Can Parling be the one to ‘build’ at ‘volatile’ Tigers?

There is no other Prem Rugby seat that Geoff Parling’s currently occupies at Tigers of Leicester.

The 41-year-old is the ninth head coach to lead England’s most successful club in nine years.

No top-flight side has undergone any leadership changes in that time.

Caretaker Aaron Mauger, Matt O’Connor, Geordan Murphy, Steve Borthwick, Richard Wigglesworth, Dan McKellar, and Michael Cheika have all been seen through the revolving door at Mattioli Woods Welford Road since long-time manager Richard Cockerill left in January 2017. During this time, there have been everything from relegation battles to a record-extending 11th Premiership crown, a title near miss, to.

Former Australia and Argentina boss Cheika, whose only season with the Tigers ended in a Premiership Final defeat, has been replaced by Parling as head coach.

Tigers were eager to avert the fact that Parling, who won two league titles as a player, would be returning to the organization as a “long-term” addition.

Parling, who worked as the Wallabies assistant coach before deciding to leave his position for a first-time boss on the other side of the world, said that the promise of getting time to deliver was key.

He told BBC Radio Leicester, “When I interviewed, I said that I wanted to lay solid foundations for the club and that I wouldn’t move my family to another country.”

He does, however, have a number of similarities to his forerunners.

Under Cockerill, a decorated former Leicester player who held the highest position for nearly eight years, Parling won two Premiership titles while playing for the Tigers for six consecutive years.

Additionally, McKellar, who left his position as an assistant coach with Australia in 2023 to take charge of Leicester, is another. He only spent one season at the company.

It was reported that McKellar had lost the trust of the senior Tigers player following his departure.

Ben Youngs, a five-time champion at Leicester and retired following last year’s final defeat to Bath, revealed he had been speaking with club management about McKellar’s position.

It highlighted the Tigers team’s player force, which is known for passing on legendary players through one-clubs.

Youngs and Dan Cole were both the two most successful men in English rugby history, both as Leicester legends.

With captain Julian Montoya and two-time World Cup winners South Africa fly-half Handre Pollard also leaving, Parling says Tigers’ goals for success in the future must come from the same foundation of commitment.

Parling remarked, “I think there is cohesion.”

At the age of 35, Australian playmaker James O’Connor, who was recalled by the Wallabies in the summer, was one of the seven players who signed after the season was over.

Ollie Chessum, a 25-year-old Tigers academy graduate who has played for England and has traveled to Europe with the British and Irish Lions, is now captain of the Leicester side.

Hanro Liebenberg, who has captained the Tigers on numerous occasions in his six years with the club, is another of the homegrown internationals in Jack van Poortvliet, who was a player who came to the club and county after Ben Youngs.

“I’ve seen enough of this team,” he said. According to Parling, we must demonstrate to everyone what our main goal is.

“I really hope that this season can take it, pick it up, and take it somewhere,” says my job.