From Cape Town schoolboys to Leicester Tigers: Craig Childs embraces first senior defence role

Craig Childs is seven weeks into his first senior defence coaching job in professional rugby, having left the Stormers’ pathway setup to join Geoff Parling’s staff at Leicester Tigers in the Premiership.

The South African’s route to Welford Road was anything but conventional. He began coaching at Wynberg Boys’ High School in Cape Town, serving as both coach and director of rugby, before moving into the provincial structures of Western Province. From there he progressed to the Varsity Cup with the University of Cape Town’s Ikey Tigers, a role he ran alongside a three-year stint as pathways defence coach and assistant first-team coach at the Stormers under Norman Laker.

During his time in Cape Town, Childs was involved in the development of two players now considered among South Africa’s brightest prospects: back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and flanker Paul de Villiers, widely regarded as a future successor to Siya Kolisi.

“I’ve coached for a long time now. I started off in the schoolboy environment and sort of worked my way up through the provincial structures in South Africa, through Western Province and into the Varsity Cup, which is a massive tournament in South Africa, and into the Stormers pathway and into the senior structure,” Childs said. “I think I’ve had exposure at every level of rugby, right from little guys, many years ago, to obviously the senior guys.”

Like Bath head coach Johann van Graan, Childs never played at a high level himself — he turned out briefly at school and for historic Cape Town club Villager FC — but has built his career entirely through coaching. “I would say to the players that my play wouldn’t inspire you,” he admitted.

His appointment fills the vacancy created by Mike Forshaw’s sudden departure a year ago for family reasons, with Anthony Allen having covered the role on an interim basis. Allen remains part of the coaching group.

Childs and his wife Genevieve have settled in rural Leicestershire, with their daughter Olivia now enrolled in school. While he is keen to leave his mark on Leicester’s defensive identity, he is conscious of the foundations already in place.

“There’s a lot of history around how the team plays and what the fans celebrate, and we’d like to obviously stay in line with that,” he said. “Geoff and the staff that were here did an exceptional job in building a base. So we’re really continuing with that.”

The opportunity to join a club with clear ambition was the decisive factor in uprooting from a city and environment he clearly loved. “This opportunity came up and it was something really special to be part of this identity and what Geoff’s creating here,” Childs added. “The player base here and the staff want to win, and it’d be great to be part of that.”