Burns kicks Tigers to win in the rain

Tigers finished a mixed bag of a preseason with a tight 21-17 win against Cardiff in the Welford Road rain.  Freddie Burns slotted 11 points with tries from Bob Barbieri and Ben Youngs; Cardiff’s points came through a Lloyd Williams try, a Rhys Patchell drop goal and 3 Patchell penalties.

Tigers debuted their new bright orange away kit, “Cherry Tomato” as the manufactures have it, and their new bright orange new big screen sponsors Sthil.  Equally eye catching was the opening 10 minutes; Tigers attacked with pace and vigour to score two tries of good quality.

First Manu Tuilagi took the ball down the Crumbie blindside; with his path blocked, belying the internet intellegencia who decry him as a bosh merchant without a brain or skill, he fancied his chances with a grubber kick.  The bounce deceived Wales 7s international Dan Fish and let Bob Barbieri claim the loose ball for his first try in Tigers colours.

The second was an all time Welford Road classic.  Burns threw a fantastic long pass to find Tuilagi, the Samoan burst powerfully through the middle before passing to Goneva.  The Fijian freed the arms and found Ben Youngs sweeping behind in support, who beat the last man to score.

Burns was on target with the first conversion but elicited the famous Crumbie groan when his second attempt sailed wide.  Welcome to Leicester, Freddie.

Cardiff had looked out of sorts in the early stages, as if Warburton and co. had celebrated the week’s long awaited peace deal between the WRU and the Regions a little bit too much.  The visitors eventually found their feet and scored from their first real attack.  Fly half Patchell made an outside break, his pace taking him away from a despairing Barbieri lunge, with the defence broken he committed Goneva before passing to Williams, the Welsh scrum half just eluded the covering defence to score.

Patchell missed the conversion but chipped further into the lead when referee Mathew Carley ruled Salvi offside from a contested high ball.  4 minutes later Patchell landed a second penalty for a half time score of 12-11.

Cardiff made a raft of substitutes at half time including a whole replacement front row; it made little difference as Tigers possessed superior power all game.  Patchell gave Cardiff the lead after half time with a superb drop goal and then stretched the lead following a bizarre penalty against a rampant Tigers scrum.

In a heavy down pour Tigers tightened up and started to utilise the forwards much more to bring the game under control.  Tigers produced a sustained period of pressure in the Cardiff half with the Welsh side giving away a penalty for Burns to reduce the arrears to two.

Some of the Tigers fans were disappointed that we didn’t try for the corner and the 5 points from the second half penalties, but I can’t agree with this.  Burns needs to get used to kicking at Welford Road and kicking under pressure.  The first priority has to be to win and kicking the goals was the way to do that.

Burns missed his first chance to go ahead after a fierce driving maul but just moments later a scrum penalty gave him a second chance which he took.  The coup de grace was applied after a towering Garryowen and a superb chase by Manu Tuilagi.

Tuilagi really was the difference between the two sides, the two times in the first half we gave him the ball in the opposition half we scored.  Manu's injury badly affect us last season, we failed to gain a single try bonus point during his abscence, so Cockrerill will hope to have Hinckley's favourite Samoan fit and firing all season.

Young Players End of Term Update

In January, after the farcical premature end to the LV Cup game against Quins I pondered on the subject of game time for young players.  Did we stack up?  Was it a problem?  Whose fault was it?

Well with the season finished and no warm trophy glow to keep us satisfied over the summer I've decided to re-vist the subject.

First of all let's look at the updated Tigers' numbers:

What's changed from January then?  We've upped the numbers of young players across the board; all three competitions saw increased use of under 23 players.  The return of Manu Tuilagi is largely responsible, in January he had only played 78 Premiership minutes, since his February return he has been an ever present.

Others have come to the fore; Fraser Balmain has seen his stock rise from 90 Prem minutes to 322, Pablo Matera from 70 to 300 as he settled in to the club.  Tiziano Pasquali and Harry Thacker have both seen Premiership debuts.

Pasquali was the youngest prop in the 3 major European leagues to see league action this season, even if he was only used for 13 minutes.

