Leicester Tigers: Steve Borthwick links with England job not a distraction - Hanro Liebenberg
- Published
Steve Borthwick took over as Leicester Tigers boss with the East Midlands side 11th in the Premiership table during the Covid-interrupted 2019-20 season
Leicester are not letting speculation that boss Steve Borthwick will leave the Premiership champions to take the vacant England job distract them, says Tigers captain Hanro Liebenberg.
Borthwick is favourite to replace Eddie Jones, who was sacked on Tuesday.
While Liebenberg did not comment on Borthwick's situation, he did talk of how the squad is dealing with it.
"It could easily be a distraction at the moment, but luckily it's not," Liebenberg told BBC Radio Leicester.
"It's tough, but the environment we are in - as professional athletes - we have a job to do at the end of the day. Everyone knows that, those are all external things.
"Once the boys get on the pitch, and we have said this as a group, that is out of our control. We can only control what we are doing on a weekly basis. And that is what we are doing."
Borthwick, who left Jones' England coaching staff to take the job at Tigers in 2020, is a coach that former England international Ugo Monye says will restore "clarity and detail" in the national team as they prepare for next year's World Cup.
With the 43-year-old linked with the England job even before Jones was dismissed, uncertainty about his future at Mattioli Woods Welford Road has been a major question for a number of weeks.
"We are all adults around here, we are on social media, we see the same thing as you guys do," Liebenberg added.
"It is always going to be there, it is uncontrollable."
The speculation about Borthwick, a head coach that transformed Leicester from a side that was battling to avoid relegation to Premiership champions within two years, comes as Tigers prepare to start their European Champions Cup campaign at Ospreys on Sunday.
And it follows Premiership strugglers Bristol Bears ending a run of six consecutive league defeats with a dramatic 26-26 draw with Tigers on Saturday.
"Europe is massive, it's a bit of a fresh start. It's always good to go into a new competition," said Liebenberg.