I want to enjoy my final weeks here

Paul Rees talks to centre Dan Kelly, who joined Leicester back in 2020 and is now heading off to play for Munster

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DAN Kelly is set on helping Leicester win the Premiership for the second time in three years, but however the Tigers' season finishes it will hold disappointment for the midfielder.

Kelly joined Leicester in 2020 as an 18-year old when he was at Loughborough University having been released by Sale's academy. Little more than 12 months later, he made his England debut against Canada having cemented himself in the Tigers' midfield.

But his upward trajectory straightened out this season after the arrival of Michael Cheika as head coach, Kelly's fourth boss since arriving at Welford Road. Having been a regular starter, his appear-ances were rationed and he was told midway through the season that he would not be offered a new contract.

Cheika used the first four Premiership rounds to assess his midfield options, using a differ-ent combination each time with Kelly, who started two, the first at inside-centre and the second at 13, jockeying for position with Izaia Perese, Solomone Kata and Joseph Woodward.

Cheika came to settle on Kata and Woodward, the latter enjoying a breakthrough campaign like Kelly's at the start of the decade, and Kelly is in his final weeks at Leicester before joining Munster - he is qualified to play for Ireland through his grandparents as it is more than three years since he won his England cap.

"I have always had a lot of minutes in my time at Leicester so it has been frustrating this season," said Kelly, who has made five Premier-ship starts compared to 16 in the 2023-24 campaign.

"Maybe I took it a bit for granted in the past. Every time I have been on the pitch this season, whether starting or not, I feel I have been playing well and can almost go out on a high, not that the season is done yet.