But we've also seen the fringe youngsters leave with depressing regularity.  6 of the 18 player used move on to pastures new.  Joe Cain has retired; Wells, Steele, Dunn, Purdy and Humphreys have all been released.  None were deemed worthy of Premiership starts but decisions are being made on these players earlier than ever.

Wells is only 20 years old, Ed Slater was 23 when he arrived from Australia, what would 3 years of development do for him?  

Even at this level there is a salary cap.  The club is allowed to spend £200k on players under 24 who earn under £30k, otherwise they count in the senior cap.  Manu is obviously beyond that as surely are Owen Williams and Pablo Matera.  But there is a good chance that the others are part of this cap, alongside the generation below like Brugnara, Hubbert, Milne and Tresidder.  

Domestically we still sit bottom of the table but the gap has been closed:

Back in January Tigers had almost half the ratio of younger players than any other.

Wasps lead the way but 20% of their total is Joe Launchbury and 40% of their minutes are taken up by players in the final year of qualification. 

Harlequins have used 17 different players under the age of 23 in the Premiership and 20% of game time is taken up by these players.  

But again they are heavily skewed to the top end with the 8 players born September 1990 to August 1991 constituting 71% of their under 23 minutes.  

Exeter's numbers are perhaps the most interesting.  They have gone for a limited number of players gaining lots of minutes.  Only 6 young players have been used in the league but 5 of them have played more minutes than Fraser Balmain.  Cowan-Dickie, Hill, Slade, Nowell and Ewers seem to be the nucleus of a new Exeter.


Europe wide only 7 French teams played their youngsters less often than we did, including double winners Toulon.  Ospreys were Europe leaders with 36.75% of game time going to under 23 year olds.

Who is likely to come through in the future?  Balmain and Pasquali have been talked up by Cockerill in the Mercury, Thacker continues to impress in his opputunities.  Many have been concerned about the lack of chances given to Javiah Pohe and George Catchpole, especially during the injury crisis in the centres this season.

But given another year of development they will be better when their chance comes.  Only 8 backs born in 1994 or '95 played more than one league game last season.

It would take a special kind of optimist to claim that Tigers are on the cusp of unearthing another generation of world class talent but do we really need one?  The majority of our key players are under 30 and coming into their prime.  

Ben Youngs, Tom Youngs, Dan Cole, Logo Mulipola, Marcos Ayerza, Geoff Parling, Tom Croft, Vereniki Goneva and Manu Tuilagi are all world class with plenty of time ahead of them.  Ed Slater, Pablo Matera, Steve Mafi, Graham Kitchener and Miles Benjamin are all young and full of potential to join them soon.

Key signings to this group with the aim of greater glory in the new Champions Cup seems like a better priority than blooding youngsters for the sake of it.

The UltraSubMarines Awards 2014

It’s that time of year again when the rugby is over, earlier than usual for us, and we must make do with that pale substitute: arguing about our opinions on rugby instead.  This year hasn’t been a classic for Tigers; scarred by injuries that seemed to come in debilitating bunches; always fighting an uphill battle in the league following bright starts from Saracens and Saints; Our captain deserting ship mid campaign.

But no season is complete doom and gloom.  The high points were still there.  The win in Montpellier, out singing the home fans in the process, will live forever in the memory.  The record tying win against the Saints.

So let us crack on, the same categories as last year in the same order.

Singing of the season

Last Year: Vereniki Goneva

Won last year by our Flying Fijian we have some strong contenders this year.

Pablo Matera is a quality operator but young and often naive to the whims of English referees, whilst David Mele could not shift Ben Youngs from his perch.  So they miss out.  Jamie Gibson benefitted from injuries to Mafi and Croft to cement his claim on the 6 shirt making 24 starts.  An honest worker to the end he seems to lack that bit of magic we require from our flankers. 

If work rate is what you require Blaine Scully will provide it in spades.  The Californian has made chasing lost causes a speciality.

The winner though has to be Owen Williams.  Arriving unheralded from Llanelli his calm demeanour and pin point kicking quickly saw him over take Lamb in the pecking order.  Following the fallout from Flood’s move to Toulouse he steered the ship to 7 league wins and a draw in 2014.  Scoring 187 points, including Tigers first drop goal for almost 2 years, he was the real find of the season.

