Humiliated

Well.  What to say about that?

Let's start with some book keeping.  To keep me sane.  That was Tigers record loss in competitive rugby.  Record loss in league rugby.  Record loss to Bath.  It was the first nilling we have suffered since the famous 33-0 drubbing in Ulster in January 2004.  It is the third time we have failed to trouble the scorers in league rugby after a 1989 nilling at Kingsholm and a 14-0 defeat to Northampton in 2003.

So it is not hyperbolic to call that the worst Tigers performance I've ever seen.  Factually it is.  And probably the worst performance from long before I started watching too.

First of all, and bitterly, grudgingly, lets give Bath some credit.  Scoring 45 points is hard against anyone.  They utterly overwhelmed us, taking almost every chance they had.  Thankfully they did spoon at least 2 chances in the first half or we would be looking at 50.

They were fast, aggressive and penalty free in defence.  Their attack was sharp and their carrying powerful.

But enough about them.

We were awful.  In the first half we just didn't look up for it at all.  Off the pace and uninterested at times.  We were bullied at the breakdown and Ford masterfully controlled territory so that we just didn't have a sniff of attacking ball.  The one chance we had in the 22 we were inattentive at the ruck and got turned over.

In the second half it actually picked up.  Its just our problems changed.  We had mountains of ball, tons of it, and some of it in pretty good possessions.  We actually ran at some pace and pushed the Bath defence back.  But we couldn't do it for long enough.  A rare penalty was gained and kicked to the corner.  Spilled in the maul.

To add insult to injury Bath then raced the length for a score that exposed our atrocious tackling.  But we came back at them, only to do it again.  Knock ons, kicks away, turned over we ran the full gamut of ways to balls up try scoring chances once Wayne Barnes ruled out Bob Barbieri's effort for an imaginary double movement.

Towards the end we had a penalty with Nick Auterac sin binned.  For me it should have been kicked at goal.  38-7 is no less embarrassing than 38-3 but both better than the dreaded nil.

Rubbing salt in the wound was David Mele's red card for stamping.  Some have criticised the decision but I just can't, the ball is miles away, Barbieri had already won the turnover and was setting up a new ruck.

Still after Ulster we responded with a 49-7 win, after Northampton we beat Leeds 39-11 and after Gloucester in 1989 we bounced back with a 37-6 win over Liverpool St. Helens.

Hope springs eternal.

2014/15 Season Preview: Bath

Bath

Founded: 1865

Years in Top Tier: 27

Last Year: 5^th in Prem (67 points), Amlin Challenge Cup beaten Finalists, Anglo Welsh Cup Semi finalists

Europe: Champions Cup

Director of Rugby: Mike Ford

Transfers:

In: Henry Thomas (Sale), Nick Auterac (Saracens), Sam Burgess (South Sydney RL), Luke Arscott (Exeter), Grant Sheills (Bath)

Out: Anthony Perenise (Bristol), Nick Adendanon (Clermont Auvergne), Josh Ovens (Retirement), Nick Koster (Bristol), Charlie Beech (Leeds), Tom Briggs (Worcester), Eusebio Guinazu (Unknown), Tom Heathcote (Edinburgh), Martin Roberts (Ospreys)

Ins: 5

Outs: 9

Bath are due to enter their sesquicentenary celebrations at the end of this season, what is a sesquincentenary you ask?  Obviously it is a 150^th anniversary.  Apparently.  Amusingly the word appears to be almost 90 years younger than Bath Football Club its self.  Never mind.

Bath pretty much lived up to my expectations last year, starting well and their forwards providing enough grunt in the winter they fell away in the second half of the season and were pipped at the post by Quins for the final playoff spot.

Most of the off season work has been tinkering around the edges of the squad with Nick Abendanon and Anthony Perenise the only major leavers.  Perenise has been replaced by local Bath boy Henry Thomas whilst Luke Arscott’s surprise exit from Exeter covers Abendanon’s departure to France.

Bath’s pack remains a fearsome weapon and at times last season we saw the back line begin to motor.  With Ford pulling the strings the likes of Devoto, Eastmond and Watson were free to wreak havoc.

The major signing is league’s Sam Burgess, apparently as a centre despite being a prop or lock in the 13 man game.  A Brad Thorn-esque switch to the pack makes more sense to me.  Burgess could well be a major disruptive influence to a Bath side that seemed on the edge of igniting, the pressure from the media and the meddling of Lancaster will likely see him pressed into action too soon and seemingly at centre disrupting the burgeoning Ford-Eastmond-Devoto axis.

A tough opening spell where they face Leicester, Northampton and Saracens in consecutive weeks may well prove to be the difference between 5^th and 4^th for the West Country men who still look at least one more year away from ending their 19 year title drought.

Prediction: 4^th

Same Old Tigers, Always Cheating?

It’s become part of the sporting folklore, a myth as old as time, Leicester cheat.  You hear it everywhere, from crazy message board conspiracy theorists to allegedly professional pundits.  We’re successful because we cheat and give away shed loads of penalties.  But is there any truth to that?

