Steve Borthwick and Kevin Sinfield had just signed off with another win when Leicester’s staff gathered for Christmas drinks.
Those present on Saturday night remembered how their club, England’s biggest, had languished at the foot of the Premiership when Borthwick arrived. They also recalled how rugby league great Sinfield joined the following season and together these two northern rocks took Tigers to Premiership glory before the Rugby Football Union came calling.
“Someone used the expression that they were exactly what Leicester needed, the necessary change,” said a Tigers insider. “That’s exactly right.
