New Lion Billy Twelvetrees was once allowed to escape as a Tiger
Andy Key, the former Leeds director of rugby, brought Twelvetrees into the Tigers academy and it was clear even then that the centre had the talent to reach the highest level.
Yet despite impressing at Welford Road, Twelvetrees was released by the club, spending a season with Bedford in the Championship before the Tigers realised their mistake.
He has since moved on again, going to Gloucester last summer, and Key revealed that it was only a slice of fortune that prompted Twelvetrees’ move to the East Midlands in the first place.
He told The Rugby Paper: “We first brought Billy in after he had missed out on England U18s selection because of a broken leg at the beginning of the season.
“He was 17 and went to Leicester Lions originally, and Chris Tarbuck, a good friend of mine, who was coaching there at the time, called me up to say they had this new lad who’d come in.
“Even at 17, Chris said he was too good for them, so we brought him in for a trial.
“He arrived in about March, and it was only really because of his injury that he had missed out with England.
“The first thing you could tell when he came in was that he is a natural ball player. Guys like that, who are comfortable with the ball, or good runners, you spot it straight away, and Billy definitely fitted into that category.
“He was a big guy, although obviously not as big as he is now, but had been overlooked by the U18s because of his injury.
“We got him playing a bit of sevens to begin with and that showed the strength he had, as well as some good pace.
“With (academy boss) Dusty Hare at Tigers we really had the backing of the club and were able to give these guys a chance. Now with the number of guys coming through it’s getting harder for players to get a chance but Leicester were good at giving people the opportunity.
“When I knew he was getting released I really didn’t agree with it and I thought they were missing a trick. I spoke to Mike Rayer at Bedford and told him, ‘you need to take this guy one because he is a real talent but you won’t keep him for long’.
“Bedford was a really good club for him to learn at, and Mike played him a lot at ten which helped his game.
“That’s probably played quite a big part in him getting this opportunity, being able to step into a number of positions, he’s got enough experience for that now.”
Having arrived in Australia on Friday, Twelvetrees should get his first chance against the Brumbies on Tuesday although his hopes of featuring in the Tests look slim.
However, Key is confident the 24-year-old would be up to the task.
Key added: “I am sure he will be disappointed if he doesn’t get a chance, but he will definitely take the opportunity to develop alongside some great players.
“He’ll spend two to three weeks with them, and if the chance comes along to play in a Test, I’m sure he will cope well with it.
“What’s interesting from a Tigers point of view is that there are now six members of the academy out there. He joins the Youngs brothers, Dan Cole, Tom Croft and Manu Tuilagi, and that should help him out there.”
PAUL EDDISON
