Geoff Pearling: Have Leicester Tigers found their long-term head coach?

Perling’s role was, as he described it, a “whirlwind”.

He left the last Lions Test as the Australia forwards coach on Sunday and is coaching the Tigers by Wednesday. The packing of the boxes in his new home, I discovered last week, was not yet fully done.

Along with attack coach Pete Hewat, he began to change Leicester’s style of play.

Inspired by Australia’s rules during downs, he prioritized kicking accuracy, telling players to try to catch the ball above their heads under high balls.

Before last week’s round of action, they had the most kicks in the game and the most kick meters in the league.

More than that, though, was the sense that Leicester were entertaining to watch.

Mattioli Woods Welford Road fans used to entertain bulldozers. Tenacity, character and above all victory. They have seen 11 English titles and two European Cups, but the Tiger brand has never been based on beauty.

Now they are playing with liquidity. Marshaled by Billy Searle at 10 (more on him later), and backed up by lightning-quick wings Adam Radwan and Ollie Hassell-Collins, they are now confident of throwing the ball wide and playing from deep in their own area.

“We’ve never seen Leicester do that,” said former Tigers wing and BBC Radio Leicester commentator Tom Varndale. “They’re playing with freedom; they’re supporting their skills.

“Under Geoff Pearling, they’ve got the license to play heads-up rugby. You need good set-pieces and forward dominance, but behind that, they need more. It’s a completely different team to watch.”

That’s not to say the Tigers haven’t lost the viciousness that defined them. Their pack is still brutal, highlighted by a punishing takedown of rivals Northampton Saints last month.

It was even on display in Pearling’s somewhat controversial viral moment earlier this season, when he told TNT anchors their behavior was “not on,” but more tellingly, when a ball was kicked to the players during their pre-match warm-up.

It highlighted that Leicester still have their edge, but have more depth in their approach.

“I think it’s pretty clear that there’s an intention to be wider and more accurate,” Tigers and England full back Freddie Steward told BBC Radio Leicester.

“The traditional DNA is tangy, tight rugby. We still have that, but we’ve tried to add an attacking mentality to it.”

Perhaps the biggest change over the summer was not the coaching staff but the loss of leadership.

Veteran Argentine hooker Julian Montoya, double World Cup-winning South African fly-half Hundre Pollard, and club legends Ben Youngs and Dan Cole – number one and two on England’s all-time appearances list – were among the players to depart, either new or retired.

The Tigers saw off a total of over 500 international caps. More than that, though, the outgoing players were team leaders.

A member of the coaching staff told me in September that they weren’t sure if the new-look team had leaders.

They need not worry.

Step forward Class of 2019 (as no one calls them). Players like Steward, Jack van Portvliet and club captain Ollie Chesham. They all came through the academy at the same time and have now become the backbone of the team.

“It’s a really young squad,” said 26-year-old Cameron Henderson, who is part of their new leadership team. “It blew my mind when someone said I was above the average age in the squad.

“We’ve had to roll with it and go step by step; molding the team around what we want is a really fun part (of the season). We’re leading the team and moving it forward.”