Over the years Leicester have not been a club to rush into revolution, evolving from within in a boot-room culture reminiscent of Liverpool FC in the 1970s and 1980s, but they have taken a markedly different turn this season under the influence of Aaron Mauger, the former New Zealand centre who finished his playing career at Welford Road.
The Tigers had one of the bluntest attacks in the Premiership last season when only winless London Welsh scored fewer tries than the club that finished third in the table after a final day scramble. Under Mauger their attacking game has been transformed to the extent they are now prepared to run from everywhere, no longer happiest when they have an attacking five-metre scrum.
“We encourage the boys to play every blade of grass available on the field and you are seeing that with the skill sets we have produced in the last three or four weeks,” said Mauger, whose career was ended by a back injury when he was 29. “There has been a lot of learning along the way and some poor decisions at times. We have not always executed our skills but the balance of what we are doing is working pretty well. If you go into the 79th minute of a game and have never practised moving the ball into space, you will never back yourself to take the opportunity when it comes.
“The ability to see opportunities and the confidence and trust to execute skills when they are there are critical for us. If you do not have that approach, you are limiting yourself and will miss chances to turn a game. I knew it was not going to be plain sailing and that we would go through ups and downs and that there would be times when people questioned it. The pleasing thing for me was there was never any doubt from the coaching group or the players. We all believe in what we are doing. We have learned through failed experiences: if you do not try things you do not get where we are now. The growth has been massive.
“Leicester has been a club that focused heavily on winning but winning is the result of really good processes. Style is about mentality, as Argentina have shown since joining the Rugby Championship, now playing with tempo and their heads up. If the people in charge have a clear vision of how they want to play the game, it is pretty simple to put the parts in place so you are able to execute under pressure. The club were pretty clear in what they wanted, although I am not sure if they knew how it was going to look through the learning process. Cockers [Richard Cockerill, Leicester’s director of rugby] knew it was probably the right thing to do and one thing we talked at length about was not losing the ability of the pack to influence a game as well because that is a very important strength for us. We are now challenging for the Premiership and the European Champions Cup, but I believe we have only scratched the surface in terms of our ability to play.”
Leicester face Racing 92 in the Champions Cup semi-final at the City Ground in Nottingham on Sunday. Mauger has spent the week plotting how to contain a player he spent six years playing alongside for the Crusaders and the All Blacks and someone who is only 16 months younger than him, Dan Carter.
“Dan has been the difference for Racing this season,” Mauger said. “You do not want to put too much on one person but they have always had a physical forward pack and like to get dominance and then use their backs to carve you to pieces. Dan, along with [the scrum-half] Maxime Machenaud, has given the side direction. He has been outstanding and there was no better reflection than the game against Toulon in the quarter-final. His direction and decision-making at critical times were the difference. His composure in tight moments has been the best ingredient for them. He will back himself to play what is in front of him. We have to make sure we take that time and space away by doing all our parts well, limiting his options and putting him under pressure.
“The first time I heard of him was when he was playing for Christchurch Boys High School. I had some spare time having broken my ankle in a pre-season game for Canterbury and went to watch my old school. He was playing fly-half and I knew it was not too far away before he was wearing a black jersey. Every time in his career he stepped up, he did not look out of place, never overawed. I was proud of the way he performed at the World Cup having come through some unfortunate injuries.”
The coaching movement in world rugby has tended to be from south to north but the former England coach Stuart Lancaster has ambitions of breaking the mould by becoming involved in Super Rugby. “English coaches and young players would benefit from going to New Zealand or Australia,” Mauger said. “There are not many jobs in Super Rugby so it would be hard to break in and I am not sure there is a massive need for foreign coaches but never say never. If Stuart Lancaster is the right person to coach the Crusaders or the Highlanders next year I am sure they would look at that.”
