Argentina skipper Julian Montoya has recalled how his brutal first day at Leicester left him fearing it would be impossible to earn the respect of Steve Borthwick\u2019s Tigers squad.<\/p>\n
Following the 2020 collapse of the Jaguares Super Rugby franchise due to the pandemic, the hooker was snapped up by Borthwick in January 2021 and he went on to enjoy a stellar four and a half year stay at the club.<\/p>\n
By the time he finished this summer<\/a>, Montoya had played his part in Leicester\u2019s 2023 Premiership title win and had also captained the team in the 2025 final.<\/p>\n Before he flew out for the start of Argentina\u2019s Rugby Championship campaign, which last Saturday resulted in a first-ever home win over New Zealand, Montoya shot the breeze on the For The Love Of Rugby show<\/a> with Ben Youngs and Dan Cole<\/a>, two of his former Leicester teammates.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the worst ever\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Both Youngs and Cole retired from rugby following Leicester\u2019s defeat by Bath<\/a> in last June\u2019s English final, but Montoya certainly isn\u2019t stopping yet and the 31-year-old will hook up with Pau in the French Top 14 when his current Test commitments with Argentina end.<\/p>\n Montoya\u2019s contribution at Leicester was highly praised when he announced that the 2024\/25 season was his last at the club, but he opened up with Youngs and Cole on their show about how his first day training with the squad at Oval Park left him mortified and fearing the worst.<\/p>\n He struggled with the bench press in the gym and then blew up on the Watt bike as he had never been on one before, resulting in him going to home to his Leicester hotel that night and telling his wife about his embarrassing day.<\/p>\n \u201cI arrived there and they said straight out, the strength and conditioning guy, \u2018You are going to go to the bench press. Coley, Tom Youngs, (Ellis) Gengey, let\u2019s go\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew what was going to happen, I knew it straight away. I finished the set, maybe it was like 125\/2. They started warming up, and I was saying that I was so embarrassed. I went back to the hotel and said it to my wife that it was one of the worst ever.<\/p>\n \u201cI was so embarrassed with what was happening. I was, \u2018It is impossible to earn respect if I\u2019m that s**t in the gym\u2019.<\/p>\n England fans are all saying the same thing about the coach Steve Borthwick wants to recruit before the November internationals<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cAnd then we have our Watt bike session, and I went with Tom Youngs. I had never done a Watt bike before. Never, ever. We started a competition, and Tom was the best and we lost the competition.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was the best by far, but we lost the competition (against the other front-rowers). I was like, \u2018Sorry, Tom. It was my first time\u2019. I couldn\u2019t walk for a while. It was probably the worst landing, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n Compounding the day was how the Leicester forwards joked that Montoya was looking to fight with Tom Youngs. \u201cWe were going to do some lineouts in the dome, and I was drinking water and asked Tom, \u2018Do you want some?\u2019 I didn\u2019t understand the joke. And then they started saying, \u2018Do you want some? Do you want some?\u2019 No one told me anything.\u201d<\/p>\n