Exclusive – Ben Betts speaks about decision to leave Leicester Tigers and openness to return home in near future

Just days on from his European debut with the Leicester Tigers Ben Betts has revealed to Sporting Limerick that he has completed a move away from the Premiership side next season.

Betts who joined the Tigers in 2016, has not yet confirmed which club he will be joining but has stated that the side do ply their trade in England. The Ballyhahill man has said that getting more game time was the main reason for seeking the move.

“I thought about it for a while but I think I’ve made the right decision to move somewhere where the expectations aren’t as high but still being in a pressured environment to win every week expecting to do what I do here at a professional club but just be more benefiting for me in terms of getting more game time and having a bigger role in the squad which is what I need as a young prop is to be challenged every week and see if what I’m doing is working rather than once every so often when the internationals go away ect. For me as a player to get better I think it’s the best thing to do.”

“I hope to achieve my goals which are playing at the highest level of rugby possible consistently throughout the peak of my career whether that’s European Cup Rugby, International or even bigger, to do that I need to be playing rugby consistently and at a good level, always wanting to get better and to do that you need to be in action every weekend.” Said Betts on what he hopes to achieve from the transfer.

Just last weekend Betts made his European debut from the bench in the Tigers heavy loss to Castres in France, an experience that the former Young Munster man relished, despite the result.

“It wasn’t ideal to have it during a loss, but it was still an amazing experience to play in front of a rowdy French crowd and also a big French pack it’s just what I want as a young prop some exposure and experience in this days game for props it’s all about experience, beside the result I was delighted to get my first European run out.”

At 22 Betts still has years of growth ahead of him, he credits forwards coach and former Dragons prop Boris Stankovic for the improvement he has made this season, leading up to his European bow.

“Props don’t peak sometimes until their mid-twenties, but I’ve been working a lot with my scrum coach Boris Stankovic to help improve parts of my game he’s an excellent coach technically, just being around other international front rows helps me to learn new things every week.”

The Limerick man will leave the Tigers on good terms, knowing that it is an experience that he can take forward with him as he continues on his journey as a professional.

“I’ve gained lots of experience in the set piece having such good forwards coaches during my time here like Brett Deacon, Richard Blaze, Richard Cockerill and Boris Stankovic and obviously Irish man Geordan Murphy has also helped me out with my skills and stuff around open play which is also just as important, Aaron Mauger also in terms of skills last year helped a lot and obviously experienced coach Matt O Connor all being former players at the highest level helped me massively develop during my time here, so I can truly say I’ve learnt a lot from my time here and I’m grateful for everything the club has done for me the whole way through.”

Betts has pointed to last weekend’s introduction at the Stade Pierre Fabre as the highlight of his time at the Welford Road outfit.

“Probably making my European Debut in France no doubt, regardless of the result I still cherished every moment of it and took the opportunity as it came as best I could, French sides are always heavy so for me it was a challenge I really looked forward to scrummaging and mauling against big boys, it wasn’t perfect, but everyone’s got to start somewhere, and I still thoroughly enjoyed it.”

The decision to move on from an established Premiership side will not have been an easy one for the young prop but he has done so to further his own development. Betts has also stated that he would be open to a move back to Ireland if the opportunity presented itself.

“It certainly would be something I’d like to consider in the near future especially with such a big and young family and me being the oldest of all my younger siblings it helps to be around at home, so I can try help them growing up and lead by example with three younger brothers you’d think at least one of them will want to play rugby, Also with two younger sisters can’t be leaving all the work to them!  They often joke about only coming home two or three times in the year and I’d say we can swap jobs for a week and we’ll see how you feel jokingly. So certainly, a move home would be something I’d like to do in time maybe after I’ve gained a lot more valuable experience across the sea.”