An RFU injustice has robbed him of the chance to wear a Wales test jersey but on this season’s form another chance will surely come before the Rugby World Cup.

Try of the season

Last Season: Adam Thompstone v Treviso (A)

Tigers score a lot of tries.  Despite what the critics say we’ve scored 86 tries this season, a fantastic return.  You’d need a better memory than me to remember them all, but some stick out as classics.

Logo Mulipola’s 25 yard rampage against Exeter; Goneva’s weaving run versus Worcester on the opening day of the season; his “fumble and go” against London Irish will be replayed on rugby’s equivalent of “Own Goals and Gaffes” forever.  In the biggest games we scored some attractive tries too, Jordan Crane finishing Owen Williams cross field kick in Clermont lives long in the memory. 

But this year’s winner has to be Vereniki Goneva’s try away to Newcastle.  It starts with an Ed Slater break, spotting the referee in the defensive line he uses him and break the line swotting the Falcons away like flies.  After the ruck Ben Youngs speeds the ball away and Dan Bowden’s floated pass finds Goneva well marked.

Or is he?  He beats one man in a phone box, his footwork bamboozling, hands off another and is free.  Only the full back to beat, he goes for the chip.  And chases.  He out strips the defence to win the race and put us back in the lead after a difficult half when it looked like our play off dreams were fading.

Game of the season

Last Season: Northampton (Premiership Final)

One candidate stands head and shoulders above the others for me.  Montpellier away became a sort of bench mark for the side.  We hadn’t won in France for 7 long years and the monkey on the back was in danger of turning into a Gorilla. 

The only match I can ever remember that ended nil all at half time it was thoroughly absorbing none the less.  Both teams had chances in that half but Tigers broke the deadlock early in the second period.  Tom Youngs devastating side step taking him past the close defence.  Montpellier struck back with a strike against the head and a breakaway try from half way by fly half Selponi.

The advantage was extended by Lucas Delpoint after Gorgodze’s break.

We were 9 points down with 9 minutes to go.  Away in France and winless in 7 years across La Manche.  Ryan Lamb’s spell in Leicester was brief but he’ll be forever remembered for what came next.  A scrum won a penalty 45m out, Lamb nailed it to reduce the arrears to 6.  Then a frenzied final attack, a master break from Miles Benjamin set us up in the 22 before the ball went wide.  Well executed simple hands from Morris, Slater and Ayerza put Goneva in at the corner.

The Fijian maestro kept the ball off the floor in goal to make the conversion more central and Lamb stepped forward once more to nail the kick and send the travelling supporters into raptures.  This one lives long in the memory. 

Academy player of the season

Last Season: Henry Purdy

To be eligible this player must have featured in the Premiership Under 18s Academy League this season.

It was another strong year for the Academy in the league, a single loss away to Gloucester cost Tigers the chance to claim the inaugural national title but the rest of the Northern Conference was dispatched with try bonus points secured in all games.  Overall 38 tries were scored in 7 matches and 41 players were used.

Strong players this year were number 8 Charlie Beckett, centre Charlie Thacker, brother of Harry, and David Williams, who scored a great try in the Premiership 7s series. 

The one player to break through from this level into the first team was Wrexham winger Rhys Williams, who featured from the bench in the LV Cup against Bath.

My player of the year is loosehead prop Owen Hills.  The Market Bosworth native has had a terrific season with 7 tries in 7 starts in the league, squat and powerfully built he has the stature to go further in the game.

U23 Player of the season

Last Season: Ben Youngs & Manu Tuilagi

Last year I said in the rush to claim new blood every year we didn’t want to forget who was actually the best player.  This award would go to the best players, not the newest passing fancy.

So really it’s obviously Manu Tuilagi.  He is clearly the best qualifying player.  But let’s at least pretend to look at the other options.  In terms of serious minutes the other eligible players are Fraser Balmain, Owen Williams and Pablo Matera.

