Welcome Home for Record Champ10ns

Champ10ns Leicester Tigers return to Premiership action this Sunday as they look to defend the title they won at Twickenham in May.

Louis Deacon leads Leicester into the new season in what will be his 250th appearance for the First XV.  Deacon made his debut exactly 13 years ago when he started alongside Martin Johnson against Rotherham at Welford Road on the 6th September 2000.  With Toby Flood out injured Deacon will captain the side.

Making their debuts for the club are half back pair Ryan Lamb and David Mele.  Lamb covers for the injured Flood whilst Mele starts as Ben Youngs eases back into action after this summer's Lions tour.

Niall Morris shifts from wing to full back as Mat Tait is again absent with injury; he is joined by Flying Fijian Vereniki Goneva and Adam Thompstone on the wings.  This back three has only played together twice before in wins against Exeter at home and Sale away.

In the centres we have another new combination as Anthony Allen moves to 13 to accommodate the skills of Dan Bowden at 12; Manu Tuilagi returns to the bench after missing pre-season with a shoulder injury.

I hope that the fans and the broadcasters take the make-shift nature of Tigers backline into account when they assess their performance this Sunday.  Missing our first choices at 9,10,13,15 and having our first choice 12 and 14 play in different positions is not a recipe for a cohesive backline display.

The forwards however are very settled with Deacon the only change from last year's Title winning pack.  Graham Kitchener misses out after summer surgery on a bone spur in his heel.  That means Mulipola is joined by Tom Youngs and Dan Cole in the front row whilst Lions hero Geoff Parling rounds out the tight five.

Jordan Crane, Julian Salvi and Tom Croft make a settled and hugely talented back row.

The replacements are new buy Neil Briggs; props Fraser Balmain and Boris Stankovich; lock Ed Slater who returns after summer surgery; Thomas "the tank" Waldrom who provides cover across the back row and fly half cover in Owen Williams, the cross code youth international.

Dean Ryan's first selection as Worcester coach has a very international flavour as they come to Welford Road with only 3 Englishmen in the side.  Full back Chris Pennell and lock Dean Schofield are former captains whilst Sam Betty at openside is the only other Englishman.

They are captained by Johnathan Thomas, the cocky utility forward signed this summer from the Ospreys after 67 Wales caps and a decade of service at the Liberty Stadium.  Some times Thomas can come across as a bit of a knob but his spunky attitude should really stiffen Worcester's resolve and his firm carrying will penetrate plenty of defences this year. 

Worcester also start a fresh pair of half backs as Samoan test scrum half Jeremy Su'a is joined by 6 cap Puma Ignacio Mieres.  Mieres is a summer signing from Exeter and previously had a spell in the Tigers Extras under Marcelo Loffreda.

Sunday's referee will be Luke Pearce from Plymouth.  Pearce refereed both games against London Irish last season, his only Tigers so far.   
 
Leicester Tigers
15 Niall Morris
14 Vereniki Goneva
13 Anthony Allen
12 Dan Bowden
11 Adam Thompstone
10 Ryan Lamb
9 David Mele
1 Logovi'i Mulipola
2 Tom Youngs
3 Dan Cole
4 Louis Deacon (c)
5 Geoff Parling
6 Tom Croft
7 Julian Salvi
8 Jordan Crane
Replacements
16 Neil Briggs
17 Boris Stankovich
18 Fraser Balmain
19 Ed Slater
20 Thomas Waldrom
21 Ben Youngs
22 Owen Williams
23 Manu Tuilagi

Worcester
15 Chris Pennell
14 Josh Drauniniu
13 Ravai Fatiaki
12 Josh Matavesi
11 David Lemi
10 Ignacio Mieres
9 Jeremy Su'a
1 Jeremy Becasseau
2 Ed Shervington
3 John Andress
4 Mike Williams
5 Dean Schofield
6 Jonathan Thomas (C)
7 Sam Betty
8 Semisi Taulava Replacements
16 Nick Seymour
17 Paul Andrew
18 Rob O'Donnell
19 Chris Jones
20 Jake Abbott
21 Paul Hodgson
22 Danny Gray
23 Jon Clarke

Leicester Strip:

Worcester Strip:

Television:
1 PM, BT Sport 1HD (KO 2PM)
Sky 413, Virgin 549, Freeview 58

ABC Some More Maori Thoughts

A. Maori Magic can define the rest of our season

The Maori match was an historic occasion and a great match; it was well worth my £20 and well worth whatever the club paid them to appear.  But more than that it can now be referred to as a focal point for two very different styles of Rugby football.  Our rucking was a world apart, the modern ruck was invented in Otago but Louis Deacon and co. brought it to a new level against its inheritants.  I can’t remember too many Heineken Cup matches fought with such intensity at the breakdown and this match could be a powerful aide memoir when the heat comes on, whether that is away to Ospyres, at home to Toulouse or hopefully beyond, we can now summon up the spirit of this match to know deep down in the seat of your pants that we CAN go the extra mile.

