‘I enjoy the scrums and mauls, I’m probably a bit of a weirdo...’
TIGERS ACADEMY GRADUATE IS ENJOYING LIFE BACK AT CLUB
IF Steve Borthwick had an action figure, his accompanying item inside a plastic-sealed box would be a step ladder.
At the start of Oval Park training sessions and before Leicester Tigers games, the near two-metre tall former international lock climbs up his 10-foot tall Henchman safety ladder.
From his lofty vantage point, Borthwick awaits the throws of his hookers assembled below.
There’s simply no hiding place if your arrows are off the money.
It’s a method that has been deployed in front of 70,000 people before a Rugby World Cup final and before no spectators at Premiership grounds up and down the country in recent times.
And it delivers results. Tigers’ resurgence under Borthwich as head coach this season has been built around a formidable maul from lineouts inside opposition 22s.
The club’s senior hookers Tom Youngs, Julian Montoya and Charlie Clare have 13 tries between them this season – while players in other positions have also profited from their ruthlessly efficient drives to the line, such as flanker Tommy Reffell and even teenage centre Dan Kelly.
While plenty of work must be done to rumble the ball over the line, first, it must reach its intended target.
Without achieving that, the blood, sweat and tears in training are for nothing.
Surprisingly it’s not the dread of throwing to your boss in the warm-up that is sharpening Tigers’ hookers to ensure gameplans are executed when it matters most.
“You can ask all the hookers this, before we go on the ladder we throw in the stands as well,” said 29-year-old Clare, who is Tigers’ top try scorer so far this season with five.
“The hardest throw of the day is the first one when we’re in the stands.
“That’s the hardest throw of the day. I am 100 per cent sure every hooker will agree with me.
“It’s five metres. It’s essentially replicating the front ball, but we have to make sure we get that one right, put it that way. It’s a good laugh.
“We do lots of throwing, our lineout has improved over the last 18 months.”
Clare added: “Steve did actually drop his first ball on the ladder since being here in the warm-up before Connacht!”
While Tigers scored three breakaway tries through their backs to defeat Connacht and book a European Challenge Cup quarter-final with Newcastle Falcons tomorrow, the forwards still managed a try more with three of them coming from a rolling maul.
Clare bagged himself a brace and the other was finished off by Harry Wells.
It seems that whoever fills the number two shirt for Borthwick’s side, the standards remain high.
Montoya’s unfortunate hamstring injury has sidelined the Argentina international for six games and counting.
Behind Youngs and Clare is 24-year-old Jake Kerr, capped once by Scotland, and Nic Dolly, who bagged a try in each of his three games for Coventry in the Championship before making the switch from West to East Midlands last month.
The 21-year-old made his debut from the bench late on against Connacht.
“There is a bit of a hookers club,” admitted Clare.
“We chat to each other all the time, everyone shares ideas, everyone has got their own individual strengths.
“Youngsy has got a huge amount of experience, and leads the physicality most weeks in training and in games. It’s great to speak to him about that.
“It’s the same with Julian, he’s a great scrummager and he’s really good over the ball, so you’re always trying to pick up things.
“Kerry is one of the fittest blokes in the squad, he challenges us on that side of things and then with Nic, he’s joined recently and he’s so hungry to get better, that is pushing everyone else on.
“So it’s a great thing to be a part of.”
Clare graduated from Leicester Tigers’ academy without making a senior appearance but did appear for Nottingham, Jersey,
Northampton Saints, Loughborough Students and, most notably, Bedford Blues.
He clocked up more than 100 appearances for the Goldington Road club before Tigers came calling once more in 2019.
Without the second tier providing the platform for Clare to keep his Tigers dream alive, the present day would be very different for the Norfolk native.
“If I hadn’t played in the Champ, I’d probably be playing for North Walsham in Norfolk,” he said.
“I’m not sure what league they’re in, they’ve just got promoted actually.
“I’d be running out for them I imagine. I probably wouldn’t look how I am, I would be twice the size I am now, but not in a good way.
“It’s played a massive role. I’ve learned a lot, quickly at Bedford, a lot of how to be in a team environment as well.
“There was a lot of good players there that I learned from as well. It’s been a massive part of my rugby career.”
Six years after his release from Tigers, Clare made his belated debut for the club at the same time as then-18-year-olds George Martin and Jack van Poortvliet during the 57-23 Premiership Rugby Cup defeat in September 2019.
Fast forward to the present day, his progress has been rewarded with a new contract as Tigers prepare for a European quarter-final and sit just eight points off the Gallagher Premiership play-offs with seven rounds left to play.
“It’s been a long journey, if you go back to when I was in the academy,” reflected. “Currently, at the moment, I am really enjoying it, I enjoy scrums, I enjoy mauls. I’m probably a bit of a weirdo in that sense.
“It’s the way we want to play and it’s something we pride ourselves on.
“We put a lot of work into it, and it’s everyone who buys into it to make it successful. “Hopefully we can continue this strength of ours.”
Clare