Matt on brink as Sharks circle
of frustration. That frustration has to be the driver moving forward to make sure we don’t repeat what has happened this year.”
Time is not on the side of directors of rugby, with the Premiership and the Pro14 starting to resemble a football ‘hire ’em and fire ’em’ environment.
Todd Blackadder is another Premiership coach who will not be sleeping entirely easily if his expensively assembled Bath
HOW THEY STAND
Exeter Saracens Wasps Newcastle Leicester Gloucester Sale Bath Northampton Harlequins Worcester London Irish P W 21 16 21 15 21 13 21 14 21 12 21 11 21 10 21 10 21 7 21 7 21 7 21 3 D 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 L 5 6 7 7 9 9 11 11 14 14 14 18 PD 240 331 97 -34 43 -57 47 -3 -144 -137 -161 -222
FIXTURES Bath v London Irish Harlequins v Exeter Newcastle v Wasps Northampton v Worcester Sale v Leicester Saracens v Gloucester
PTS 80 72 66 63 58 56 54 51 38 36 36 22 TOUGH: Leicester have again been without Tuilagi for long periods this season side fail to qualify for Europe’s top tier. The demand for success amongst owners and fans, especially at a club the size of Leicester, is moving the sport towards short-termism.
“You can’t argue with that from a fan perspective because they care so much about it. It’s significant to their existence,” said O’Connor.
“What they need to understand is the people in the environment hurt just as much if not more than everybody else because they live and breathe it every day. It’s an incredibly proud group of players which has underperformed. We know that more than anybody and we’re more determined than anyone to fix it.
“Everybody takes responsibility. It starts with me and filters through. Nobody is satisfied with where we finished. It’s about winning championships and trophies and we haven’t done that since 2013. So, play-offs aside, we need to work out what we need to do moving forward to be playing at Twickenham at the end of the season. That’s where we have to get to.”
If he could have the season again, O’Connor’s wish – like that of many Leicester and England coaches before him – is that he could have called on a fit Manu Tuilagi.
“Manu fit is a different level,” said O’Connor. “A fit Manu changes our team but we can’t rely on one individual.
“The stakes are still very high for us. We can only control what we can control and that’s beating Sale. We do that and we qualify for Europe. That’s the objective at the moment. To make sure we don’t get pipped at the post.”
For Sale, like Gloucester, Champions Cup qualification would make their season but expectations mean they are under considerably less stress than Leicester.
Sale director of rugby Steve Diamond said: “It’s probably a bigger game for Leicester than us. They have the disappointment of not being in the top four so they have got to get into Europe otherwise it will be a disaster for them. There are different pressures at Leicester to what we are under.
“It’s not a good season for them but it is a blip. We know what a good side Leicester are. They are a massive club. They are allowed one blip without people getting sacked. It’s a transitional period for them.”
DEAN RICHARDS, who has steered Newcastle into the Premiership semifinal, last night signed a three-year contract extension at
Kingston Park. ❑ AUSTRALIA scrum-half Nick Phipps has been stripped of the Waratahs captaincy and fined £2,200 after urinating on a hotel bar while dressed as a cow.
The 29-year-old, who was on his stag night, apologised yesterday over the incident in Sydney last month.
“I was a bloody idiot,” said Phipps. “It was obviously something that happened for a few seconds and then the boys grabbed me, and after that it was out of the pub and back home.
“To be honest that’s not the way we should carry ourselves. I’m a goose. If I’m going to do the crime, I’ll pay the time.”