No character, no good - is Clarke motto

THOSE who make it to the top are those with the character to do so. That was the message Leicester Tigers community manager Scott Clarke and Chris Everard, one of the academy vice-presidents, were eager to put across at the 'Asburton Evening with Harry Ellis' at the Guernsey Rugby Club.

The pair were open to questions alongside the England scrum half and gave a fascinating insight into how the Leicester Tigers operate.

Everard, whose 16-year-old son has recently undertaken a gruelling schedule mixing college with being at the academy, emphasised that a player can have all the talent in the world, but if they do not have the willpower to succeed, they won't make it far.

Clarke described it as the 'I will prove you wrong' attitude - the desire to be the best you can be and do what is necessary to get there.

That is also why you will find no prima donnas at Leicester.

'Trainability is what we look for - people who are prepare to train and listen,' Everard said.

'If players won't listen, you cannot coach them, it's as simple as that. Some just won't be coached because they think they know it all.

'I do not like humiliation in front of squads and won't do it that way. But sometimes they need to be taken aside and told that if they are as good as they think they are, they would not be being coached by me but by someone much higher up the ladder.'

The Tigers men were also inspirational in what they described can be achieved by clubs if people chip in and not leave it to one or two others.

Everard was in charge of an under-16 team who toured Australia this year after the players themselves had raised £45,000 in seven months to fund the trip.

Clarke has been at a club who build their own clubhouse thanks to the skills of those within it. They had tradesmen within their ranks and got the job done for £200,000 when it would have cost £600,000 on the open market.

'You can do it within a club if the club want to do it,' Clarke said.

'Those people did it then so that their children could have better facilities - it was for their benefit and sometimes people need to see that.

'One thing that rugby has got is the thing that everyone is looking out for and that's discipline - that's its ethos.

'As a rugby club nowadays, you have to have the right product to sell, to parents in particular, and if that is in place and they get taken by it, you can call on them to do their bit as well.'