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COACHING EDGE |MAINTAINING MOMENTUM|
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Leader of the pack - Richard Cockerill (right) drills his Tigers
They don’t have to be mine, they just have to be good. ‘That said, day-to-day, you’ve got to run it how you believe it should be run. That might be a slightly different work ethic or a slightly different slant on things. You have to back yourself. For me, coaching is about common sense, working with good people and trying to make things better.’ Tito Vilanova, coach of FC Barcelona, faces a similar scenario. Last summer, he not only succeeded the most successful coach in the club’s history, Pep Guardiola, but inherited a long-ingrained culture, a globally admired style of play and an instant obligation to continue winning trophies. Cockerill recognises this pressure to maintain performance levels, and stresses the need to ‘relentlessly drive the environment’. He states: ‘Culture and environments don’t just manage themselves. You have to manage those things every day – time keeping, dress code, work ethic. Some players and staff will help drive it; some will have to be driven. ‘The pressure is there the whole time. If we aren’t successful, I’d be under pressure for my job. Others have lost their jobs here because of perceived weakness or lack of success. If you are a director of rugby, depending on the expectations of the board, you are under pressure every week.’
Cockerill, now 42, achieved legendary status at Leicester as hooker in the formidable front row partnership with Graham Rowntree and Darren Garforth that became known as the ‘ABC Club’. Cockerill later became forwards coach, then acting head coach twice, before getting the top job permanently in April 2009.
critical all the time that it starts to pick at the fabric of the team and wear everybody down. ‘Equally, when you win, you don’t want to be ignoring the faults that occurred, just because the result was right.
He admits that being immersed in the club for so long and understanding the ‘Leicester culture’ have proved big advantages since he took charge.
‘We don’t typically have huge peaks and troughs to our seasons. Some sides start really well and then fade away, or have a bad start and recover. We just keep on working hard, diligently and consistently the whole time.’
‘Leicester can be a slightly odd place,’ he reflects. ‘You need to be in it to understand it in order to then run it.
Leicester’s players, regardless of status, are also frequently reminded that complacency is not tolerated.
I don’t think somebody coming into the place and running it completely differently to how it has been for a long time necessarily works.
Everything is tailored towards achieving what every coach strives for — a constantly high level of performance.
‘Anybody coming into this environment has to add to the culture and not change it. That’s probably the best way to describe it.’ It comes as no surprise to hear Cockerill highlight ‘hard work’ as being central to that culture, and to Leicester’s remarkably consistent success. But he also reveals how he tempers and moulds his reactions to both victories and defeats, helping to maintain the squad’s focus, work rate and morale. ‘You must manage the environment when you lose. You have to make sure you’re hard enough on yourselves to improve, but not so
‘All the guys we sign and the guys that come through the system understand that they’ve got to work really hard to deserve their spots (in the first XV),’ says Cockerill. ‘We want them worrying about performance and making good contributions to the team, rather than selection. ‘People here know and are told: “You might be first choice, but you’ve got to be very good. If you’re not, then we’ve got to find someone who is, quickly”. It’s not about you being in the side today, it’s about you being one of the best players in the competition, in England or the world, if possible.’