Today now sees the return of the majority of the Leicester Tigers squad for pre-season. As a result, attentions now start to turn to next season, where Leicester will try and defend their Premiership trophy – so how will they get on?
A worry that many Tigers supporters have, is that last season, was a one-off experience. Leicester won the Premiership after a gap of nine years, and in between went from losing their way, to becoming a mid-table fodder before collapsing completely. Anyone who saw the successive eleventh placed finishes have those scars permanently ingrained into them. As a result, many fans see players leaving and are worried about season ahead.
So with that in mind, let’s look at the reasons why people could be concerned, evaluate what that means for Tigers for the upcoming season, as well as look at all the reasons for optimism too.
Changes in Squad Personnel
This summer has quite a unique feel to it, as Leicester are losing four of their star players in one go – George Ford, Ellis Genge, Marco Van Staden and Matius Moroni. However way you look at it, that is a hefty amount of talent to be walking out the door at once. It is fairly understandable that fans could be worried when thinking ahead to what the next twelve months holds.
However, the counter point lies in the replacements that the club have recruited for the new season, and the recruitment that has took place in recent months already. Losing Ellis Genge is tough to take – he has taken his game to new levels over the last two seasons, and is now one of the leading Loosehead Props in Europe if not wider afield. His leadership skills have been a key reason in Leicester’s successes, with much of his good work unseen. It is these qualities that will prove to be the toughest to replace. However in James Cronin you have a prop that has International honours for Ireland himself, with strong recommendations from fans and rugby scribes alike. Cronin also has availability for the entirety of the season, given he is unlikely to feature in Ireland’s squads. Genge is almost irreplaceable given his playing ability and leadership skills, however Cronin is a solid replacement in his own right.
Change of Conductor?
George Ford leaving the club is another crying disappointment. His form was a huge reason why Leicester stayed top of the table for the season’s entirety, setting a record in the process. His ability to control a game, and implement the game plan to the letter was superb throughout. His form was to such a level that many supporters feel his leaving is a hammer blow the club. Given the importance of fly-halves, this is understandable, however there reasons to be cheerful. It is worth remembering that for the 6 Nations period, Ford was with England, leaving Freddie Burns in charge. Burns’ form in that period was so good, he ended up winning Premiership Rugby’s Player of the year award, and had many fans suggesting he was unlucky to not retain the shirt on Ford’s return.
It is also worth remembering that in the biggest game of all – the Premiership Final, Ford had to leave the field after only 23 minutes on the clock. For all the attention that was focussed on Burns’ magical drop goal, it is forgotten that in the 60 odd minutes that he was on the pitch, Tigers felt no negative impacts from Ford’s departure. Given that Burns is likely to be Leicester’s first-choice Fly-Half for the first three months of the season, it is fair to say that Leicester are in very safe hands. In addition, Ford’s replacement is Handre Pollard – a world-cup winner for South Africa. Whilst Pollard comes with possible injury concerns, and a different style to Ford, he will also add qualities to Tigers when he arrives. As a result, Ford suddenly does not feel as irreplaceable as first thought.
Wider Recruitment
Tigers’ wider recruitment ahead of next season looks to be in fairly good order. Anthony Watson provides X-Factor in the outside backs, and with reportedly a cheaper deal signed, this could be a win for all parties. Sean Jansen is an example of a smart signing that underlines the “Moneyball” principles Leicester are working to. Already in the brief time he has been at the club, Jansen has shown plenty for fans to get excited by. A full pre-season under the stewardship of Leicester’s coaching staff should take his game on enormously.
The signings of Jimmy Gopperth, Phil Cokanasiga and Sean Cracknell are very good signings for different reasons. Gopperth and Cokanasiga provide options for Steve Borthwick, and further ways of playing. Gopperth will likely act as a second distributor for Tigers, playing at Inside Centre. Tigers have not played with a such a distributor in the two years of Borthwick being in charge. Dan Kelly has been brilliant in that position since joining, and his distribution skills have come on leaps and bounds, however it is still an area of development for him. Gopperth is tailormade for that role and can fulfil it straightaway, as well as bringing the added benefit of providing a mentoring role. Gopperth can also provide cover at Flyhalf as well, which will prove useful until Pollard arrives.
Cokanasiga provides another option as a hard-running centre, something that Leicester have not really had ever since Manu Tuilagi left the club. Again, the incumbent options provide high quality in their play to Tigers, however out and out physicality is not really their forte. Cokanasiga will add that to the squad, and provide Leicester with another option in how they play. That is how Leicester will want to improve and develop their game, through adding new ways of playing so they can handle all occasions and opponents.
Cracknell adds depth in an attritional position in the backrow. Cracknell’s statistics indicate a hard-running carrier and physical defender, and one that has been around the Premiership for a few years now. He will provide a strong option both off the bench and during the middle of the season when injuries add up. All of Cracknell, Cokanasiga and Goppertha also allows Borthwick to rest players and move players around more than he did in the season just gone. Leicester already have a fairly good record of keeping players fit under the management of Aled Walters, these signings will allow Tigers to ensure players are kept fit for longer and are available more often.
Strong Coaching Still in Place
Reasons for Leicester to be optimistic about the upcoming season centre around the coaching staff in place, as well as the progress already made in their time in charge, both at micro and macro level. The rate of improvement seen has been extremely impressive. The club was at its lowest ebb when Borthwick joined the club in July 2020, with many areas not fit for purpose.
Fast forward to June 2021, when Tigers travelled to Wasps for the last game of the 20/21 season, the team had been transformed into one that was upwardly mobile and extremely competitive. Then fast forward another twelve months, Tigers had moved from that competitive side to one that outperformed Saracens in the Final to become Premiership Champions. It is easy to think that with another twelve months under the stewardship of this coaching group that the squad will improve even further.
It is also key to remember how important pre-season was for Leicester last season. They got through a lot of good work over the circa 10 weeks they had, with international call ups meaning roughly 75% of the squad were there for the duration of that time. The vast amount of good work they completed in pre-season was highlighted in that first game of the season at home to Exeter where Leicester took them apart. This summer, the club have approximately eight weeks to get prepared for the new season, two weeks less due to making it to the final. However, as before, roughly 75% of the whole squad will be there, including crucially, Ben Youngs and Freddie Burns who are likely to be the main half-backs at the start of the season. As a result, there is every reason to be confident that the group can get through another stint of good work as preparation for next season.
Young Players Stepping Up
Another reason for being optimistic comes in the form of the young players that Leicester have at their disposal. Tigers have so many under the age of 24 now, who are full of talent that it is not worth listing them anymore. They have gone from being promising youngsters to integral first team players in the space of two years. What is so pleasing for the club is that they still have so much room to grow and improve – their ceiling is still quite a fair way off. As a result, Leicester’s growth and improvement can be led by those young players. The faster and the more they improve, the more it will improve the quality of the squad overall. This season in the Premiership Cup has seen that there is another group of youngsters coming through, again another year under the tutelage of Borthwick should see them progress further and add further depth to Tigers’ ranks.
Overall despite there being a few challenges for Leicester next season, they look in pretty good shape to tackle them. There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic, and to expect Leicester will be challenging for honours again next season, as the hard work begins again!