We never see any analysis of penalties, occasionally we might see a table of yellow cards, but you never see the number of offences each team commits.  Until now.  ESPN.co.uk keeps the penalty count for each Premiership game; using the power of addition I’ve crunched the numbers and found out whether that old wives tale has any basis in fact.
 

Frustratingly for a complete data set one match, Saracens v London Irish at Allianz Park, is missing.  Therefore Saracens and London Irish’s number are averaged over 21 rather than 22 games. 

From this we can see that the two dirtiest teams were the bottom half strugglers Gloucester and Irish, averaging around 13 penalties a game.  Tigers on the other hand were the second cleanest team in the league, only Mike Ford’s Bath conceded fewer penalties during the season.

On the other side of the ledger it was Bath who was the most fouled against, with Leicester and Harlequins almost inseparable behind them in second and third place respectively.  Myth busted.  Tigers are more sinned against than sinners.

Across the league overall penalties conceded average to be very similar.  Roughly speaking a side, over the season, will give away between 10 and 13 penalties per match; the majority average 11 per game.  Penalties awarded are a little bit more dispersed with the top 5 almost 2 penalties per game better off than the middle 5. 

Over the whole season Bath gained 92 net penalties, i.e. more than they conceded, interestingly Worcester were the only side outside that top 5 with a positive balance.  Tigers were second with a positive balance of 52 net penalties.  At the wrong end were Gloucester (-52), Wasps (-53) and Irish (-65).

The interesting bit is when the yellow cards get dished out.  You’d think that the most befouled teams would gain the most from the referees, which would make sense as yellow cards were introduced to deal with persistent infringement, and that as penalties conceded are very flat so would be yellow cards.

But no.  The yellow card numbers go haywire.  If we take yellow cards per penalty Tigers had to foul 14.4 times to see yellow but Exeter were allowed to get away with 34.3 penalties before losing a man.  Harlequins conceded 30 more penalties than the Tigers but saw 3 fewer yellows, whilst the Tigers cheat myth seems to be false the one about Harlequins being the RFU’s darlings seems to be borne out.  For the opposition to get a yellow card against Tigers or Saracens they need to give away 21.8 penalties but the Quins need only 12.8 penalties to gain a 10 minute advantage.

Despite Tigers running such a positive balance of net penalties (+52) we have seen 3 more players sin binned than the opposition.  Harlequins on the other hand have a net balance of only +22 but have 9 fewer players sin binned than their opponents.  Given how tight the playoff race was, and how tight the play offs promise to be, it does not seem farfetched that effectively playing a whole match extra against 14 men gives Quins an advantage.

Home and away differences are also apparent.  Only 3 teams conceded more at home than they were awarded, and Tigers concede 40% fewer penalties at home compared to away.  Over the whole league the away side has to concede 3 fewer penalties to get a yellow card than the home side.  The yellow card numbers are again striking and not good reading ahead of our semi final; at home Tigers see yellow every 22^nd penalty offence but away that drops to 12, the lowest in the league.

One final really stand out result.  Andrew Small has refereed 19 games this season and seen 14 away wins.  How come he couldn’t get our semi?

Three in a Row: Tigers winless home run goes on

Tigers were knocked out of the LV Cup on Friday night after conceding the try bonus point to a rampant Bath side at Welford Road.  Coming swiftly on the back of the defeat to Ulster and the Premiership draw with Bath Tigers are yet to register a home win in 2014.  Three games winless at home ties Tigers worst home record in competitive fixtures.

Not wanting to sensationalise the loss but those are the bare facts of the current run of form.

Needing a bonus point win to stand any hope of progression Tigers started pretty well.  Young Argentine flanker Pablo Matera, on his home debut, did well to stretch out and score the try under heavy pressure.  Matera made a proper nuisance at the breakdown and carried well all night.  Surely he has earned himself a place in the Premiership match day squad.

Bath’s first try had more than a bit of luck about it.  Thomas Waldrom lost his footing in the wet conditions giving Nick Abendanon room to run.  The ball spilled loose from a solid Tigers tackle and was quickly passed to flanker Alafoti Faosiliva, he chipped the covering defence of Sam Harrison then won the foot race for the grounding.  Courtesy of our new big screen we could all see that the Bath man had his foot in touch before he kicked it, as the boos rang round the ground Wayne Barnes ignored the evidence and awarded the try. 

The rain had now started, both teams’ tactics changed and the kicking game was to the fore.  Tigers’ second score was directly from a good old fashioned Up ‘n’ Under.  Owen Williams displayed his Rugby League background with a booming Garryowen, terrific height and just enough length; it looked like Tigers had over chased it; Hepetema and Abendanon waited underneath for the ball to land.  But they hadn’t counted on US Eagle Blaine Scully.  Showing great hustle he challenged Abendanon for possession, grabbed the loose bouncing ball and raced away under the posts for the try.

It was the kind of try that anyone could score but only a few ever actually do.  That bravery, work rate and willingness to do something a bit odd is a product of his less than usual career path.  After Adam Thompstone’s less than stellar game for England ‘A’ perhaps the American is another who has enhanced his First XV prospects in this disappointing loss.

