Ben Youngs backs Geordan Murphy to get Leicester Tigers back up on their feet after Matt O’Connor dismissal

O’Connor was sacked by Leicester on Monday, just one match into the new Premiership season, with club legend Murphy promoted from his assistant’s role

'Geordie has got the job now and there’s no reason why he won’t hold on to that' (Getty)

Leicester Tigers’ scrum-half Ben Youngs has backed interim head coach Geordan Murphy to bring the best out of the club’s England players, including fly-half George Ford, flying wing Jonny May and Youngs himself.

Former head coach Matt O’Connor was sacked by Leicester on Monday, just one match into the new Premiership season, with club legend Murphy – who joined as a teenaged full-back in 1997 and went on to win eight league titles and two European Cups as a player – promoted from his assistant’s role.

Leicester director and BT Sport pundit Ben Kay revealed on the midweek TV programme ‘Rugby Tonight’ how the Tigers’ board had agreed certain changes in preparation and tactics with O’Connor at the end of last season, but there was not enough evidence in the 40-6 thrashing at Exeter last Saturday of the requisite improvements having been achieved.

“We found out [about O’Connor’s departure and Murphy’s promotion] via a group message about 20 to 30 minutes before the official announcement,” said Youngs, who made his Leicester debut in 2007. “It was a surprise but as players you just have to get on with it. The board decided there needed to be change.

“Geordie has the utmost respect of all the boys for what he has done for this club. For a lot of us senior guys, he was club captain when we came through, so he has already built that huge trust and connection with a lot of us.

“On the coaching side, he is very clear. He wants winning rugby and he knows our strengths lie with a lot of very good decision-makers that can break the field - [Kyle] Eastmond, Fordy [George Ford], [Matt] Toomua - and balance that with Jonny [May] and [full-back] Telusa Veainu.

“We probably over-complicated at times last season.

“What Geordie will do is give us a really good framework that will allow us to use the decision-makers and get those runners into the game. By simplifying it slightly, and freeing up those boys, it will help us perform.

Matt O’Connor was sacked after just one game of the new season (Getty)

“If we get ball-carriers over the gain line, we create more space for those boys so that we can pull the pin.”

Leicester’s next challenge is their first home league match of the season, against Newcastle Falcons on Saturday.

Kay’s fellow ex-Tigers and England player Austin Healey told ‘Rugby Tonight’: “I don’t think Leicester has been at a lower point in 30, 40 years. It’s embarrassing; it looks like a shambles and the constant waiting to get the right person for the job just leaves the club, its players and supporters in limbo.”

The 28-year-old Youngs, whose brother Tom is club captain, supported Murphy for the permanent coach’s role, saying: “Geordie has got the job now and there’s no reason why he won’t hold on to that. He is a pretty infectious character and I think he will do a terrific job so we’ll get behind him straight away.

“Right from the senior guys, down to the youngest and newest, he wants to know how you are, how your family is getting on, and he wants to help in any way he can. That was never the case when I first joined but with the new generation you have to have that and he has got that in abundance.”

Youngs also likened the circumstances of Murphy’s accession to those of Richard Cockrill, initially an interim appointment in early 2009 before he was made permanent in April that year and stayed to January 2017.

Ben Youngs has thrown his support behind interim head coach Geordan Murphy (Getty)

“When Cockers first got the job, he got it in very similar circumstances,” said Youngs. “Heyneke Meyer left after about six weeks, Cockers came in and was here for eight or nine years. There is no reason why Geordie is not capable of that. He has been coaching for years, and even when he played, he spoke and acted like a coach. He saw the game so well and helped and guided those around him.

“He knows exactly what he wants to do and he has got the absolute backing of the boys.

“There has been a lot of time and money gone into this squad. On paper it is a brilliant squad. Of course, there might be a few teething issues but I believe we will hit good form under Geordie pretty quickly.

“The expectation at the Tigers will never change. That’s a big part of what I love at the club… I wouldn’t want it any other way. I want to win stuff.

“It is the first game at home and we want to get off to a winning start with Geordie so there are plenty of reasons for us to make sure we get it right on Saturday.”