Richard Thorpe: Time with Leicester Tigers was no waste
A move from London Irish to Leicester in the summer last year appeared to have provided one-time England Saxons contender Thorpe a passport to Test honours.
But the dream turned sour when Thorpe discovered he had been performing with a broken arm sustained playing for London Irish but only later diagnosed by the medical team at Welford Road.
He said: “I had what’s called a ‘non-union,’ where the bone in my lower right arm hadn’t healed properly. It’s likely it happened playing for London Irish in January 2012, but it wasn’t identified until a year later at Leicester.
“An X-ray showed the ulna was broken all the way through when I’d been playing for Irish and Leicester, which is pretty amazing.
“The timing was terrible because I was in talks with Leicester to extend my contract. Surgery was substantial and I had a bone graft and metal plate inserted, which meant last season was over.”
With his appearances for Leicester limited mainly to LV= Cup and A-games, some might consider Thorpe’s year with them was wasted.
But Thorpe, 28, insisted: “Just to experience the Leicester culture, the Leicester way of life, was an eye-opener. It’s a fantastic club. You work very, very hard in training but you’re very well looked after and it’s a fabulous environment.
“I’ve developed under coaches like Richard Cockerill, Matt O’Connor and Richard Blaze and it gives a different perspective. My perspective had always been a London Irish one, influenced by Toby Booth, so it was good to get a new viewpoint.”
Thorpe sees similarities between Cockerill and new London Welsh head-honcho, Justin Burnell.
He explained: “Richard is the heart of Leicester Tigers. He runs the show and you can see why they’ve given him a five-year contract.
“I really appreciate a coach who has honesty. You knew where you stood with Richard and I can now say that of Justin as well. Things can be hard to hear sometimes but you’d rather know what the coach is thinking than for him to sugar-coat things.
“Justin’s creating that same hard-working, honest culture and the team is gelling. That’s credit to Justin and the recruitment the club’s done.”
Welsh were relegated after Thorpe had signed, but not for a moment did he consider reneging on the deal.
In hammering out a warning to their Championship rivals, Thorpe added: “It was disappointing Welsh went down but I’ve every confidence that, with the way we’ve started, we’ll be in the play-off mix. I’ve come here because I want game-time and everybody wants to play at the highest level they can.
“I’m still ambitious and I want to do that with London Welsh getting promoted.”
NEALE HARVEY
