Tigers secured their 9th straight playoff semi
final with a thumping 6 try 42-22 victory away to Sale. First half tries from Vereniki Goneva and
Toby Flood gave Tigers a 14-3 half time lead to which Tigers quickly added, racing
to a 35-3 lead before falling off and allowing 3 consolation scores to Sale.
Previous trips to Sale have required sterling second half
comebacks but this one was a more comfortable affair as Tigers squeezed Sale in
defence whilst finishing our own chances relatively clinically.
Sale had the early territory and possession but could not
make it count, a knock from Tom Brady spoiling a 7 phase spell inside the
Tigers 22. Sale varied their game well,
keeping the Tigers defence on their toes with a mix of pick and goes with
distributing to the wider channels.
Tigers opened the scoring on their first real attack. It was a classic multi-phase Tigers
score. Anthony Allen kept the defence honest,
straightening from a strong Tigers scrum.
Tait went wide and we recycled
through Slater. Sale’s defence was up
fast and twice was on Youngs before he passed.
Allen though swept up the loose ball and straightened, silkily off
loading to Ayerza whose back hand flip set Morris through the middle.
Quickly it went right and a hint of an overlap was extinguished,
but not before Mulipola rumbled to within 5. This caught full back Tom Arscott in the ruck. With inexperienced wingers Tom Brady and
Charlie Ingall unaware it was Owen Williams who exploited the gap with a
delicious Andy Goode-esque chip off the outside of his right boot. Tuilagi and Goneva were first to it with the
Fijian claiming his 14 score of the campaign.
Sale quickly claimed their first points following a terrific
break from kiwi Michael Paterson, Jamie Gibson was harshly ruled to have not
released the man and media darling Danny Cipriani nailed the 3 points from in
front.
Tigers lead should have been more but for 3 uncharacteristic
penalty misses by Owen Williams. The
first when the score was nil all went wide right and the next two skewed
left. 6 from 9 in total though can
hardly be considered a poor return.
A try was also inexplicably ruled out in the 22nd
minute. Ed Slater made a lovely inside
break from Williams’ pass; Niall Morris executed a dead eye grubber which
Anthony Allen pounced on to finish strongly.
Referee JP Doyle however chose to go back and check the midfield pass he
had ruled fair in the build up. Quite
how the hands were ruled to be going forwards I’ll never know. Compare that try to Jonathan Joseph’s given
in the home game against Bath by the same referee.
Compare also to the try in Toulouse v Clermont where the man
running on the angle throws the ball on the inside, clearly travels 3 yards
forward but is allowed as the hands were going backwards.
Tigers were quickly in the ascendency again; Goneva steaming
in but unable to hold Ben Youngs’ delayed pass.
Sale adventurously countered from behind their own posts. Leota’s inside pass to Fihaki sent the number
8 on a gallop from one 22 to the other.
Anthony Allen made a superb try saving cover tackle on Tom Brady,
injuring himself out of the game in the process. In the after match analysis Sale will be disappointed
with the option chosen by Fihaki, Allen’s hips were turned and an inside pass
available.
It was his replacement Toby Flood who grabbed the next
try. Owen Williams made a good break,
handing off Moldovan prop Codilas and out pacing flanker Gaskell, before Ben
Youngs and Jordan Crane found Flood against Cobilas and his propping partner
Lewis-Roberts. The props had 4 defenders
to mark in far too much space and Flood easily ran between them.
The second half saw Tigers continue in the same rich vein of
form. Niall Morris, returning after 3
months of injury, capped his 50th start with a try. The Irishman was on hand with a terrific
supporting line to take Williams’ pass from contact following a nice break from
the Youngs brothers combining down the blindside.
A fourth try and the bonus point to secure a semi final was
quick in coming just 8 minutes later. A midfield obstruction by Henry Thomas gave Leicester good ball
inside the Sale 22. Tigers were finding
the Sale defence much tougher this time being driven backwards and forced wide,
the key to unlocking it came from a glorious off load from Jordan Crane. A little diamond of skill the number 8
slipped the pass behind his back, attracting the defence and allowing Gibson to
slip up the inside.
With the Sale defence now stretched it took one more phase
before Toby Flood, running his trademark fast and tight line from Ben Youngs,
went over for his 2nd try.
Danny Cipriani sportingly patted Flood on the back rather than try and
tackle him. What a nice chap.
Flood was almost in for his hat trick moments later. Tigers had gained possession in the Sale 22
from a weaving Ben Youngs break and a Sale offside. Goneva’s dummy line attracted the Sale
defence as Morris swept behind him; the Irishman straightened and found Flood
but good defence, and perhaps an early tackle, from Tom Brady prevented the
grounding.
It hardly mattered though as Tigers scrum marched the Sale
pack at a rate of knots to earn the penalty try.
With the game secured in the 60th minute there
was a marked drop in Tigers' intensity and the bench was emptied. Sale grabbed three tries but never really
looked like getting the most unlikeliest of comebacks.
First it was Michael Paterson exploiting Toby Flood’s poor
decision to blitz and racing in at the corner, then Henry Thomas scored
following a line out front peel. David Mele
and Vereniki Goneva looked completely uninterested in tackling the 20 stone of
Bath bound beef on the hoof and really can you blame them when winning by such a
margin?
There can be no complaints on Johnny Leota’s score though as
the Samoan raced in from half way with a lovely swerve to beat Niall
Morris. Tigers though will be disappointed
with Waldrom’s first up tackle and Mele’s miss in open field.
The diminutive Frenchman made amends though with the final
score. Niall Morris had a good chance
for a second score of his own but fumbled the grounding, with Sale now running
everything Tigers were able to turnover an ambitious cross field kick before
gaining a penalty. With the scrum taken
but not marching forwards like the previous one Waldrom picked up and backed into the
halfback, off loading to Mele for the easy dive in.
A stonking scoreline and 9th successive Play Off
semi final, all in all a good day at the office in anyone’s book. Tigers though will not be happy with the
spurned chances. Tom Croft is rumoured to
be fit again and what a boost in the search for an 11th Championship
that would be.