This was about as good as it got for Tigers.

Williams and Henson traded penalties for a 17-11 lead but Bath struck back before half time. 

The West Country side attacked with good precision, Scully got sucked in too tight on his inside man which let Banahan round the outside.  A cracking side step from Leroy Houston on Owen Williams put Bath inside the 5 metre line.  A try saving tackle from Tom Price was all for nought as Scott Hamilton could not deny Banahan who went in at the corner.  Suspicions of his back leg being in touch were not investigated as Barnes awarded the try without going to the TMO.

Tigers were kept scoreless in the second half.

George Chuter, after no warning, only one penalty and outside the 22 was sin binned for coming in from the side after 51 minutes. 

Those ten minutes were crucial.  Bath brought on their big guns, like Francois “Elbow” Louw and Carl Fearns and gained 10 points.  The third try was scored by Ollie Devoto after smash runs off the back of a scrum by the Bath back row.  A scrum Bath only had because Boris Stankovich was throwing in. 

A bonus point try came for Bath from another driving maul.  Tigers just couldn’t defend this tactic on the night.  The usual tactics of driving them back, using physical players to disrupt the opposition wasn’t working when Barnes refused to call a maul stationary. 

Going early and risking the in the air penalty was the obvious next tactic but we never tried it; catching the ball carrier and dragging him straight to ground was another unexplored option.  We seem very poor at adapting when referees won’t enforce the laws properly; we rarely take advantage of a blind spot and continue when they give penalties against our legal tactics.

There have been the usual excuses of a more experienced opponent, injuries and players missing but we need to worry about the players we did pick playing badly.  If we had played well and Bath bettered us then those factors could be in play.

A light at the end of the tunnel is that next week away to Worcester we should have a full team out.  Ayerza, Mulipola, Deacon, Kitchener, possibly Slater, Mafi, Salvi, Matera, Crane, Youngs, Flood, Allen and Tait should all be available.  Only Cole and Tom Youngs should be missing.  We’ll either improve and win or the excuses will have to go out of the window for some forthright honesty.

Tigers draw Bath

They say a draw is like kissing your cousin.  You’re glad you’ve not lost but disappointed not to have won.  Some people get really wound up by draws in Rugby.  I’ve never really understood that attitude, a good draw is as worthy an afternoon’s entertainment as any other.

But it could have been more.  But it might have been less.

Jamie Gibson capped a fine performance squeezing into the corner to seal the draw with next to no time left on the clock.  Owen Williams had the conversion to steal the win at the death.  But it drifted wide.  It was hard lines for Williams who missed all three conversions he attempted.  All were from the touchline and were close but that is no consolation.

Tigers had done well and showed terrific resolve to get back into the game.  After 50 minutes it was grim reading for the home fans as Jonathon Joseph’s try gave Bath a 10 point lead.  How the TMO failed to spot the forward pass to Joseph is a mystery.  Even under the modern, sexy, southern hemisphere interpretations of where the hands go it was forwards. 

To rub salt in the wounds Bath had knocked on in the earlier lineout and were, at least accidentally, offside when it was re-gathered into the maul.

Whilst the lack of call on the attack is disappointing Tigers also will be less than pleased over the tackling in that first 50 minutes.

Tigers started the match well, gaining good territory inside the Bath 22.  After Jordan Crane set up the mid field ruck Owen Williams spread it out to Toby Flood who committed his opposite number before releasing Louis Deacon on the outside.  Deacon did a lovely take and give to put Miles Benjamin in space.

Showing the predatory instincts that brought him to Tigers attentions in the first place Benjamin finished the try with a superb inside shimmy, holding the defence to give him the room to score in the corner.

Williams kick faded wide but he was on the mark with a penalty 4 minutes later after Matt Garvey failed to roll away in the ruck. 

Bath responded immediately.  Ben Youngs cleared the kick off to around half way.  It was a scrappy win for Bath and Stringer juggled the knock down.  Off the right arm and it was forward but he got his left on it in the nick of time.

The bouncing ball attracted Tigers inside defence, sniffing the dominate tackle, but Ford showed coolness to float it over Flood towards Nick Abendanon.  Abendanon took Goneva on the outside, the Fijian will be disappointed with his effort, and drew in Mat Tait as last man to feed Anthony Watson.  The try still needed some finishing though as Watson powered through Niall Morris’s tackle to go under the posts.

Bath didn’t rest on their laurels and were quick to test the Tigers defence again.  Kyle Eastmond, a league convert, was effervescent in attack as he round Marcos Ayerza to break the defensive line.  On fast ball George Ford weaved inside Tom Youngs and just outside of Julian Salvi’s grasp to set up a switch ball for Francois Louw to power over for Bath’s second try in 5 minutes.

This was good play from Bath but the litter of missed tackles from Tigers in the build up to the first and third tries especially will be aggravating for the coaches in their analysis.  You can prepare your team as well as you like but when individuals miss tackles you will concede tries.

