Leicester boss denies rift with Mauger
Leicester Tigers rugby boss Richard Cockerill has denied reports his coaching relationship with exall Black Aaron Mauger is ‘‘toxic’’.
The knives were out for Cockerill, the Tigers’ director of rugby, after Leicester suffered a record 38-0 loss to Munster in the European Champions Cup a week ago.
Media outlets reported Cockerill, an abrasive ex-england hooker, could be facing the sack after seven years in charge at Welford Road.
The Daily Mail claimed Cockerill would be axed if Leicester lost their rematch with Munster and alleged his relationship with Mauger, the Leicester head coach, had broken down amid a ‘‘toxic’’ coaching culture.
A source told the Daily Mail that a decision to sack Leicester’s Kiwi defence coach Scott Hansen who Mauger brought to England with him from Canterbury - ’’has not improved the situation’’.
Leicester bounced back to beat Munster 18-16 in Leicester yesterday and Cockerill quickly rounded on his critics.
The 45-year-old - who achieved notoriety in New Zealand for his nose-to-nose confrontation with Norm Hewitt at a pre-match haka before a 1997 All Blacks-england test - said the reports of tensions in the coaching group were ‘‘rubbish’’.
He told BBC Radio Leicester that Tigers coaches had a ‘‘robust’’ relationship that was normal.
‘‘We don’t agree on everything. Newsflash: that is the coaching team and that is what we are here for. Different opinions on how you want to play is a healthy thing.
‘‘We will always have different ways of doing things and sometimes we play badly.’’
Cockerill, who has been in charge since January 2009, claimed hewas a ‘‘a strong leader and I lead from the front’’.
‘‘Some people like me and some don’t and I don’t really care because at Leicester you are either in or out.
‘‘I have been here a long time. That doesn’t mean I should stay here but I want to be here because I think I do a good job.
‘‘Who’s going to do a better job than me?’’
The Pundit Arena website suggested five alternative options in an article published before Leicester’s rebound win.
Mauger, former Springboks coaches Heyneke Meyer and Jake White, ex-england coach Stuart Lancaster and former French halfback Fabien Galthie were listed.
Promoting Mauger as caretaker coach would be ‘‘the most simple and quickest way of replacing Cockerill’’, Pundit Arena’s lead rugby writer Alan Drumm wrote.
‘‘Although the Mail did claim that the coaching culture had turned ‘toxic’, handing Mauger the role until the end of the season would give him the opportunity to bring in some of his own staff and improve the atmosphere.
‘‘A decision could then be made on whether or not to employ the Kiwi on a permanent basis thereafter.’’
Mauger, 36, has received some plaudits England coach Eddie Jones and former British and Irish Lions mentor Ian Mcgeechan for his work at Leicester.
Leicester - the best-supported rugby team in England - won the last of their 10 premiership titles in 2013 and are currently fourth in the standings.