Balmain has grown this year, being involved in all but one match day squad, and is now a solid set piece option that carries industriously.  Williams has been discussed above and really came into his own once given the reigns.  Matera came with big expectations and hasn’t hit them, still so young and plenty of time to overtake Salvi.

So having looked at the options its still Manu.  His return from injuries ignited our back play almost instantaneously.  It’s not been his best year but it’s the mark of the man that it is still the best.

Player of the season

Last Season: Tom Youngs

There have been many individual highlights for our players this season, Blaine Scully qualified for the 2015 Rugby World Cup with his US Eagles, whilst Vereniki Goneva was honoured by his fellow players to become Players’ Player of the Season.  Ed Slater celebrated his first call up to the England squad and was also chosen to lead the club as captain. 

Ed Slater had a remarkable year coming from a bench place last year to leading the club as captain in 2014.  His industrious carrying has been coupled with some beautifully soft hands that really make him the modern lock.

Others to have had strong seasons were Logo Mulipola.  Covering Marcos Ayerza as a loosehead early season he switched sides to tighthead once Dan Cole injured his neck.  The 20 stone Samoan has proved almost impossible to tackle and often damages those who try.  Jack Nowell’s still yet to come back from that shoulder injury. 

Ben Youngs was also back to his best.  Cruelly ignored by Stuart Lancaster in favour of his Leeds prodigy Danny Care the British Lion was immovable from the number 9 shirt for Leicester.  The consistency of not being faffed about by England paid dividend for Tigers as he was constantly challenging and asking questions of forwards around the ruck. 

But really there can only be one winner.  Vereniki Goneva.  The Flying Fijian joined us last season from Tarbes in ProD2 and finished last season as a try scorer at Twickenham.  This season he was has carried our attack scoring 14 tries in 25 games.  When an injury crisis crippled our centre reserves he stepped into the breach and proved his genius on many occasions, genuinely carrying the attacking threat of our team singlehandedly on many occasions.

Long rumoured to be leaving the club to join Castres he squashed those rumours to sign on for at least 2 more years.  He has power, pace and sublime footwork.  If he hasn’t beaten you with his trickery then he can just run over you instead.  Voted by his fellow professionals as the best player this season who am I to argue?

Awesome Foursome Line Up For Quins Test

Champions Leicester Tigers travel to Harlequins knowing that a win will secure themselves a place in the play offs for the 10th straight year.  A win will also put Tigers above Northampton and into position for a home semi final, for 48 hours at least.

Despite recording a maximum 5 points in the win against Wasps Richard Cockerill makes 5 changes to his starting XV.  The entire front row swaps over as Marcos Ayerza and Logo Mulipola start at prop with Stankovich and Balmain going onto the bench.  Neil Briggs makes his first start in 3 months as he is preferred to Rob Hawkins as hooker.  Tom Youngs is rested in line with EPS requirements.

In the backs former captain Toby Flood is reunited with Ben Youngs, Anthony Allen and Manu Tuilagi.  The awesome foursome have not played together in almost a year, the last time the quartet all started was against Northampton in last year's victorious play off final against Northampton.  Domestically they have lost only 1 of their 15 games together.

Owen Williams is unlucky to miss out but Cockerill has commented that after 6 straight starts he feels the young player needs to rest and mentally recuperate from some tough atmospheres.

Harlequins have become a bogey side for Tigers.  Quins failed to beat Tigers in 14 straight games from 2003 to 2010; but in the last 6 games the Londoners have won 5.  Tigers sole win was last year's Play Off Semi Final at Welford Road. 

The league meeting earlier this season was scarred with controversy; Julian Salvi received his only ever yellow card for the club on Tigers 2nd penalty of the match and Quins scored two tries, including one ruled fair on the controversial "momentum" interpretation of a forward pass, during those 10 minutes.  The referee that day was Tim Wigglesworth and fresh from his contentious refereeing of the fierce Gloucester-Bath derby the RFU have once again turned a deaf ear to controversy.  

Harlequins tactics of deliberately holding defenders down off the ball was highlighted by BT Sport this week, hopefully Wigglesworth was watching as without a keen eyed referee teams are helpless against the cynicism of the Harlequins machine. 