Williams and Ford then traded penalties before Miles Benjamin had a great chance for Tigers.  Jamie Gibson managed to free the ball from a ruck and Benjamin was away down the G.N.C. Stand side; with only Ford to beat his decision to chip and gather was perhaps not the best.  Easy with hindsight and it was close to coming off. 

Williams then Ford scored more penalties to make it 14-20 at half time; Perenise had failed to roll away from a ruck for Bath then Ed Slater was adjudged to have played the scrum half from the ruck.

After half time Williams cut the gap to only 3 with a monster 48 meter penalty following Paul James boring in at scrum.

Joseph’s try, remarked upon above, then put Bath 10 clear and the writing was on the wall for the Champion Tigers.  Already long short of the Saints in second place if Tigers have serious designs on Twickenham in May they need to make a statement and deny Bath the win. 

And the Try Bonus Point.  Joseph’s try was Bath’s third, just one short of the required for a bonus point.  So when they again gained the favour J.P. Doyle it was no surprise to see George Ford kick for the corner.

This was a massive moment.  A bonus point win for Bath at Welford Road would have seen Tigers season holed below the waterline.

Webber threw in to the lineout and Bath forwards were repelled by a humongous effort from all the forwards but Tom Youngs and Ed Slater in particular.  This was arguably the turning point in the match as it signalled the end of Bath’s positive play as they slowly retreated into their shell.

Tigers brought David Mele and Thomas Waldrom on from the bench.  Ben Youngs and Jordan Crane had played well but we needed fresh legs to lift the tempo and change tack in attack. 

A midfield penalty was kicked by Flood to the corner.  He signals the side together for a huddle.  What was said?  And by who?  A deep tactical analysis from Flood or Mele perhaps, or a cry from the heart by Louis Deacon?

When in doubt go back to the basics.  The weapon that has skewered Bath time and again.  The rolling maul.

They take it down.  We go again.  They take down again.  Captain Hooper is binned for his part.  We go again.  Penalty again.  But for Bath!  On as a sub for Ed Slater it is Sebastian De Chaves who is ruled to have blocked the Bath defence.

But soon sanity is restored and Tigers are going for it again; 4 minutes later we have a line out 10m from the line.  Catch by Gibson, drive by the pack with Waldrom secure with the ball at the back.  He breaks for the line.  Takes Matt Garvey with him and swoops through the legs of Devoto to find the ground.  With help from Mele’s guiding finger Doyle sees the grounding and awards the try.

Again Williams is agonisingly wide as his conversion just gets caught on the wind.

Tigers were going for it now and Bath was hanging on.  Whether it was fitness or, more likely, nerves their body language and tactics had gone negative.  They seemed to forget they were only one try from a 5 point win.  Thank god.

It took long enough and for a while it seemed like it was never going to happen.  But Tigers found the referee’s grace with 4 minutes on the clock and Flood kicked the penalty deep into the Bath 22.  The drive was halted by what seemed to be a Bath player round the side but no penalty was forth coming and Tigers went on. 

First Williams tried himself; then it was Dan Cole and Tom Youngs.  It came back to Toby Flood, going left, who again tried his luck before Mele moved it right and towards Gibson.  It took two phases and another Williams drive but Gibson got the ball with the line at his mercy.  Banahan tried his best to dislodge the ball but under heavy pressure Gibson got it down.

The telling feature in the end was that Bath’s tries were central, whilst we were forced to the fringes.  With easier conversion Williams would surely have landed at least one.  It is also worth remembering that whilst Ford had the best of the kicking this day his season’s percentage is still only 70% whilst Williams’s remains over 80%. 

Tigers are now level on points with Quins in 4^th, with players like Manu, Parling, Croft, Mulipola and Allen still to come back a play off place is there to be taken.  And from then who knows?

Flood's 100 Up, but Williams retains No.10

Tigers name their strongest possible line up for the visit of long time rivals Bath to Welford Road.  

Let's make no bones about it; this is a crucial game.  Some people have been fooled into complacency by the stats from last week's programme that we are level pegging with last season.  It is true our record of wins, losses and tries from round 9 were tied.  

But after the equivalent fixtures last year we beat Worcester and went top.  This year we are 13 points from second place.  For some context after the atrocious start to the 2011/12 season, when we were denied so many of our player by the World Cup we made it to this stage of the season 10 points from a home semi final.

Since the play offs were introduced we have only once been this far from a home semi final after 11 rounds; that was 2003/4 when were only above Rotherham and Saracens in the table and saw Deano's departure not long after.

Northampton and Saracens have stolen a march on us in 2013.  It's time for Tigers to show their teeth and make 2014 our year again.

Toby Flood makes his 100th start for the club after recovering from a leg injury suffered away to Montpellier.  It is sad that such a historic start is his first since announcing he was jumping ship and giving up the Tigers captaincy to chase more cash.  By my records he is the first Tigers captain to leave for money.  Murphy, Corry, Johnson and Deano all retired in the role.

Interestingly Owen Williams retains the fly half jersey with Flood moving to inside centre for only the 3rd time in his century of starts.  Let's hope for better results than the two losses suffered to Cardiff and Ospreys in the other games.

