Ben Kay: Leicester Tigers' record loss 'unacceptable' but sacking Richard Cockerill was never a quick fix

Exclusive: Kay told The Independent that the players appeared to be ignoring the instructions given to them for the first five minutes

Tom Youngs admitted Leicester were 'in a hole' after the loss (Getty)

Former Leicester forward Ben Kay has labelled Tigers’ record European defeat to Glasgow on Saturday as “unacceptable” but is not surprised it happened, and that it could be a good thing.

Leicester were hammered 43-0 by Glasgow at Welford Road – their biggest ever margin of defeat on home turf – in what was their second record European loss in two months, following the 38-0 defeat away to Munster in December.

That led captain Tom Youngs to admit the team were “in a hole”, with Richard Cockerill paying the price for the Tigers’ torrid season so far at the start of the month with the sack after nearly 13 years on the coaching staff.

The removal of Cockerill was at attempt to trigger a turnaround in results but seemingly nothing has change, not that Kay, who won two Heineken Cups and three Premierships titles with the Tigers, is surprised at all.

“It’s not acceptable,” said the World Cup winner of Leicester’s record defeat. “I don’t think the players or the coaches or anyone involved in the club would say that that’s acceptable.

“Glasgow were fantastic and fully deserved a big win but Leicester didn’t even fire a shot back in return.

“A lot of the fans will be saying look, Richard Cockerill was sacked and nothing has changed but there is an element of ‘well nothing’s going to change overnight’. Just because one person is leaving it doesn’t mean there will be an instant change, the review is still ongoing as to what the right direction is forward.

“I think no one would have expected Leicester to lose as they did against Glasgow but equally I don’t think anyone involved in the club would have thought that suddenly, by letting Richard Cockerill go, everything would be hunky-dory and Leicester would be the form team in Europe.”

Glasgow ran in six tries at Welford Road (Getty Images)

Upon Cockerill’s sacking there were reports that it was due to a player coup, something vociferously rejected in public, but Kay believes that there must be an issue, given the way the team tried to go toe-to-toe with Glasgow’s attack – something highly unlikely to have been a tactical decision by the coaching staff.

“I don’t think that any of the coaches and players would have said that the desire was to go out and match Glasgow with attacking rugby – especially with the injuries Leicester have to their backline,” he added.

“But that seems to be what they did in the first five minutes. So either the message isn’t getting through or it’s getting through and the players are ignoring it.


 Kay won multiple honours with the Tigers and was voted their player of the season 

“It will always hurt for everyone involved but in the cold light of day it was probably a good thing that it happened. Especially in this game, rather than against your big Premiership rivals in a tournament that you’re still competing in.”

Kay’s old second-row partner and close friend Martin Johnson has been linked with a return to Welford Road as Cockerill’s replacement, but Kay insisted there is no chance he would be tempted to follow him.

He said: “I’m staying away from coaching, I’ve got a job!”

Ben Kay is part of the Accenture Analysis Team during the RBS 6 Nations, providing fans with insight and analysis to #Seebeyond standard match data. Follow @AccentureRugby or visit accenture-rugby.com