It was January 18, 2020. Reigning European Champions with their plethora of fashionable stars, the Saracens were administratively relegated to the second division. Guilty in particular of breaches of the salary cap, the rich English club sank at the same time as another monument of English rugby, otherwise more historic, the Leicester Tigers, stagnated in the depths of the ranking.
But here, in the heart of the East Midlands, the news of the London commuter’s descent from the Saracens was greeted with joy. Good last Premiership, the Tigers were then saved in extremis from relegation by the misfortune of the Saracens.
Two seasons after this little miracle, Leicester no longer has much to do with the relegation that it was. After nine days of the championship and as many victories, the Tigers are dashing leaders of the English championship. And they are preparing to show off their scarecrow stripes in France, in Bordeaux, on Saturday, December 11.
“I follow them closely since I kept very good contacts there, I am very happy for them after the hard years they have lived, but that does not surprise me. I knew it was going to pay off.” He is David Mélé. Today coach of the back lines in Chambéry, in the French third division, the latter knows the Midlands club well having played there two seasons between 2013 and 2015 and having experienced his first feelings as a coach, on the side of the academy. in 2019.
“The club is rediscovering its playing identity and its DNA, based on the game of forwards. It had lost it a bit over the last few seasons with the successive changes of coaches since the departure of Richard Cockerill”, explains the former scrum half to justify the excellent start to the season of the Green and Red.
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He pursues : “I think they were a little wrong before, but the arrival of Geordan Murphy then Steve Borthwick in 2020, with his experience in England, is doing the club a lot of good. “
In addition to having reconciled the Tigers with their culture of the game of forwards, Borthwick, arrived on the bench in 2020, also relied heavily on the formative fiber of the club, a time forgotten. If the 2020-2021 season was one of reconciliation, the efforts are starting to bear fruit.
“It is one of the best academies in the country, as proof, they have been champions for the last three seasons, justifies David Mélé. There have always been a lot of top players but the club couldn’t keep them. They were leaving because they played little in the first team “.
Focus on young people, nothing revolutionary then. Especially when you don’t have the budget of the big names Bath, Bristol or the Saracens. But the scheme is paying off. Accompanied by the very best internationals like Georges Ford, Ben Youngs or other Dan Coles, the “teenagers” progress at great speed. “The young people have a very good level, comments the ex scrum half, I am thinking in particular of the scrum half Jack van Poortvliet with whom I worked a lot at the academy. I can also quote Freddie Steward (Also 21 years old) who excels at the rear “, notes David Mélé.
See what the Head Coach has to say in his preview of this weekend’s trip to Bordeaux for our Heineken Champions Cup opener.
– Leicester Tigers (@LeicesterTigers) December 10, 2021
To refine the cocktail, the Tigers have bet on a clever international recruitment with the experienced Fijians Nadolo and Murimurivalu or the Argentinian Montoya. At the start of the season, Georges Ford’s teammates rode on Exeter (34-19) or Bath (40-23) and beat the favorites Saracens (13-12) and Harlequins (16-14). What to classify a team.
Saturday on the lawn of Chabans-Delmas, they will find what is done best in France: the Union Bordeaux-Bègles. A clash between leaders that promises stars and that David Mélé refuses to predict.