Miles Benjamin returns on the wing in place of Adam Thompstone, Benjamin rewarded for his fine form and Thompstone punished for his poor attempted tackle on Mark Cueto last week.

In the pack Jordan Crane and Thomas Waldrom once again rotate at number 8 but the rest is unchanged.  Graham Kitchener returns to bench and is unlucky to miss out but in a power game on the smaller Welford Road pitch Louis Deacon's strengths cannot be excluded.

A welcome return to the Match day squad is hooker Rob Hawkins.  Hawkins has yet to feature in a match day squad this season after a shoulder injury in the summer and he will surely be highly motivated against his home town.

Bath have been in superb form this season with 11 wins in succession until they faced Northampton at the Garden's last weekend.

They name a strong team with former Tigers fly half George Ford in at 10.  Whilst Ford's status as the league's top scorer has more to do with Bath's tactics of kicking their penalties at goal rather than for territory he is in reasonably nick none the less.

He teams up with want away League star Kyle Eastmond and Jonathan Joseph in a talented but light weight mid-field.  The winger Matt Banahan more than compensates for any lack of bulk elsewhere; let's just hope he doesn't pole axe any of our players this year.

Also featuring is last year's red card shame flanker Francois Louw.  The RFU might have preferred to shame the touch judge into retiring by over turning his decision, with no evidence, but those of us on the terrace know that Louw's red card was fully deserved. 

A less extreme incident in the Millenium Stadium in November earned him a yellow card for South Africa so perhaps he has learned the tiniest of lessons. 

Referee J.P. Doyle hails from Dublin and joined the RFU's refereeing department after traveling to London for University.  He has refereed the Tigers 14 times previously with Leicester winning 11, losing 2 and drawing that memorable game against Saints earlier this season.  Doyle has a reputation of a more hands off referee which can lead to exciting but lower scoring games.

The game has been moved to a Sunday lunch time for BT Sports, the effect can be seen as tickets sold are expected to be under 23,000 for such a big game.  To make matter worse it will not even be on BT Sports 1 as that channel is showing, of all teams, Derby!  What a way to rub salt in the wound.

Leicester
15 Mathew Tait
14 Niall Morris
13 Vereniki Goneva
12 Toby Flood (c)
11 Miles Benjamin
10 Owen Williams
9 Ben Youngs
1 Marcos Ayerza
2 Tom Youngs
3 Dan Cole
4 Louis Deacon
5 Ed Slater
6 Jamie Gibson
7 Julian Salvi
8 Jordan Crane
Replacements
16 Rob Hawkins
17 Boris Stankovich
18 Fraser Balmain
19 Graham Kitchener
20 Thomas Waldrom
21 David Mélé
22 Scott Hamilton
23 Matt Smith

Bath
15 Nick Abendanon
14 Anthony Watson
13 Jonathan Joseph
12 Kyle Eastmond
11 Matt Banahan
10 George Ford
9 Peter Stringer
1 Paul James
2 Rob Webber
3 Anthony Perenise
4 Stuart Hooper ( c )
5 Dave Attwood
6 Matt Garvey
7 Francois Louw
8 Carl Fearns
Replacements
16 Eusebio Guinazu
17 Nathan Catt
18 Juan Pablo Orlandi
19 Dominic Day
20 Leroy Houston
21 Martin Roberts
22 Ollie Devoto
23 Horacio Agulla
Leicester Kit:








Bath Kit:

Referee: J.P. Doyle
Touch Judges: Ashly Rowden & Gareth Copsey
TV: BT Sports 2 HD, Sunday 1PM (KO: 2PM)

Lamb goes to Pot as Tigers lose out to Bath

Rugby.  It’s a funny old game.  I must start off by admitting I didn’t go to the Rec so settled in to get my Tigers fix on BT Sport instead.  Apparently BT Sport is new best thing but at least when Sky covered the Rugby they covered the Rugby.  They didn’t spend 10 of the 15 minutes of build up talking football, they didn’t constantly run football scores across the top and they didn’t offer us the piercing insights of Marouane Fellani at half time.  Though to be fair he probably knows as much about Rugby as Dewi Morris.

And for those that don’t know I quite like football.  Been going to LCFC all my life.  But I do not accept Fife v Brechin Athletic score updates are needed on the top of my screen during the Rugby.  Any Rugby.  Let alone Tigers!

Anyway.  The Game.  The Rugby.

As Jake Humphreys might say it was a game of two halves; 21-3 to Bath in the first half, 17-6 to Leicester in the second.  Tigers really had the majority of the attacking play all day, spinning the ball wide and gaining ground round the fringes.  David Mele was the preferred kicker ahead of Ryan Lamb this week and put Tigers 3-0 up early on after Bath sealed off in the shadow of their posts.

Unfortunately that good start did not last long for Mele.  A free kick awarded to the Tigers was turned into a penalty for Bath by his behaviour.  At the next scrum the packs wheeled, as they do under these new rules, somehow Garner discerned that this was deliberate and Bath levelled.

