Saints, who have made such a poor fist of defending their league title, but such is the history of Leicester Tigers it has been cheering for their fans to see this season’s revival under the assured, spiky touch of Cheika.

The former Wallabies and Argentina head coach has brought back to Welford Road a sense of identity, a hard-nosed, hard-headed awareness of what is needed for a team to do things together on a rugby field. It sounds basic and it is. But it is damn difficult to bring about as the drawn-out efforts of Bath to get back to top table have shown. You can throw money at it, you can shuffle the deck of players as well as directors of rugby, but if you don’t have soul, you’ve got nothing. Bath Rugby most certainly have had that sort of vibe since Johann van Graan took over, getting players to believe in the project and to trust in each other, and that is what Cheika has managed to instil in double-quick time at Tigers.

What Cheika has brought is simplicity, probably the most difficult thing to instil in a bunch of turbo-charged individuals.

In that regard, Cheika has dug some substantial footings for his successor, Geoff Parling, to build on. The former Lions, England and Tigers lock has these foundations in place. All he has to do is find the bricks and mortar, the Youngs and Coles and Montoyas, to create a lasting edifice, quite a task to be fair.

There is no guarantee on that front, of course, as Leicester’s struggles after the Borthwick uplift of 2022 illustrated. Tigers had been flaky for a few years and correcting that drift was the prime focus initially for Borthwick as it has been for Cheika over the last 12 months since he took over from fellow Aussie, Dan McKellar, who never got to grips with what it takes.

What Cheika has brought is simplicity, probably the most difficult thing to instil in a bunch of turbo-charged individuals. Leicester will bring that clarity into Saturday’s semi-final against a Sale Sharks team that shares many of the self-same characteristics – flintiness mixed with cleverness, Montoya up against Luke Cowan-Dickie, Pollard against the magisterial George Ford, who continues to make a nonsense of the Lions’ decision not to select him. Cheika has significant strike power to play with in the shape of wings Ollie Hassell-Collins (joint Premiership leading scorer with 13 tries) and Adam Radwan, as well as a steelier defence with which to pit against the Sharks’ attack.

In a week that has seen yet more details of rebel leagues being proposed with an array of so-called global talent, with a travelling circus feel to it as it circles the showbiz fleshpots of the world, it is so heartening to consider instead the claims on our affections of a Leicester Tigers, or Sale Sharks for that matter, a wonderfully proud, gritty club that has fought so hard to establish itself in one of the footballing heartlands in the country.

Consider how Mattioli Woods Welford Road was full to its’ near-26,000 capacity for the final regular home game of the season last weekend against Newcastle Falcons.

These are clubs rooted in their communities. When will administrators, with their World Club Cup, or entrepreneurs with this R360 venture, realise that what endures are proven rivalries not confected franchises? The Welsh went away from their traditional base, from clubs to regions, all those years ago and have never recovered. See how France’s league has prospered with its umbilical link between team and locality.

Consider how Mattioli Woods Welford Road was full to its’ near-26,000 capacity for the final regular home game of the season last weekend against Newcastle Falcons. Even the Falcons would admit they are not a Harlem Globetrotters-type draw-card but they gave of their due, as robust and willing as a Steve Diamond side invariably is – proper rugby as the Leicester locals might put it. That is what they appreciate in those parts, not global showdowns against imported opposition. The Tigers’ faithful were, of course, also guaranteeing that they got a chance to bid adieu to Youngs and Cole in particular.

In so many ways the pair epitomise what Leicester Tigers have been about and what they want to continue to be about for generations to come. The two of them are cut from the same cloth once worn by the Johnsons and Backs of the East Midlands world, Dean Richards and John Wells before then and Peter Wheeler, Les Cusworth and Dusty Hare further into that distinguished past – skilled, dedicated, unfussy and uncomplaining, selfless to a fault. For them, the team is the thing.

They will be missed, fine successors as the likes of Jack van Poortvliet and Joe Heyes are. The main men will have to come to the fore if Leicester are to prevail on Saturday and go on to tilt at what would be a 12^th Premiership crown. Montoya’s all-consuming presence will be a factor (big shoes for the highly talented Jamie Blamire to step into) as will the contribution of one of the Tigers’ players of the campaign, No.8 Olly Cracknell. The gain-line battle, the breakdown face-off with the Curry brothers in opposition, will be crucial.

Leicester Tigers have claim to being one of the most improved teams of the season, from basement eighth to high-flying second. It’s been quite the resurrection, Cheika helping roll back the stone from the seeming dead. This may well be the end of an era but the future looks bright.