"Huge amount of respect" - Leicester boss Cheika addresses Mike Brown and Dan Cole's retirements

Then throw into the emotional mixer the confirmed departures of two-time Rugby World Cup winning Springbok Handre Pollard and legendary Argentina front row Julian Montoya, and the Leicester Tigers team will look quite different when the 2025/26 season comes around. The old guard are certainly moving on, with room made for the next generation of Tigers talents to sink their claws into a new era at Welford Road.

Leicester Tigers head coach Michael Cheika expressed how Dan Cole announced his retirement to the squad in his (un)usual manner, with the tight-head keeping it succinct and to the point as he addressed the end of his 17 year run with the club. Despite being the club's top appearence maker in the Premiership, Cole refused to make the end of the season any way about himself, as the Tigers push for their first league title crown since 2022.

"There'll be tributes or accolades passed on. But, I think the defining commentary is, I don't know the exact numbers, but how many games for England (118), and however many games for Leicester (340+) at tight-head. A couple of comebacks in that career, in particular with England over the years.

"A really consistent performer, a consistent person, as he seems quite reserved. It took me a bit of time to get to know him here, but I think truth, having some bit of time with him away from maybe the footy field, you see exactly how passionate is about playing for the club, like genuinely. That's rubbed off on me, being here as a coach, to see players who have got that type of experience, talk in such a connected manner to the club that they play with."

"I think he's been through that process, and he understands that it's not finished until it's finished this year. That's really important, even in the way he spoke to the lads. He told them it was pretty clear and succinct in a very gentle manner, he made sure that the lads knew what the important thing was, and that was that nothing's finished until the end of the year is finished, and we've still got things to take care of."

From an outside perspective, the retirement of Ben Youngs could well have had an influence upon that of his long-time England and Leicester teammate Cole. As the most capped forward and back in the history of England's mens game, it seemed like the natural progression of things for Cole (118 England caps) to follow Youngs (127 England caps) into retirement.

However, Cheika revealed how that was by no means the case, despite the co-incidence of the 'For the Love of Rugby' podcast co-hosts calling time on their playing days in the same season. Cheika believes that Cole could well have carried on for a few more years, despite his decision to bring his playing days to a close.

"No, I don't think so. Very independent processes between the two lads. They're guys who have got families, they've got other business going on, etc, they're thinking about their own situations. I feel like he would have weighed up the pros and cons in the typical logical way that he would deal with that, and he came to the conclusion of that this was what was going to happen, and it's one that we're supporting 100%"

"I knew he was weighing up what he was doing, his options, but really, not until this last week. I think he only really made up his mind in the last week or so. I suppose he could have easily played on, easily so. I don't think he's the type person who you're going to have a fire-side chat with about that type of stuff. He's got a clear process in his mind as to how he's going to evaluate, what are the things that are making him continue playing, what are the things that will make him decide to finish.

A stalwart of the England set-up since his Test match debut in 2010, Cole has been a thorn in the side of Michael Cheika long before the pair crossed paths to become clubmates at Welford Road. The former Australia and Argentina head coach has previously encountered the revered tight-head, as his Wallabies and Pumas scrums capitulated underneath Cole's veteran skillset.

"I can only go off our big impressions from the scouting that you do of an opposition. He's obviously extremely formidable in the scrum, where a lot of the game starts, and he is never lacking in his play around the field either. All the tight stuff, the scrum, the maul, areas that are traditionally the domain of a front row was where he excelled.

"There was never an easy contest when you went into him, and into playing England, when he was on at tight-head on the side, or even on as a finisher. So, I think there's a huge amount of respect for what he's achieved there, and in regards to that (first impression) he just looked very consistent. You could never really get a rise out of him. Never, you couldn't bait him. He was just very, very well prepared and very consistent and you knew you're up for a challenge every time you went up against him."

Turning his attention from his departing tight-head to the retiring name at fullback, Cheika remembered all too well his first impression of meeting Mike Brown. One of the most fiery and passionate players from recent memory, Cheika recalled how he identified Brown as a 'competitive bugger' long before the pair crossed paths in the hallowed halls of Welford Road.

"Well, I think as i was coaching against him, my suspicions that he was a competitive bugger were confirmed straight away. From the first weeks we were in here (Leicester Tigers pre-season) the way he got stuck into the training, a lot of stuff that we did at the start when I come in for pre season, he could have been thinking like, 'man, I've been doing this for 20 (years) I don't need to be doing this stuff.'

"But, he ripped in and always pushed hard for selection, understanding that he's got the new England player in front of him (Freddie Steward) in that position. But you could see straight away, off the cuff how he pushed himself and how he prepared himself, how good a pro he has been and continues to be right up until now."

The rapid fire retirement announcements of Ben Youngs, Mike Brown and Dan Cole, have caused quite a ripple throughout the Leicester squad. Whilst winning the Premiership is incentive enough for the Leicester players to pull together in this last push, this changing of the guard adds a special level of significance into the upcoming play off-race.

With the Tigers currently sat in second, Cheika's men need to pick up just one point to secure a place in the play-offs. This weekend's trip up to Newcastle has the added importance, as a mishap against the league's bottom placed club would spell disaster for Leicester, in what would end the careers of three England legends ahead of schedule. Whilst a win is expected for the Tigers, Cheika backs his men to get up for the game with the play-off place on the line.

"We've got our destiny in our own hands, about qualifying into the semi final. Well, we've got to win. We're considering this as finals footy. It's knockouts, because if you don't win, you won't be in the semis anyway. So it may as well be semi final, and we've just got to be really well prepared in what to do to put Newcastle under some pressure. We know they'll have good times in the game, and how to deal with that pressure as well, and make sure that, we have some consistency in our game over 80 minutes."

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