Tigers were still on top with Scott Hamilton have a great chance of a finish but refusing to back his pace.  It’s an old stick to beat Cockerill with but would Purdy have had the pace to finish?  That dominance was dissipated in a sliding doors moment. 

Ryan Lamb threw a classic long floated pass and classically he’d got it wrong.  Jonathan Joseph stepped in front of Sebastian De Chaves to intercept the pass and raced away for the try.  If the ball had got past Joseph Tigers had a 4 on 1 and would have surely scored themselves.  Small margins our sport at times.

One of the things Martin Johnson used to talk about was compounding mistakes.  And the rest of the half saw Tigers compound and composite their mistakes in a goulash of awfulness. 

It starts with Mulipola.  He goes a bit high on Dave Attwood.  Garner mistakenly thinks there are no arms but there is little difference in terms of a penalty.  But he produces the yellow card.  Now.  I’ve got no problems with that as a yellow.   None at all.  But if we’re playing to those rules where were they last week?  Maybe a case for Geraint Ashton Jones in his new rule as consistency czar. 

Then a scrum.  With Boris “the finger” Stankovich manning the fort the scrum was better.  We looked like we’d won a penalty.  But no.  Mele, already in a bad mood and aggravating the referee, shoved Peter Stringer over.  Hard work nullified.  Mistake compounded. 

Ford makes a poor cross field clearance that Thompstone catches; he then collects his own grubber before being held up over the line.  Mele feeds the scrum.  Penalty.  Mistakes compounded.

By the by one thing I fail to understand in this brave new world of scrums is the penalty for a second feed.  They downgraded feeding from a penalty to a free kick in 1977 because it was spoiling the game and having too big an influence on major matches.  Now we seem keen to unlearn the lessons of history and spoil yet more games.  It’s also inconsistent within the game; we don’t start awarding penalties if a hooker throws two line outs not straight do we?

From the lineout Ed Slater and Jordan Crane are deemed to have entered the maul from the side.  Penalty.  Mistake compounded.

 Brilliant touch finder from Ford puts Bath 10 meters out.  That’s an 85 meter territory loss through indiscipline.  Youngs brilliantly stops the maul with an incredible drive.  But Garner has Tigers in his sights now after Mele’s antics and other sloppy penalties.  He sees the end result of the maul stopped and gives the penalty; instead of seeing the brilliant play of the how he only sees the cynical of the result. 

It’s a referee management issue as without the sloppy pens and the histrionics of Mele the referee won’t see the maul collapsing he will see the brilliant play by Youngs to stop it completely legally.

This time the referee compounds the error with a very harsh yellow card.

Back to Geraint Ashton Jones to explain how last week’s 17 penalties gained only 1 yellow card for Worcester but the 9 penalties here are worth 2 yellows for Leicester.

Ford makes it 16-3.

Mulipola is due to come back on.  Take the time for the lineout and we’ll be back to 14 at least.

But Lamb takes it quickly. Down to 13 for longer than necessary.  Mistakes compounded.

A lovely passage of play for Tigers over 14 rucks to the left and the right get us to within 5 yards of line.  Mele is caught at the base by Rokoduguni.  He clearly knocks it forwards out of Mele’s hands but that is missed.  Ford hacks clear.

Now this is the worst passage of play in the whole match.  Hamilton could kick it out.  He doesn’t.  Lamb could kick it up or out.  Bafflingly he doesn’t.  He grubbers it along the line on the floor.  Why?

Just why?

What is he thinking? 

He can’t play his forwards on side with the grubber.  He’s put it nowhere near touch.   We’re down to 13 men at this point and his kick has left 5 of them offside and out of the game.

I just can’t fathom why he thinks this is a good move.  There is 50 seconds of the half left. 

Boot it in the Avon get back to 14 men and half time will be in a matter of seconds.

This is why Lamb has never fulfilled his early promise and this is why Flood can be knocked out stone cold and be a better fly half.  For all Lamb’s good play in the second half (after a thousand words on the first I promise I will get to the second eventually) his bone headedness has lost us the game.  The first was a risk worth taking.  Okay its gone wrong but it was the right thing to do.  This one was the very worst option he could possibly take.  A penalty for holding on at least gets us back to 14.

Mistakes compounded.

And then Banahan runs it in from the half way line.  Really Morris and Hamilton should between them be able to hold him up.  Mistakes compounded.

And relax.  It’s mostly good from here.

More football from BT at half time.  Maroune “Dewi” Fellani offers us his analysis of Bath’s narrow rush defence and how Tigers are using the wide channels to good effect.

Now back to 15 this time it was Tigers who punished Bath’s mistakes.  Finally referee Garner spotted Paul James walking around the side of the scrum and Tigers cleared their lines to the 10m of their own half. 

Lamb throws a lovely dummy and steps inside the Bath rush, not once but twice.  He finds Ed Slater who charges past opposite number Hooper to gain good ground before passing a touch early to Thompstone.  Two phases to the right and a cheeky break by Niall Morris is stopped as his shorts fall down.  Back to the left and Youngs finds Lamb at second receiver.  He floats a lovely cross field kick for Thompstone. 

