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Austin Healey fires off at Leicester Tigers after they 'cast aside' Geordan Murphy
By Ian Cameron
Former England star Austin Healey has fired off at Leicester Tigers after they 'cast off' long-serving club stalwart Geordan Murphy.
Murphy has departed the club in what has been claimed is to be a 'mutual' decision, although many supporters have reacted angrily to how Murphy has been treated.
News that Murphy had left the club was confirmed less than a day after Rory Underwood stood down from a non-executive role that he had held on the club's board since 2007, which RugbyPass understands came about as a result of the decision to ditch the former Ireland international.
Leicester Tigers have said the decision was a mutual one, stating: "After discussions with Murphy about his current contract, which was due to end at the conclusion of the 2020/21 season, it was decided that it would not be renewed and, by mutual consent, it was agreed that Murphy would leave the club with immediate effect."
The decision means that Murphy - at least for the time being - won't get a proper send off at a club he had given nearly 20 years of his life to. Murphy joined the Welford Road side as a teenager after failing to find a place in the Irish rugby system, making his senior debut in 1997. He went on to make 322 appearances in 16 seasons, including four years as club captain.
However, his move into coaching has been unsuccessful, and he was swapped into the role of Director of Rugby last season to allow Steve Borthwick to take over the reins as head coach.
"Another legend who gave so much to Tigers only for the club to cast him aside without the planned exit he deserved. Our club now in the hands of Borthwick... going to be a long season," Healey tweeted in response to fellow Leicester Tigers player Leon Lloyd.
Healey, who says he asked to join the board last year, scored 61 tries in 248 appearances for the club, playing at scrum-half and across the backline. Known as 'The Leicester Lip', his stinging rebuke to his former club represents the growing discontent among fans and many former players about the direction the club has taken.
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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