The sunny Welford Road stage was set for them to roll over Saracens, their old nemesis, and solidify a place in the Premiership play-off spots. But it disintegrated into a messy defeat.
Cheika joined Leicester as head coach last summer on a one-year deal with an option to extend – an option that won’t be enacted as the Australian says he prefers to return to the bosom of his family back home.
Leicester lost Steve Borthwick and his 2022 Premiership title-winning cohort of coaches to England, Dan McKellar had a short-lived stint, then it was Cheika.
As for the players, South Africa fly-half Handre Pollard is moving on this summer and it would be no surprise if fellow marquee star Julian Montoya, the Argentina hooker, does the same.
Springboks fly-half Handre Pollard is also leaving this summer (Photo: PA)The names tossed into the fly-half rumour mill have included England’s Owen Farrell, Ireland’s Jack Crowley and, seemingly more solidly, Gareth Anscombe – the 33-year-old Wales international who is out of contract at Gloucester this summer.
Pollard and Montoya were prominent with their individual talent in this match – the Springbok landing all but one of his goal kicks, and putting great energy into short carries, while the Puma was an utter menace with his nose for a turnover.
Looking across Welford Road from the dear old Crumbie Stand, a timeless tableau presented itself as folk shaded their eyes from the sun and watched the men in green, red and white hoops set up at the set-piece and prepare for the kill.
square RUGBY UNION
The Premiership's 'Derby Weekend' was an insult to fansRead More
But the kill very rarely came and Leicester suffered a staggering turnaround from the previous week’s 33-0 win away to Northampton.
The home crowd here love to howl at opposition forward passes but their forwards being mullered at scrums brings a visceral, unvocalised pain.
For Cheika, it was a familiar frustration. “We’re inconsistent, yeah, but we have been all year,” he said. “With [the challenge of] turning teams around, and coming in how I have come in, we’ve been working really hard on trying to be consistent – consistent mentality-wise, as well as rugby-wise.
“We’ve been really good sometimes, but we haven’t been consistent, and that’s what makes you great. That’s our tussle – if we can start building that consistency through the next five or six weeks, we’re going to have a good finish to the season. If not, it’s going to be on a bit of an edge. It’s going to be rough and rugged.”
Hence then, the article about michael cheika is leaving leicester tigers in a state of uncertainty was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Michael Cheika is leaving Leicester Tigers in a state of uncertainty )
Also on site :