He gathers and off loads to Steve Mafi on the half hobble half swagger over the line.  The TMO checks for a forward pass but as Thompstone has his back to the line it would be an impressive feat of physics to go forward.

Mele skews the conversion well wide.

Tigers are now full of confidence and Morris combines with Hamilton to set the kiwi free through the middle.  He runs away from his support though and the moment is lost.  But Tigers are back in business and Bath are reeling.

Goneva is next through the middle.  The Fijian in his preferred position of outside centre cuts a swath through the Bath mid-field.  Two phases, and a lovely switch from the impressive Slater, later and the referee calls maul then turnover from no quick ball.  I feel there is a bit too much of this in the game at the moment.  A ruck can take an age but a fast moving maul goes to ground and unless the ball is immediately, and I mean immediately, available it goes to the opponents.  Just a quick chance for the scrum half to dig it out would be better in my view.

Tigers turn it back over but Lamb can’t find Thompstone with the ambitious pass on the outside.

But it’s all Tigers now.  Tom Youngs picks George Ford out of the defensive line and drives him back 20 meters to get onto the front foot.  Tigers’ multi-phase attack is in all its glory as they probe left and right, subtly pulling the defence apart over 9 rucks before Ed Slater squeezes over in the corner.

It is a credit to Bat’s defence that all the tries were scored in the corner.  It is an old Tigers trick to make them score out wide as it makes conversions harder and the tries worth less than ones under the posts. 

Mele converted this time and Tigers were within 7. 

Morris had clashed heads with Ford earlier in the game and was withdrawn.  This forced Ryan Lamb to full back and Bath were quick to test him out.  He fumbled the Garryowen and Mele hacked at the ball from an offside position.

The momentum was broken and Tigers were outside winning distance again.

But freed from the pressure of going for the win they rallied yet again.  More controlled possession and multiple rucks followed as Tigers moved 30 yards forward to within inches of the line then toyed with the blindside before Owen Williams, Ryan Lam and Tom Youngs span it wide for Thompstone.  He turned provider again popping it up for Goneva to run it in from 5 yards out. 

Mele scooped the conversion wide though so it would have to be a try to win it.  If he had got that then his next kick, a scrum pen after Ford put the restart straight out, we’d have been in the lead for the first time since the 13^th minute.  But ifs don’t win games players do.

A poor clearout from Thomas Waldrom allowed Bath to win a penalty and Ross Batty’s lengthy injury break took the wind out of the sails a little bit.  Bath’s maul earned them another penalty when Waldrom charged into the side.  Ford now displaying all the talents we saw last year slashed the kick wide.

Waldrom not having best game in a Tigers shirt lost control at the back of yet another mess of a scrum and Micky Young pounced.  Bath worked the ball left then back to the centre but their charge was stopped when Jamie Gibson lazily lay all over the ball at a ruck.  27-20 then and 1 point.

For the hardy souls who have battled through almost 2,000 words of battered prose well done to you.  Your reward is the pearls of my infinite wisdom.  This game was incredibly frustrating in isolation as Tigers shot themselves in the foot over and over and over again.  But as part of the canvass of a season it was very positive.  We completely outplayed Bath without a slew of our star names; we burst the hype bubble surrounding Mele before we did anything stupid like picking him ahead of Ben Youngs; we defended incredibly well only conceding tries on the counter attack and we saw players like Slater and Goneva grow in the shirt even more.  We might have lost the battle but I’m still convinced we can win the war.

Tigers aim to pull the plug on Bath's Gold Rush

A century of Leicester-Bath games is celebrated tomorrow at the Recreation Ground as 100 years and 1 day on from the very first meeting at Welford Road the two sides meet for the 182 time.  That makes this the 5th most popular fixture in Tigers history behind Northampton on 227, Gloucester on 211, Coventry with 204 and Harlequins with 191.  48 of the 181 games between the two sides have been played since August 1995 making this the most common fixture in the professional era.

Tigers make 4 changes from the side that gained the bonus point at home to Worcester.  Scott Hamilton comes into the backline replacing Dan Bowden, this causes a bit of a midfield re-jig as Anthony Allen moves into inside centre and Vereniki Goneva moves from wing to his international position of centre.  Geoff Parling and Louis Deacon miss out through England rest and injure respectively; they are replaced by Ed Slater and Sebastian De Chaves who makes his debut.

In the week the devastating news broke that Tom Croft had damaged his anterior cruciate ligaments in the final throws of last weeks game.  He has already undergone a knee reconstruction and will in all likely hood miss the whole of the season.  This is a crushing blow only 13 games after his come back from a broken neck.

Replacing him in the First XV is Steve Mafi, who himself has started only 2 games since tearing his hamstring against Toulouse in January.

Sam Harrison missed the Worcester match with a back spasm but an impressive run at fly half in Monday's A League fixture has proved his fitness to sit on the bench.  New singing Jamie Gibson could make his debut if he features from the bench.

