Olly Cracknell: How Leicester Tigers’ coaching turnover led to Wales call-up

Cracknell has made more than 70 appearances across all competitions for Tigers in his three-and-a-half years with the East Midlands side.

In December he committed his future to Leicester, signing a new contract just a month after earning his long-awaited first cap for Wales.

It was after Leicester faced Exeter Chiefs in their final game of 2025 – a match the Tigers lost – that Cracknell reflected on what he had achieved last year.

He recalled the meeting in which he learned of his Wales selection, and the speech delivered by national team boss Steve Tandy, that stood out as particularly poignant moment in his life and career.

“Tandy had given me my first professional contract at Ospreys, so for me it was kind of a full circle moment,” Cracknell said.

“He said a couple of words at the end, because I was the only one named who was making their debut, and he said well done on pushing hard and not giving up on it.

“But I could see while he was talking that he looked at me, and I was quite emotional at that point, and he had to stop talking because he could see I was going. It was special moment.”

Cracknell will have the upcoming Six Nations tournament in his sights, but with a packed schedule of Prem and European Champions Cup fixtures to come before that in January he said international rugby “hasn’t been on my mind”.

“It was a special time, but it’s gone now and I’m very aware that I need to keep pushing to get better in this Leicester team,” he said.