And also we must look at some of the Maori play and draw inspiration from it.  Their ball retention was very good and the support work was magnificent.  If we can get our forwards in particular flooding the channel looking for the quick pass we could become an attacking juggernaut.  Pat Howard’s team was probably the best Tigers side at this and it is where some of the top teams like Leinster and Quins have the wood on us.

B. Balmain proves doubters wrong.

Fraser Balmain’s debut must have prompted some red faces in Newcastle.  The ex RGS pupil was branded “nothing more than a good local player” and not even offered a contract when he finished school 3 years ago.  Thankfully Tigers scouts had more about them and won the battle for his signature with Northampton.  It is hard to fathom how any scout could come to that conclusion after watching him destroy the Maori scrum, it goes to show your academy is only as strong as your scouts!

C. Tait is great but Niall is the Full back business.

Matt Tait made his first start for 13 months and at the less than usual position of full back.  He showed what a class player he was with some lovely touches and some ferocious tackles; but also showed why he isn’t the successor to Geordan Murphy.  Letting several balls bounce will be punished on other occasions and his position for other kicks was poor.  The less said about his kicking the better.

You can’t be too hard on a players come back game, but when the rest of his performance was so good the errors stood out even more.  In the second half he switched with his winger Niall Morris and looked far more comfortable getting stuck in to the action.  These two together could provide a tandem partnership in the vein of Stimpson and Murphy if they fulfil their promise.

Tigers name team for Sunday Service

Tigers make only 1 change to bench, Louis Deacon returning for Ed Slater, from the side that fluffed its lines in Toulouse.

15 Scott Hamilton
14 Niall Morris
13 Manu Tuilagi
12 Anthony Allen
11 Vereniki Goneva
10 Toby Flood
9 Ben Youngs
1 Logovi'i Mulipola
2 Tom Youngs
3 Dan Cole
4 Graham Kitchener
5 Geoff Parling
6 Steve Mafi
7 Thomas Waldrom
8 Jordan Crane (c)

Replacements
16 George Chuter
17 Marcos Ayerza
18 Martin Castrogiovanni
19 Louis Deacon
20 Richard Thorpe
21 Sam Harrison
22 George Ford
23 Matt Smith

Swansea based Ospreys name an unchanged side from the one which snuck a last play bonus point at home to Treviso.

Ospreys
15 Richard Fussell
14 Hanno Dirksen
13 Andrew Bishop
12 Ashley Beck
11 Eli Walker
10 Dan Biggar
9 Kahn Fotuali'i
1 Ryan Bevington
2 Richard Hibbard
3 Adam Jones
4 Alun Wyn Jones (c)
5 Ian Evans
6 Ryan Jones
7 Justin Tipuric
8 Jonathan Thomas

Replacements
16 Matthew Dwyer
17 Duncan Jones
18 Aaron Jarvis
19 George Stowers
20 Joe Bearman
21 Rhys Webb
22 Matthew Morgan
23 Tom Isaacs

Louis Deacon: Man or SuperMan?

Louis Deacon sometimes gets forgotten, but now in his benefit year it is time to remember what a complete legend he is.

He's come through from one of the great junior clubs in the county, Syston, to play for 12 years for the best club in the country: Leicester Football Club.  He's played 235 games in The Stripes already with another 29 caps for England.  He's won the league a staggering 5 times and was a crucial squad member for our 2 Heineken Cup wins even if he missed the finals, only due to the world class versatility of Martin Corry it should be noted.  He won the cup in 2007 and has also featured in the heartbreaking Heineken Cup final losses to Leinster and Wasps.On the international stage he was also a key component of England winning the 2011 Six Nations, the first time since 2003.

In the maelstrom of Tigers greatness it has been overlooked that this man is Leicestershire's second greatest lock EVER.  The best?  Martin Johnson, only the greatest lock in the history of Rugby.

Louis Deacon is a true Leicester hero and must be remembered as such.  So in his benefit year lets recognise the quite man at the heart of our pack.

http://www.louisdeaconbenefit.co.uk/