When Leicester sacked Dean Richards at the beginning of 2004, the reaction was seismic. Not only had 23 years at the club as a player and the director of rugby been abruptly terminated but the Tigers had won four Premiership titles and two European Cups under the former England No 8 who paid for his job after two league finishes the club would now happily take, sixth and fifth.
Leicester sacking the man at the top now creates more of a reaction for its timing than its occurrence, Matt O’Connor after one match this season, Richard Cockerill halfway through the 2016-17 campaign. If the decision to remove Richards were vindicated with the next nine seasons culminating in Premiership finals at Twickenham, five of which were won, recent dismissals have tended to accelerate decline rather than halt it.
Written by Paul Rees
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2019/apr/11/leicester-tigers-rugby-union-lost-way under the title “The Breakdown | No one feels Leicester are too good to go down – Tigers have lost their way”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
