GETTING ME DOWN
May believes Geordan Murphy is ‘100 per cent’ the right man to lead Leicester but says Tigers’ woes are...
LEICESTER are in crisis mode and Jonny May is in no mood to sugar-coat the dire situation.
It has been a week of personal and collective inquests and uncomfortable home truths since the visit to Bristol last Saturday ended in a 41-10 drubbing. That is not the sort of indignity mighty Leicester can tolerate and it is certainly not what May signed up for when he made a sudden move to Welford Road from Gloucester before the start of last season.
While the 28-year-old’s former club are thriving under the astute guidance of Johan Ackermann, the Tigers are in turmoil, with Geordan Murphy struggling to halt their protracted slump. As they prepare for a daunting Heineken Champions Cup showdown with last season’s losing finalists, Racing 92, in Paris tomorrow, May has offered a frank view of Leicester’s predicament.
The defeat at Bristol was a sixth in succession and he said: ‘We felt pretty low after that game. It was pretty dark. We’ve had a few honest conversations. You stew over it and it gets you down. It’s always at the back of your head. It’s like a big elephant stomping around.
‘Of course it bothers me. I came here from Gloucester to win things. This week we’ve had to say, “Let’s stop thinking we’re something we’re not”. If we keep doing that, we’re not going to get better. Let’s park those expectations. It’s brilliant to think, “We’re the Leicester Tigers, we’re going to go out and win every week”, but we’re not that at the moment. Let’s not kid ourselves.’
May had his own grim ordeal at Ashton Gate seven days ago as Bristol wing Luke Morahan stepped around him and left the rapid runner in his wake on the way to a superb solo try.
May made no attempt to deflect his share of the blame — but suggested there are more profound issues to address — urgently.
‘It’s a tackle I’d expect to make,’ he said. ‘It wasn’t a fine moment for me but there was more to it than that. We didn’t really show much, did we? We didn’t throw any punches, then it’s 40 points down. It’s not a fluke that that’s happened. You have to realise that things haven’t been good enough for a while and it’s come to a head. A performance like that doesn’t happen off the back of brilliant prep. We had lost five games before that one.
‘We’ve had a tough season — losing our coach. Geordie (Murphy) came in. We had an emotional rally but that’s worn off a little bit. Now it’s hit home where we’re at. It’s time to be honest.
‘It’s certainly not the quality of personnel, is it? We’re conceding too many points in defence and we’re not finding much in attack either. We need to strip it right back and find something.’
The post-mortems have been taking place far beyond the confines of the squad and Murphy’s management team. Leicester’s hierarchy have been attempting hurriedly to identify a way out of the downward spiral, while coming in for fierce criticism from many disgruntled supporters.
Murphy appears to have the backing of the board at this stage and May voiced his backing too, but implied that some players are less convinced about the latest troubled Tigers regime.
‘I 100 per cent think Geordie’s the man for the job,’ he said. ‘This is new for him. He’s come in and probably inherited a team that wasn’t good enough last year. I think the coaches provide us with brilliant messages and everything we need. Maybe some players don’t. Some players might think they need help.
‘We want to find a few principles to hang our hat on, which have been absent. Why are we not producing on the weekend? Players have got to up it, but it’s more than just that. We need to come together better as a team.’
May was asked to address the uncomfortable fact that Leicester are being dragged into unfamiliar territory in the lower reaches of the Premiership. He was adamant that the shock prospect of relegation had not even entered the minds of those at the eye of this storm. Instead, for now, he is convinced that a defiant display in Paris tomorrow could help to reignite their whole season.
‘We might have a really good crack at Racing and everyone says, “There’s the old Leicester”,’ said May. ‘We’re well aware we’re the underdogs for this game but we really care about the performance. We want something to build on.’
They say identifying a problem is half the problem solved.
If everyone at Leicester is as honest as May and as unwilling to hide away from the predicament they find themselves in, they will surely find a way out of it again. There will certainly be no hiding place tomorrow.
The Tigers need their bite back or another mauling awaits.