Leicester have not challenged for the continent’s biggest prize since 2009, making just one European Champions Cup semi-final since then, while they lost the second-tier Challenge Cup decider to Montpellier in 2021.
Michael Cheika guided Leicester to last season’s Premiership Grand Final at Twickenham, where they narrowly lost to Bath, but the revolving door of head coaches saw the former Australia and Argentina boss step aside for rookie Parling.
Halfway through the Prem season, ex-Australia assistant coach Parling has Tigers fifth in the table, although he is yet to oversee a win in European competition so far.
It was at the end of a wide-ranging live interview on BBC Radio Leicester on Wednesday night, in the lead-up to Saturday’s game against French side Bayonne, that Parling was asked if he feels Tigers are capable of recapturing the aura of supremacy they once boasted.
Put simply, to ‘make Leicester great again’?
“Of course I do,” Parling replied. “I’m very confident we have a team good enough.
“If we apply ourselves consistently, we will be or could be that team that will consistently be challenging and playing in big knockout games and finals.
“We have a great squad – we will look to add to that as well – but our challenge, our common goal is to be consistently challenging for silverware, at the top of wherever we want to be with a homegrown academy, people coming through, have people look at us, enjoy the way we are playing, see a team that is organised, fights for each other.
“But it’s a challenge isn’t it? And one we want to be part of.”