Harlequins name an unchanged side from the one which secured their own bonus point win away to Sale.  Full Back Mike Brown has been gaining rave reviews for his England performances whilst Nick Evans looked back to his best against the Sharks. 



Leicester
15 Mat Tait
14 Blaine Scully
13 Manu Tuilagi
12 Anthony Allen
11 Vereniki Goneva
10 Toby Flood
9 Ben Youngs
1 Marcos Ayerza
2 Neil Briggs
3 Logovi'i Mulipola
4 Ed Slater (c)
5 Graham Kitchener
6 Jamie Gibson
7 Julian Salvi
8 Jordan Crane
Replacements
16 Rob Hawkins
17 Boris Stankovich
18 Fraser Balmain
19 Geoff Parling
20 Pablo Matera
21 David Mele
22 Owen Williams
23 Niall Morris
Harlequins
15 Mike Brown
14 Ollie Lindsay-Hague
13 Tim Molenaar
12 Jordan Turner-Hall
11 Sam Smith
10 Nick Evans
9 Danny Care
1 Joe Marler
2 Dave Ward
3 Kyle Sinckler
4 Charlie Matthews
5 George Robson
6 Luke Wallace
7 Chris Robshaw (C)
8 Nick Easter
Replacements
16 Rob Buchanan
17 Mark Lambert
18 Paul Doran Jones
19 Tom Guest
20 Maurie Fa'asavalu
21 Karl Dickson
22 Ben Botica
23 Ross Chisholm

Referee: Tim Wigglesworth
Touch Judges: Andy Watson & Roy Maybank TMO: Sean Davey

Two for Tuilagi as Goneva signs New Deal

Vereniki Goneva celebrated signing his new contract by grabbing a try as Leicester beat Wasps 27-15 at Welford Road.  The Flying Fijian was given a rapturous welcome by the Crumbie terrace as he came out to warm up and he showed why Tigers fought so hard to keep him; on the stroke of halftime he held off two tacklers to squeeze in at the corner for his 12^th try of the season.

Manu Tuilagi had an influential game and bagged a brace with two trademark powerful finishes.  He opened the scoring for Tigers in the 18th minute when he crashed through the Wasps defence from 5 yards following a powerful driving maul.

Not content with scoring tries he saved one at the other end.  He had the strength to wrap up Tongan international Will Helu and prevent him grounding the ball following good build up play from the Wasps forwards.

His second came in the second period where he brushed off the attentions of Italian international hooker Carlo Festuccia before a brutal hand off of James Short. 

In between Manu’s first score and Goneva’s on half time Wasps had taken the lead following a brilliantly taken try from Guy Thompson.  Flanker Thompson was the Jersey’s top try scorer last season and showed tremendous finishing ability after Tom Palmer’s borderline knock on in midfield was ruled a clean catch.

With Manu’s second try taking the score to 19-10 Tigers extended the lead again as Owen Williams slotted a long penalty following Festuccia’s ruck offence.  Williams struggled kicking in a stiff breeze hitting only 50% of his kicks at goal and often being wayward with his punts.

Wasps defence was spoiling Tigers ball, Fijian No.8 Nathan Hughes particularly to the fore, successfully utilising Andrew Small’s immediate call of maul rather than tackle.  Small’s assessors might like to remind him that once he calls maul both sides must enter from the back and it cannot be collapsed.

Tigers’ fans were starting to sweat when Elliot Daly’s delightfully angled kick rounded Mat Tait and found Tommy Bell perfectly in stride.  The Devonian got the score but Andy Goode could not find the conversion leaving Tigers 7 points ahead.

Tigers had switched their midfield around as Toby Flood replaced Matt Smith, with Manu shifting back to 13, and struggled for fluency in their new formation.  Ben Youngs was struggling to deal with the slow ball caused by Wasps and was replaced by David Mele.

A bonus point required one more try and that extra point could be crucial in the fight for a home semi final.  Tigers were pressurising the Wasps line with a series of pick and goes but couldn’t make it count, Hawkins knocking on under heavy pressure.  

