Leicester Tigers’ season has now finished and with it, saw the departure of several coaches, bringing an end to a structure that has been in place since Steve Borthwick joined the club in 2020. Attentions now turn to the future as Dan McKellar takes over the reigns with a new coaching side now formalised. So how will Leicester get on under the new structure?
The Process
When the process of finding a replacement for Borthwick began, Leicester had one objective or characteristic that they valued above all else when looking for a replacement. That was continuity. Tigers were desperate to avoid a scenario where the new Head Coach took the club in a completely different direction, which risked undoing all the hard work that had been put in to drag Leicester from 11th to Champions, taking them back to the top table of English rugby.
Indeed it is worth remembering that this is not the usual search for a Head Coach. In normal circumstances, a club is searching for a Head Coach because something has gone wrong to part company with the previous incumbent and they want fresh ideas or to go in a different direction. That is not the case with Leicester, they were in no rush to get rid of Borthwick. Indeed they would have preferred him to stay on and continue at Leicester. That was not to be, but it meant that Tigers wanted the replacement to be as close to Borthwick in playing style, values and character to replicate the last few years, and reflect the playing squad that had been assembled.
As a result, Leicester had a clear objective when starting the process – continuity from the previous regime. They then went out to market, utilised data analytics to draw up a list of possible candidates before using references from around the rugby world and a detailed interview process before making their choice. There is no guarantee that Dan McKellar will be a success with Leicester, however the club haven given themselves the best chance of his being a successful appointment through their process in finding their man. Indeed, no matter what happens under his stewardship, the club cannot be criticised too much for how they got to choosing the Australian – detailed data analysis showed he plays a similar style to Leicester, interviews and references allow the club to drill down on his philosophies, values and ideas to make sure he is the right fit. With that in mind, at this point it can be said the club have conducted their search process well.
McKellar a good fit?
So far it is too early to say if McKellar will be a success with Leicester Tigers, however on paper it looks to be a good appointment. As stated, the process Leicester used to pick him would suggest he is the right man, however there are other mechanisms we can use that supports that theory.
McKellar has been interviewed on three occasions over the last 18 months by different podcasts and media outlets – Duncan Chubb on YouTube, Elite Rugby S and C on Spotify and The Roar on Apple & Spotify. Each of those episodes have all been quite revealing about his ideas and philosophies, helped by hosts who have allowed a detailed discussion with the 46 year old, ensuring we get to hear more of his own thoughts. In the interviews, it is quite clear how McKellar sees rugby and how it should be played. Tigers have also now released their first interview with their new Head Coach which again reveals his values and ideas.
Values
Firstly is how highly he values the set piece and supporting functions. A strong lineout with an equally strong maul game are high on his priorities and consistently referred to. He also values the scrum highly and sees that as a key pillar of his philosophy. Indeed his Brumbies team, where he was Head Coach, was renowned for their strength up front and set piece focus. The importance of those elements to him, will immediately see Tigers fans warming to him as they are all mainstays of what the club is about. In addition, the East-Midlands side have work to do at maul time; they finished 9th in the league for scoring tries from line outs and 8th from tries from mauls. For context, in the title-winning season they were 2nd and 3rd in those areas, so a fair bit of work is needed to improve those numbers and return the rolling maul to be an effective attacking weapon.
Another common theme throughout those interviews is how much McKellar does not want just good players in his squad, he wants as he puts it “good blokes”. He speaks of a love of driving a positive culture across the club, with a brotherhood amongst the playing group. This will be important to Leicester in their recruitment. Their revival has been built upon having a really good squad of players, both in talent but in character too. The challenges of last season showed the squad at its best as they overcame adversity to make the play-offs. They are also a group that is committed to getting better every day and push each other to do so. McKellar valuing the character of a player as much as their ability, will help ensure that new signings are a good match to the group and help continue the really positive squad culture that Tigers have.
The incoming Head Coach also regularly touches on how passionate he is about coaching, and making players get better. This is the type of language that is identical to Borthwick’s tenure at the club. His guiding mission was how do Leicester get better every day, as a team and individually. McKellar is clearly cut from the same cloth and that is exciting. His credentials are strong – you do not become Head Coach at the Brumbies and Forwards Coach for the Wallabies if you are no good. Given Leicester have such a young, talented and hungry group, whose ceiling is still unknown, then the potential for growth under his leadership is very high and should be exciting to watch.
Weaknesses?
Reading the above, McKellar seems the perfect fit for Leicester and in many ways he is. He certainly ticks a lot of the boxes and it is easy to see how Leicester fell upon him, and then wanted him so much to join the club. However, this is sport and there are no guarantees in anything. In addition, McKellar does have a couple of question marks to answer.
Firstly, his lack of Northern Hemisphere experience. Whilst he has coached a Wallabies side against Northern Hemisphere sides, he has not coached a side up here for a sustained period of time. Super Rugby is a completely different beast to Premiership rugby in style; adjusting to that difference will be crucial for McKeller’s reign being a success at Leicester. Given his Brumbies side had such a strong focus on the forward pack, he has all the credentials to do well, however the sooner he can adjust to how the Premiership operates the better.
Coaching Tigers may also prove more demanding than the Brumbies over the schedule. Whilst the sad demise of London Irish, Worcester Warrior and Wasps have reduced the fixture list quite dramatically, Leicester are still involved in 3 competitions, will play more games than the Brumbies and over a longer time period. The challenge to McKellar will be being able to mentally keep the freshness over the course of the season. Whilst he is likely to be able to do so, he would not be the first or last Southern Hemisphere coach to find the demands of the season taxing, especially a long way from home.
The Australian also will face challenges in his playing philosophy. Whilst he has got the job because he represents continuity and similar styles, he has also stated in the interview with Duncan Chubb his hatred of the box-kick. Whilst he is not here to revolutionise how Leicester play but more evolve the game plan and allow Tigers to attack better, he will have to be sensible in how he approaches things. For better or worse, Leicester have a very strong kicking game and have been wedded to it for the last few years. Reducing that reliance on the kicking strategy is sensible but how he does so will form a big part of his success in the East Midlands. Too much change could create confusion; where previously, clarity of strategy has been Leicester’s biggest strengths. Whilst McKellar is intelligent enough to be able to recognise that and capable of implementing them sensibly, he still has to deliver those changes. Evolve the side well and Leicester could be a real force in years to come under his stewardship.
Strap in and Enjoy the Ride!
We are only weeks away from the Dan McKellar era from starting at Leicester and all eyes are on how he gets on leading the Tigers. Making any prediction on how successful he will be is brave, given how unpredictable sport is. However the process in how he was chosen added to the ideas and philosophies that drive him as a coach, suggest that it is a good match for Leicester, and lend itself to the theory he will be more successful than not. Either way, not long until we all find out!