Tigers pull 'wildcard' with 'very sharp' Parling

He was greeted as a "wildcard appointment", has been admired as a "very sharp student of the game" and is seen by one former team-mate as a "big coup" for Leicester Tigers.

When Geoff Parling returns to Tigers in the summer after 10 years away, he will do so as a rookie head coach with a big reputation.

The 41-year-old former England lock, who earned three British and Irish Lions caps while playing for Leicester, where he won two Premiership titles in six years, replaces a coach of world renown in Michael Cheika.

For months, Tigers' search for Cheika's successor had the club linked to a multitude of high-profile coaching figures.

Stade Francais coach and ex-Harlequins head of rugby Paul Gustard and ex-Munster head coach Graham Rowntree were two former Tigers that were favourites for the job at different times,, external as was ex-England boss Stuart Lancaster and even former New Zealand player and assistant coach Leon MacDonald.

Australia assistant Parling, whose entire coaching career to date has been spent working down under after he retired as a player in 2018, was the surprise choice.

"He hadn't been mentioned at all," said former Leicester Tigers and England winger Tom Varndell, whose first spell with Tigers ended in 2009 before Parling moved to Mattioli Woods Welford Road from Newcastle.

"Geoff is a bit of a wildcard, but I think he is a really good one.

"It's someone that knows the club, he has been part of successful Tigers teams, has learned his trade as a coach in the southern hemisphere and he will bring a huge amount of experience from that back to Leicester."

Former Tigers hooker George Chuter, who played alongside Parling throughout the lock's time at Leicester, says his former team-mate appears to have "come up on the inside rail and snuck in at the end" to get the job.

While Parling was not a name being "bandied around" during the months in which speculation around the job swirled, Chuter says getting him back is a "big coup".

He describes Parling as a "very intelligent and very sharp" thinker who will have a "deep appreciation for what it takes" to make Tigers successful.

"Geoff was a player that had to study the game," Chuter told BBC East Midlands Today.

"If you were to describe someone who maximised their talent, I think that would be Geoff because he wasn't the most naturally gifted rugby player. He looked about 48 years old when he was 25, so he is that sort of guy.

"He had a really great work ethic, physical skills he worked on but his brain was two or three steps ahead of most other people.

"That has stood him in good stead as a player and in what is already a pretty successful coaching career. And it certainly will stand him in good stead as he goes into what is a very tough environment in the Premiership."

And with Parling being the ninth head coach Tigers have had in nine years, it's arguable there are no more demanding conditions to work under than those in Leicester.

Cheika took the job "very last-minute" when fellow Australian Dan McKellar - who, like Parling, left his role as Wallabies assistant when he took over as Tigers head coach in 2023 - got through only one year of a "long-term deal" with the club.

The length of Parling's contract has been described the same way.

Stability is something Tigers back-rower Hanro Liebenberg has previously said Leicester need to find in Cheika's replacement.

Cheika himself spoke about "stability and all that business" after Parling's role was announced, but said that trying to deliver a Premiership title this season is the "best thing" he can do to help the incoming boss.

But that may not be all, as Cheika remains keen to stay in touch with the club after his departure.

When asked if he would "pick up the phone" if Parling ever had a question in future, Cheika replied: "Yes, of course.

"And I've said it to the guys here - once I've coached them, I'm coaching them forever. You ask these guys to do things for you all the time, and the respect they show is something that is a big connector.

"It goes without saying that if that is necessary, then, of course, yes."