With just 4 minutes left Tigers got a penalty after Blaine Scully’s progress was stopped by a high tackle.  With Toby Flood walking away from the spot time was lost as Owen Williams ran across the field before kicking to touch.  It didn’t matter though.  Tigers drove the lineout and David Mele snuck in the side to secure the ball, secure the grounding and secure the bonus point.

Job very much done but Tigers will be worried by Logo Mulipola’s withdrawal, hopefully a precaution, and by the lack of fluency in the performance.  Wins away to Quins and Sale in the next two fixtures will require better than this.

Island Power Tigers to Victory

Tigers secured a second consecutive bonus point victory defeating Exeter 45-15 at Welford Road.  Tigers crossed the whitewash 6 times showing terrific power, pace and execution.  Vereniki Goneva was to the fore again, and afterwards Richard Cockerill hinted that his move away this summer might not be a lost caused just yet.  

To go with that potential fillip the fans received a huge boost as Tom Croft played a full part in the game’s warm up.  It had been said he would act as water boy in this match but to take contact in the warm up is a huge boost.  Clermont may be too soon but the Premiership play offs surely beckon.

Tigers were in fine form without Croft though as Manu Tuilagi and Anthony Allen re-united what is Tigers most selected centre partnership in League history; the pair last lined up together in May’s Twickenham Final. 

Tigers played into the wind in the opening period and used the conditions to great effect.  The wind held up Ben Youngs’s box kicks and Owen Williams’s garryowens allowing Tigers chase to put the Exeter catchers under great pressure.  Tigers’ forwards played well, breaking tackles in attack and driving them back in defence; Ed Slater really sets the tone with this side; his raw energy and passion drives the side forward.

Exeter opened the scoring with a penalty after Tigers had made the early play.  Referee Dean Richards had an odd, old fashioned, interpretation of the maul that took Tigers some time to understand.

It was Tuilagi though who crossed the whitewash first as Tigers gained the lead they would never relinquish.  Jamie Gibson blocked Exeter’s attempted clearance to gain the turnover in the attacking half; Ben Youngs quickly freed Tuilagi who brushed off Jack Nowell’s attempts at a tackle.  Turning it back inside Tuilagi secured possession before Tigers went right though Crane.  Ben Youngs was quick to the breakdown and found Allen running tight to ruck; he drew in two Exeter defenders before off loading to Goneva.  The Flying Fijian committed the last man to give Tuilagi the easiest of run ins for his first try of the season.

Owen Williams’s conversion was good but the touch judges bafflingly missed it.

Tigers were straight back onto the attack with Hamilton and Tuilagi making impressions up the right hand side.  Tigers were attempting to get outside Exeter’s rush defence with mixed results when Williams found Goneva running a deep outside arc.

The Fijian magician was through the hole and, carrying the ball in one hand, committed three men before bringing a bullocking Mulipola back on a switch towards the posts.

Jack Nowell had no chance to stop the 20 stone of prime Samoan beef as he strode through the Cornishman’s tackle to score under the posts.

Williams had no problem with the conversion, and this time the touch judges agreed.

A deliberate knock on, no yellow this week, gave Williams a chance for the penalty.  The Welshman missed by the slimmest of margins as the ball drifted to strike the left hand upright.  It mattered not though as Tigers claimed the bouncing ball and earned Williams a quick chance at redemption.  Second time around he was perfect.

Exeter responded well; though Ben White was lucky to gain the penalty for Crane holding on the floor rather than give one away for failing to release a tackled man.  From that decision Exeter scored from a driving maul.  Tigers looked to have stopped it twice, but Richards’s old fashioned interpretation gave Exeter another go that let hooker Jack Yeandle take advantage.

As with the first try Tigers struck back immediately.  Regaining the momentum is a crucial part of the game and always makes the game feel more comfortable. 

Jordan Crane made a powerful surge through the middle, offloading to Julian Salvi for the crucial extra yards.  With quick ball Ben Youngs showed to go right before turning back left.  Exeter's defence was at sixes and sevens, Goneva came onto the ball at pace.  Slaloming through the would be tacklers he beat 4 men to go under the posts after receiving the ball 30 yards out.

The new big screen showed the moves and the crowd was wowed by the Fijian’s footwork.

