Leicester Tigers have announced today that Steve Borthwick will become the clubs new head coach from next season.
Borthwick joins the Tigers
Borthwick, who has seen his involvement within the England coaching set up come to an end at the climax of the current season, will take over the reigns from Geordan Murphy, who will become the clubs new Director of Rugby.
Murphy was appointed as head coach after the Tigers parted ways with Matt O’Connor at the start of the 2018/19 season. O’Connor was shown the door at Welford Road due to poor performances on the pitch, with the final straw being the 40-6 loss on opening day against the Exeter Chiefs.
— Leicester Tigers (@LeicesterTigers) January 21, 2020
Speaking about the appointment of their new head coach, Tigers chairman Peter Tom told the clubs official website:
“The appointment of Steve Borthwick as head coach and Geordan Murphy in the role of director of rugby provides an exciting combination of leadership, expertise and experience to drive the club forward in its desire to challenge for major honours again.”
“The club has enjoyed many of its greatest successes with a blend of the Tigers DNA alongside fresh, innovative ideas from outside, both among the players and the coaching staff, and we look forward to Geordan and Steve leading that in their respective new roles.”
The appointment of Borthwick is yet to be seen just how affective it will be, however, given the past two seasons, Leicester will be hoping that the this new reshuffle can finally be a step towards return to competing for playoff positions in the Gallagher Premiership that the are desperately seeking.
With the confirmation this week that Premiership Rugby decided to automatically relegate Saracens due to breaching the Salary Cap rules, Leicester are no longer find themselves in a relegation battle.
The club are currently sat 11th place in the league and had Premiership Rugby decided not to take action against Sarries, you could have argued that Leicester could have faced the possibility of not being in the top tier of English Rugby next season.
There’s no debating that Leicester have been poor in the league the past few seasons but with this latest reshuffle, the Tigers can now focus on what the 2020-21 season will bring them.
Of course, that’s not to say this season is over just yet as the club is still in with a shout of European success after they secured a home Quarter-Final place in the European Rugby Challenge Cup this past weekend.
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