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Geordan Murphy confirms the 19 players leaving Leicester this summer

Geordan Murphy

Leicester have confirmed the 19 players who will leave Welford Road at the end of this season. Tigers had already announced the retirements of Mat Tait and Matt Smith, in addition to Matt Toomua being released to join Melbourne Rebels.

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That was in addition to Graham Kitchener, Mike Williams and Will Evans joining Worcester, Bath and Harlequins respectively next term. In addition to those six members of the senior squad, the club will also farewell Brendon O’Connor, Valentino Mapapalangi, Joe Ford, Fred Tuilagi and Charlie Thacker.

Meanwhile, Gareth Owen will join Newcastle Falcons after two seasons in the East Midlands and Mike Fitzgerald will make the move to Japan to join the Kamaishi Seawaves. Front-row trio Campese Ma’afu, David Feao and Ross McMillan also move on after one year in Leicester.

In addition, the club will farewell Tigers development squad hooker Harry Mahoney. Leonardo Sarto and Clayton Blommetjies, who joined the Tigers mid-season as injury cover in the squad, will also depart following the clash with Bath next Saturday, May 18.

“We have a mixed bag of experience leaving us this season, who have all given their all during their time in the Tigers shirt,” Leicester head coach Geordan Murphy told the club’s website.

“Some of those leaving us have achieved a lot on the pitch, including Premiership wins for Mat Tait and Graham Kitchener, and then of course Matt Smith who leaves with seven trophies to his name and a legacy of commitment to the club second to none over his fourteen seasons in the top squad.

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“Those three are easy to point out in terms of silverware won, but there is a lot more that people contribute to away from the fixtures each weekend while at the club and I commend each of the departing players for what they have given in terms of effort, commitment and knowledge while a member of our proud club.

“I wish all of them the best in their next chapters, whether it be as players or life after rugby, and am sure the fans will join me in thanking them for their contributions to our proud club.

“They have all joined a special group of people who can say they have played for this club and, as we say in Leicester, once a Tiger, always a Tiger.”

Leicester have been consigned to a bottom-three finish in the Premiership, and they cannot qualify for next season’s Heineken Champions Cup.

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AM 11 minutes ago
'Freelancer' Izaia Perese shows the need for true inclusivity in Australian rugby

That's Cron's job though. Australia has had one of the most penalised scrums in international rugby for a long time. Just look at the scrum win loss percentage and scrum penalties. That is your evidence. AA has been the starter during that period. Pretty simple analysis. That Australia has had a poor scrum for a long time is hardly news. If bell and thor are not on the field they are woeful. So you are just plain wrong. They have very little time for the lions so doing the same old things that dont work is not going to get them there.


Ainsley is better than our next best tighthead options and has been playing well at scrum time for Lyon in the most competitive comp in the world. Superstar player? No. But better than the next best options. So that is a good enough guide. The scrummaging in the Prem is pretty good too so there is Sio's proof. Same analysis for him. Certainly better in both cases than Super, where the brumbies had the worst win loss and scrum pen in Super. Who plays there? Ohh yes... And the level of scrummaging in Super is well below the URC, prem and France with the SA teams out.


Nongorr is truly woeful. He's 130kg and gets shoved about. That just should not be happening at that weight for a specialist prop who has always played rugby cf pone with leauge. He has had enough time to develop at 23. You'd be better off with Pone who is at least good around the field for the moment and sending Nongorr on exchange to France or England to see if they can improve him with better coaching as happened with Skelton and Meafou. He isn't going to develop in time in super if he has it at all.


Latu is a better scrummaging hooker than BPA and Nasser. and he's the best aussie player over the ball at ruck time. McReight's super jackling percentage hasnt converted to international level but latu consistently does it at heniken level, which is similar to test level in the big games. With good coaching at La Rochelle he's much improved though still has the odd shocker. He should start the November games.

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