One man's blasphemy is another man's fair comment but you could drive around Leicester handing out £50 notes and still struggle to persuade anyone to criticise Dean Richards in public. If strong views are encouraged within the Tigers' inner sanctum, they rarely go further and it is a brave employee who queries Richards' methods when the director of rugby is seated only yards away.

Fortunately, after 54 caps on the openside flank for New Zealand, Josh Kronfeld is the fearless type and, with lunch awaiting, the former All Black also knows how to cover a sensational amount of ground in a short time. It was a pity he had to dash off because he laid bare more home truths about Leicester inside 12 minutes than most players do in an entire career.

In the build-up to this evening's local derby with Northampton, not all his opinions are complimentary.

For among various bugbears - he also remains unconvinced by England's back line, of which more later - the 31-year-old Kronfeld refuses to pretend his 16 months at Welford Road have been idyllic.

Only now, with Lewis Moody and Neil Back both injured, is he guaranteed a start at No7 and he insists the man-management of Richards has made a frustrating situation worse.

"I don't know what he wants from me because he's never told me," he says in an interview for Rugby Nomads, a recently published book in New Zealand. "It's a pretty strange situation to be in after spending your life in New Zealand under All Black coaches who left you in no doubt about their opinions."

Richards can always respond by nodding towards the Tigers' well-stuffed trophy cabinet but Kronfeld, his team's man of the match in five of their last seven games, is unrepentant. "I understand it's difficult to keep everyone happy but you have to make sure you're telling players what they need to do to be involved."

Is this bitter personal experience talking? A pause, then a knowing smile. "You can take that however you want. The coaching panel here are very good at what they do but, let's face it, everyone has room for improvement."

Outside his chauffeur, the French prop Frank Tournaire, is revving up the car but Kronfeld is not finished yet. "Last season was tough. I wasn't getting games because of injury and when I was available I wasn't being used. It was the same at the start of this season. What am I meant to do? If you're playing you can prove how good you are but that wasn't happening. I've just been filling the holes. To be honest I didn't expect it to be quite like this. I thought that because of the number of games they have there'd be enough rugby for everyone but it hasn't worked out that way.

"It was frustrating and disappointing. When you get the opportunity to go somewhere different you desperately want to show the people who have invested their time and money what you're capable of. I am a foreigner here and you want to show the things you do that are slightly different to what is standard in England."

For that reason he regrets the absence of Back and Moody, both injured at Twickenham last Saturday, because this week's selection would have told him precisely where he stood. "It would have been just nice to say 'I'm playing really well, you're going to have to make a decision here.' Now it's just a case of 'There's no one else'."

And there may be no one else until the new year. Moody, forced off the field only 15 minutes into England's record defeat of South Africa, underwent shoulder surgery during the week and is unlikely to play again before mid-January. Back suffered a fractured cheekbone in the ferocious encounter and has an optimistic aim of returning for the Tigers' Premiership fixture at Wasps on December 27.

But if Kronfeld scarcely sounds like a man keen to stay in his current place of work beyond the end of the season, the truth is less black and white. He remains fascinated by the idea of playing in France but his girlfriend Jessica is happy in England and, with the World Cup looming, Kronfeld knows there will be no shortage of English clubs, Leicester included, who would appreciate his services.

Apart from anything else, it also allows him to monitor the progress of Clive Woodward's England. "They've got most of the positions covered but where do they go from here? They might not have played the exact teams they're going to meet at the World Cup and there are positions I think they're quite weak in." Which areas might they be? "Well, the All Black back-line really showed where they need to get to to be competitive in the semi-finals and finals."

For now, though, Kronfeld is more concerned about Northampton, with their strong back-row and heavy Kiwi influence. He hates playing against his contemporary Andrew Blowers - "I know he is going to put me on my arse every time" - but goes misty-eyed at the mention of his old Otago mate, John Leslie. "I love playing with that guy because he always looks to keep his forwards in the game. I wish all second five-eighths were as blissful to play with."

Several youthful Tigers, in turn, must feel similarly about Kronfeld.

"Maybe we raised ourselves so high to play against Gloucester we forgot to come back down," mused the flanker, waving aside last week's defeat at London Irish.

He remains his own man but Leicester, not to mention English rugby, will miss him when he has gone.