COCKERILL'S DEPARTURE NOT QUITE THE END OF AN ERA

Fond memories of a special venue

Leicester Tigers stalwart Richard Cockerill served the club for over twenty years as player and coach, but following the defeat by Saracens in the first game of 2017, was sacked; the separation was, we were told, "amicable," though listening to his assistant and now stand-in coach Aaron Mauger's interpretation of how a deteriorating situation had become impossible, you soon realised the inevitability of a split.

You could never regard him as the referee's friend whether as a player or coach but, in the best Tigers tradition, he was Leicester through and through. The age-old belief that at any club, no matter what the team sport, five years is about the limit before the coach is changed or the majority of the team has moved on, has much to recommend it. In the world of football Sir Alex Ferguson, with Arsenal Wenger a little way behind, are the exceptions that prove the rule. Clearly, under Cockerill the master plan related strongly to the forwards, with Mauger a more open game was preferred.

Cockerill's commitment to Welford Road coincided largely with my own refereeing involvement although I had to wait for seven years, until 1982, before making a first visit. This was against Richmond and at least one person was not too impressed; Martin Johnson (Rugby correspondent for the 'Leicester Mercury' as opposed to his more illustrious namesake) wrote "The constant whistle from referee Matthews was a source of major irritation for players and crowd alike." Perhaps that was the beginning of working out that there were other ways of refereeing; the writer of that piece became one of my favourites on rugby, later adding cricket for 'The Independent' to his portfolio.

Richard Cockerill's partners in crime in the front row were Graham Rowntree and Darren Garforth, who made up the 'A, B, C club,' so called because Leicester, until they eventually bowed to RFU instructions, used to wear letters instead of numbers on their jerseys; in order to honour the practice they still carry a small letter on the front of the shirts. The Pontypool front row may well have enjoyed world attention, and were certainly a more infamous group, but the Leicester unit was a formidable mixture for any opposition. Along with the coaches, any number of players ready with advice and a passionate crowd, they contributed to a testing atmosphere for the referee. There always seemed to be an endless list of top quality leaders who had added coaching to previous captaincy. Dean Richards and Martin Johnson, two of my all-time sporting heroes, fitted the bill perfectly. One who offered a slightly different approach was Tony Russ who also included several other clubs on his coaching CV. One memory of him was in 1993 following a Pilkington Cup semi-final defeat of Northampton when he came in along with visiting captain/coach Wayne Shelford to say "well done," adding "but it's easy now"- a candid admission from a coach.

Just four days after losing his job, Richard Cockerill took up a consultancy role at Toulon until at least the end of the season. Whatever he chooses to do after that, he is likely to be in demand. It would be stretching it to say that it brings the end of an era, but his presence coincided with most of my reminiscences of a very special venue.

21 Jan 2017