'It's about being the best player you can be'

PAUL REES FINDS OUT WHAT DRIVES NEW TIGERS COACH MICHAEL CHEIKA AND WHAT HE PLANS TO DO AT WELFORD ROAD

- PAUL REES

DESPITE their chequered past when it comes to overseas coaches, Leicester have turned to Michael Cheika after the unexpected departure of his fellow Australian Dan McKellar last month.

Leicester finished eighth in the table in McKellar’s first, and only, year in charge after taking over as head coach from Steve Borthwick. They reached the last 16 of the Champions Cup and lost to Gloucester at Kingsholm in the Premiership Cup final.

Leicester’s league campaign started with four defeats in their first five matches, but once they had players such as Handre Pollard, Jasper Wiese, Freddie Steward, Ollie Chessum and Dan Cole back at the club after the World Cup, they won six out of seven to put them in contention for a top four finish.

Then came the break for the Six Nations, and after the resumption of the Premiership they again lost four in five matches – the one victory came at Newcastle when they were hanging on in the last 10 minutes – and were condemned to finish among the also-rans.

It was a return to the nether reaches for Leicester who before the arrival of Borthwick in the summer of 2020 had finished 11th in the table in two consecutive campaigns. They won the Premiership in his first campaign in charge having topped the table and were third last season after Richard Wigglesworth took over as interim head coach after Borthwick replaced Eddie Jones as England’s head coach, losing at Sale in the play-off semi-final.

The Tigers were outliers in the league in that they relied on a kicking game. It served them at times, most notably at Harlequins, but it cost them in terms of try bonus points and in a congested table, it told. Only two clubs won more turnovers than Leicester, but they lacked the counter-attacking approach of most of their rivals.