Exodus of stars at Leicester Tigers is alarming says Neil Back

Leicester legend Neil Back has accused his old club of standing still and fears they will fall even further behind their rivals if top players continue to leave.
England Test players Billy Twelvetrees, George Ford and Toby Flood have departed Welford Road in the last three years, heading for Gloucester, Bath and Toulouse respectively.
Others flourishing elsewhere include Thomas Waldrom (Exeter), Kieran Brookes (Newcastle) and London Irish pair Alex Lewington and Scott Steele, while England lock Geoff Parling (Exeter) and flanker Jamie Gibson (North-ampton) are set to depart.
Back believes Tigers have lost their way, telling The Rugby Paper: “What concerns me is that international players keep leaving and you’ve got to ask why?
“I don’t know the answer but you’ve got to look at what’s happening behind the scenes – the culture, feel, environment, academy, training facilities and the players the club’s producing.
“We seem to have stood still and we’re not scoring enough tries either. Is that down to the quality of players or the way Leicester are playing? We’ve scored just 32 tries and have a points difference of 19, whereas at other top clubs it’s between 150 and 200.
“I think we’ve got a good squad and some of the recruitment was good, I just think our attacking philosophy has not moved on a lot. Matt O’Connor left, Paul Burke’s gone and while Geordan Murphy was a phenomenal player, he’s new as a coach.”
Tigers have struggled with injuries to key attacking players like Manu Tuilagi and Anthony Allen, but Back insists: “Injuries are a consideration but it goes deeper than that.
“Freddie Burns joined at the start of the season and that really excited me with his natural ability and flair, but I don’t think we’ve seen any of that and Owen Williams played a lot of the early games because it better suited Leicester’s philosophy.
“Richard Cockerill inherited a good squad but we haven’t performed well in Europe since reaching the final in 2009. They’ve been to a couple of quarter-finals but since then we’ve really gone missing. Leicester shouldn’t be missing from that competition.
“We blame it on money but I think it’s more than that. Leinster and Saracens proved in this year’s semi-finals that it isn’t just about money, it’s about the way you play the game and the gap is not as big as everyone makes out. It’s about your philosophy.
“Leicester need a change in thinking of how they play the game. But it’s more than one thing and other clubs are moving ahead, which needs addressing.”
Former All Blacks and Tigers centre Aaron Mauger returns to Welford Road as head coach this summer and Back hopes his old colleague will transform Leicester’s outlook.
He added: “Aaron Mauger was a brilliant player – phenomenal. He’s a great experienced pro, has a good rugby brain on his shoulders and being at the Crusaders has grown him as a coach.
“He’ll have a better understanding of his playing philosophy and I think he’s a fantastic acquisition for Leicester. Hopefully he’ll have as big an impact as Pat Howard did when he was in charge of Leicester and really change the way we play the game.
“There’s something badly wrong at Tigers and that change is much needed.”
NEALE HARVEY