Sudden trip home has sparked speculation of a permanent return to South Africa

Leicester coach Heyneke Meyer’s future with the English Premiership club has been called into question following a family illness that has forced him to return to South Africa.

Meyer headed home earlier this week and so missed the Tigers’ fightback on Sunday, which saw them beat title rivals Bath 24-22 after being 22-9 down at Welford Road, where forwards coach Richard Cockerill was in charge.

Leicester chairman Peter Tom conceded the situation “put a doubt” over Meyer continuing with the club he joined before the start of this season, following the departure of former Argentina coach Marcelo Loffreda.

“Both of Heyneke’s wife’s parents are seriously ill, and he has gone back to assess the whole situation,” said Tom. “We are happy to give him all the time he needs, and I don’t think you can speculate.

“At the end of the day, we accept the family is priority, and the best thing is that Heyneke supports his family.”

Meyer has steered the Tigers into promising positions in both the Premiership and the European Cup.

England flanker Tom Croft scored two tries for Leicester, the second in injury time, while Derrick Hougaard kicked 14 points on a day when his fellow South African and opposing outside-half Butch James starred for visitors Bath.

In a related story that almost confirms that Meyer is permanently returning to South Africa, former Blue Bulls defence coach John McFarland has asked to be allowed to return to his job in Pretoria.

McFarland resigned from the Bulls on November 7 and, as was expected, to join Meyer at Leicester. But Meyer’s sudden change of circumstances has left McFarland in a difficult position after he failed to return to the union at the end of his leave period in November.

The Bulls did not want to release McFarland to Leicester and yesterday they issued a statement saying that they would try to accommodate McFarland’s request to be reconsidered for his old post.

The CEO of the Blue Bulls Company (Pty) Ltd, Barend van Graan, said that the Bulls would dearly like to have McFarland back on board and they will go out of their way to accommodate him.

Sapa-AFP

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