Bath's only change from the side which defeated Deano's Newcastle Falcons is enforced by injury as cross coder Kyle Eastmond is ruled out and replaced by perma-tanned Gavin Henson.  Henson has had several run ins with the Tigers over the years, who can forget his infamous assault on Alejandro Moreno where he had the cheek to plead not guilty to this assualt:

That video cuts out before he goes on to kick Moreno in the head.  Nice chap.  Maybe Carl Fearns could have a word with him.

Starting at 10 for Bath will be George Ford.  Ford left the Tigers in the summer over "a lack of opportunities" as he had only started 27 games by the age 19, compared to no name nothings like Martin Johnson or Tom Croft who had barely made their debuts by that age let alone played in 3 major finals.  It has taken Bath 10 years to make 3 major finals.

Saturday's referee will be Greg Garner from Coventry.  Garner, who was in the same year at the same school as Andy Goode and James Grindal, will referee Tigers for the 8th time in his career.  Tigers have won 6 out of those 8 games including last season's Premiership semi final victory over Harlequins.

Leicester Tigers
15 Niall Morris
14 Scott Hamilton
13 Vereniki Goneva
12 Anthony Allen (c)
11 Adam Thompstone
10 Ryan Lamb
9 Dave Mélé
1 Logovi'i Mulipola
2 Tom Youngs
3 Dan Cole
4 Ed Slater
5 Sebastian de Chaves
6 Steve Mafi
7 Julian Salvi
8 Jordan Crane
Replacements
16 Neil Briggs
17 Boris Stankovich
18 Fraser Balmain
19 Jamie Gibson
20 Thomas Waldrom
21 Sam Harrison
22 Owen Williams
23 Dan Bowden

Bath Rugby
15 Anthony Watson
14 Semesa Rokoduguni
13 Jonathan Joseph
12 Gavin Henson
11 Matt Banahan
10 George Ford
9 Peter Stringer
1 Paul James
2 Rob Webber
3 David Wilson
4 Stuart Hooper (c)
5 Dave Attwood
6 Matt Garvey
7 Guy Mercer
8 Leroy Houston
Replacements
16 Ross Batty
17 Nathan Catt
18 Anthony Perenise
19 Dominic Day
20 Alafoti Fa'osiliva
21 Micky Young
22 Tom Heathcote
23 Tom Biggs

Kits:
Bath

Leicester








TV: BT Sports 1 HD, Saturday 14th September 3PM (3:15PM KO)

Season's Preview: Bath

Bath

Founded: 1865

Years in Top Tier: 26

Last Year: 7^th in Prem (53 points), Semi Final in Anglo-Welsh, Quarter Final in Amlin Challenge Cup

Europe: Amlin Challenge Cup

Director of Rugby: Garry Gold

Transfers:

In: George Ford (Leicester), Leroy Houston (Colomiers), Juan Pablo Orlandi (Racing Metro), Jonathan Joseph (London Irish), Matt Garvey (London Irish), Peter Stringer (Munster), Anthony Watson (London Irish), David Sisi (London Irish), Micky Young (Leicester), Martin Roberts (Northampton), Gavin Henson (London Welsh), Alafoti Fa’osiliva (Bristol)

Out: Michael Claasens (Toulon), Ben Skirving (Bristol), Stephen Donald (Mitsubishi Dynaboars-Japan), Ben Mosses (Bristol), Jack Cuthbert (Edinburgh), Sam Vesty (Retiring-Worcester Coach), Mark McMillan (Retiring), Simon Taylor (Unknown), Dan Hipkiss (Retiring), Max Maidment (Cornish Pirates)

Ins: 12

Outs: 10

It has been 18 years since Bath’s last spell as English Champions in 1996, when Tigers’ last day loss at home to Harlequins handed them the Title.  Those 6 titles in 8 years was a glory period unmatched by any side since.  So will Garry Gold bring the glory days back to the Rec?

Probably not; but they should be the closest side since the losing finalists in 2004.

Bath’s new money man is Bruce Craig a localish businessman with billions to blow.  Using his cash they have moved to a flash new training ground and begun developing a pretty handy squad.

Last year saw Rob Webber, Dominic Day and Paul James join the pack which this year is strengthened by Juan Pablo Orlandi, Leroy Houston and Matt Garvey.  They now have one of the deepest tight fives in England with Davy Wilson, Anthony Perenise, Dave Attwood and Ryan Caldwell also available. 

The target has been to improve the back play to give them a better chance of beating the teams that can match their pack.  Ever present scrum half Michael Classens has moved on to Toulon and he has replaced by a trio of options: Martin Roberts from Northamtpon, Micky Young from Leicester and Peter Stringer signing permanently after last season’s loan spell.  George Ford has left Tigers to join up with his Dad and he will compete with Tom Heathcote, Gavin Henson, Kyle Eastmond and Ollie Devoto for the fly half berth.

Alafoti Fa’osiliva has joined from rivals Bristol and he can play both 12 and 8, he has impressed in the 7s and it seems Bath plan to use him as a crash ball centre.  With Matt Banahan there will be subtler partnerships in the league but few with the go forward power.

Bath’s strength in depth should see them win plenty of games during the long winter and get into the Play Offs but I can’t see them winning the league just yet.

Prediction: 3^rd