I’M NOT DRIVEN BY MONEY
Leicester new boy Eastmond insists people matter more than pounds
JUST weeks before Leicester chose to self- combust, again, Kyle Eastmond chose to join them, to renew old alliances. It wasn’t about the money. People mattered more than pounds.
Today, the troubled Tigers will launch a new era under Geordan Murphy. Five days ago, the East Midlands club announced the abrupt removal of head coach Matt O’Connor, just one game into the new Premiership season.
An abject 40-6 defeat at Exeter sealed the fate of the Australian.
If Leicester are to emerge from their extended decline they will need an instant impact. With Matt Toomua away on duty with the Wallabies, Eastmond will make his starting debut at Welford Road against Newcastle.
He will be back alongside George Ford in a second coming of the creative double- act which propelled Bath into the league final three years ago. His centre side-kick will be Manu Tuilagi.
They have joined forces twice before, for England against the All Blacks in Auckland and Hamilton in 2014. Before O’Connor was dismissed, he revealed that the Tigers recruited the dual code international — who left Wasps in May — on the basis of his links with these established backs.
That was the player’s motivation too. ‘This opportunity made sense,’ said Eastmond. ‘I’ve played with a lot of the players here and felt I could get the best out of myself. It just felt right. I’ve played a lot of good rugby with George.
‘We look at the game in pretty much the same way. We like to make decisions. It just works.’
Eastmond is understood to have turned down a ‘crazy offer’ to return to Super League, as well as two big-money deals to move to France. But, at a time of crippling wage inflation, he is adamant that salary was not a factor.
As someone who knew hardship growing up in Oldham, he said: ‘It is easy to rush in, see the money and just take it. I didn’t look at it like that. I’m not driven by money.
‘One million per cent, that isn’t my priority. We’ve never had money. I’ve not come from money, we don’t know what it’s like to have it, so it’s no big deal for me.
‘I think that’s one of the problems, that everyone’s always thinking, “I’m so close to earning all that money”. I don’t think the money is there to be bothered about really. It’s about being happy and enjoying your career.’
Eastmond had a couple of injury-hit seasons at Wasps and said ‘it all got a bit crazy’ before he left. Any gripes won’t be aired for now. There were contentious issues leading up to his departure from Bath too, but he is reluctant to divulge details. ‘It ended in a way which was not ideal, but that has been and gone,’ he said.
From their days together at Bath, Ford knows exactly what Eastmond will bring to the table.
‘He is someone who understands the game,’ said fly-half Ford. ‘A good distributor, who can look up, kick and find space, but he’s a threat himself as well. And he is a tough defender.’ Eastmond and Tuilagi first joined forces at Eden Park, when a weakened England side came close to breaking New Zealand’s 20-year unbeaten run at the Auckland fortress.
The identity of England’s 10-12- 13 unit that night is a classic quiz question. The answer is Freddie Burns, Eastmond and Tuilagi.
They held the line and were on the brink of a seismic upset until a late, late try denied them.
Eastmond relished keeping one of his idols in check. ‘It was a great game to play in,’ he said. ‘Ma’a Nonu was opposite me. He’s one of my favourite players.
‘Playing against him was great, but he probably beat me on the dreads (dreadlock hair style)!’
At the age of 29, Eastmond is not pre- occupied by hopes of adding to his modest tally of six Test caps. Instead, he will focus on helping to ignite a Leicester revival and enjoy seeing his sixyear-old son, Luca, take the first steps in his own sporting life.
‘What occupies me is my family. My son, my mum and my sister,’ he said. ‘Every weekend, I go up to see them in Oldham. Luca is playing rugby now. He’s started off in league like myself. I’m sure he’ll be alright!’
Eastmond jnr will have a hard act to follow. His dad is capable of illuminating games again. Leicester will be glad that people mattered more to him than pounds.