Tigers inundated with applicants, according to Murphy

Leicester have been inundated with approaches from coaches ready to step into Matt O’Connor’s shoes, with as many as 64 applications submitted in the 24 hours after his departure.

Geordan Murphy, who has been at the club for 21 years, has been installed as Interim Head Coach but he told The Rugby Pod he hasn’t been given any indication as to how long he’ll be in the role for and other CVs have been flooding in.

“It’s been a crazy week. I was helping out with the A-League last Monday night over in Loughborough when I found out and pretty much everything blew up after that,” he said.

“They haven’t said [how long I’ve got]. From my point of view, it’s on a week by week basis at the moment. I was told when Matt went that there were 64 applicants within a day or a day and a half, so I think a lot of people threw their name in the hat.”

The former Ireland international, who led Tigers to an Anglo Welsh Cup triumph in 2017 and acted as head coach for one Premiership game before O’Connor took the reins, admits it’s a dream job but says only time will tell whether now is his time.

“It’s a dream come true but it’s obviously not in ideal circumstances. Nobody would wish a mate to lose his job so it’s probably bittersweet in a way but, in saying that, I think we had a few issues and it’s nice to be able to try to rectify some of those points,” he told The Rugby Pod.

“I said that I genuinely care about the club and want it to be better and if there’s someone who can do a better job, I’ll happily support that. I’m just trying to do the best job I can and see what happens down the line.

“It is a dream job but whether or not it’s the right time, only time will tell.”

Click here to watch the full video of Episode 3 of this season’s Rugby Pod…