GEORDAN MURPHY ON TIME AT TIGERS

STEVE Borthwick has revealed one of his first actions as Leicester Tigers head coach was to boot a group of players off the training field, writes Bobby Bridge.

The former England coach joined Tigers during the Covid-19 enforced break in the 2019/20 season and officially started work on July 1.

Initially, Borthwick worked alongside Geordan Murphy, who was moved into the director of rugby role – but left the club five months later after being told his contract would not be renewed beyond the end of the current campaign.

“Sheer hard work” has been a key soundbite used by Borthwick in his bid to turn around Tigers’ fortunes, and it was something he addressed during an interview with Leicester Tigers TV.

He said: “There’s got to be a clear standard of what’s expected.

“One day, it might well have been the first day, when I wanted to watch and learn a little more about players, on that day, I asked one of the training groups to leave the field.

“Because the standard to which they were performing, their attitude to it, wasn’t the sufficient standard that I expected.

“The players’ response has been magnificent since. Since we said ‘this is the way we work, this is the way we go about things, it’s the only way we’re going to go about things’.”

Leicester Tigers have finished second-frombottom two seasons running but are on course for a higher finish this time around, having already eclipsed their points tally from last term with eight rounds remaining.

Borthwick, below, said: “We’re not going to achieve anything unless we work exceptionally hard.

“We’ve got to find a way of working harder than anyone else because we’re behind all the other clubs.

“That’s the reality. I joined a club that’s behind all the other clubs.

“The only team that was lower in the table was Saracens, and the only reason they were lower is because they’d been penalised for the other irregularities they got involved in.

“So we needed to work harder than everyone else.

“For me, as a coach, it’s about setting that standard and expectations and being unrelenting in that regard. Also giving absolutely clear direction.

“People can work hard, but it can be aimless. So we’ve got a clear direction, we’re not just working hard for the sake of working hard, we’re working hard in a specific direction.

“This is how it fits together, this is what we’re doing, this is what we’re trying to achieve.”