Its next use saw Exeter Captain Dean Mumm get a yellow card; his high tackle on Owen Williams received the expected outrage from the Tigers faithful.  Whilst Mumm was missing Tigers piled on the pressure.  With another advantage Vereniki Goneva scored again as he powered through Exeter’s defence from Ben Youngs’s pop pass.  But referee Richards was not happy.  Eskewing the TMO he ruled it out for a tight forward pass.

Williams slotted the penalty for a half time score of 25-10.

Some good old fashioned scrum power saw Williams get another chance early in the second half; Tigers were patient when looking for the bonus point and the Welshman put Tigers 18 points clear.

The bonus point was secured just 6 minutes later.  Owen Williams cleared a penalty from one 22 to the other to set up the line out.  Jordan Crane claimed cleanly at the tail before Anthony Allen was freed into the midfield straight away. 

Quick ball and Owen Williams had it again, Tuilagi used as a dummy to draw the men in, allowing Scott Hamilton to roam in the open spaces.  Hamilton feeds Thompstone straightening for the final flourish.  Bonus Point secured the intensity drops as Tigers use 7 of their 8 subs in the next 10 minutes.

Ed Slater forced a 5m lineout with a charge down of Henry Slade’s desperate clearance.  Good pressure from Tigers in the lineout forced the knock on and Tigers scrum.  A big push on the loosehead side from the freshly introduced Boris Stankovich gave David Mele the short side and the Frenchman gladly took the ball with the line begging.

Ten minutes later and it was Mele snipping again for the try.  A quick tap from Mele saw Waldrom just short but with quick possession the Catalan half back could weave his way through the defence for the try, with only a hint of a fumble on the grounding.

Mele’s third try of the season eclipses his total in 130 games over 7 seasons of rugby with Perpignan.

A third try bonus point win of the Premiership season in the only three games that Manu Tuilagi has started are a testament to the man’s influence on our play.  Away trips to Northampton and Clermont are next to come.  If Tigers can play like this in those two fixtures then who knows what this season, so blighted by injuries, might still yield?

Leicester's Lions #1: George Beamish

This series, of undetermined length at present, will be of little mini-biographies of some of Leicester Football Club’s 36 players chosen to play for the British Lions.  

Leicester's Lions No. 1: George Beamish

George Beamish

George Beamish was from the generation of men that led two lives at least.  He was the international rugby superstar; larger than colossus he captained Ireland to a share of the 1932 Championship and led Leicestershire & the East Midlands to victory against the touring Springboks in 1931.  He was a decorated war hero who was the first RAF man promoted to Air Commodore and was awarded the KCB in 1955.

He was said to be so strong he could bend pennies out of shape with the thumb and forefinger of one hand!

Beamish made the first of his 118 Tigers appearances aged 19 on December 27^th 1924 at home to Heriotonians; just two days before taking on the Barbarians in the by now annual encounter.  Beamish had been in impressive form for his native Coleraine and his Tigers honours tipped him into full international recognition as he made his Ireland debut against England on Valentine’s Day 1925.

  

He earned three caps in the 1925 Five Nations Championship and was also part of the all-Tigers Leicestershire side that won the County Championship for the first and so far only time, scoring a try in the victorious final against Gloucestershire at Bristol.

This was a boom era for the Tigers attendances, not until the mid ‘90s did the numbers reach these heady heights again, and Beamish would have regularly featured in front of 5 figure crowds.  He played against the touring Maori and New South Wales Waratahs, but probably his biggest ever achievement was captaining the Leicestershire & East Midlands XV (containing 7 Tigers, 5 Saints, 2 Bedford and 1 West Herts) to victory against the touring 1931 Springboks in front of 25,000 people at Welford Road. 

Beamish had played against the Springboks the week before for the Combined Services and had developed his tactical master plan to beat the Boks.  The Midlanders played the game tight, turning ball back inside at every opportunity with the wingers rarely seeing the ball, and instructions to “shake up” the South African pack, I can imagine Richard Cockerill giving similar instructions!  Northampton fly half Charles Slow stole the show with 2 tries and a drop goal in a 30-21 win, Slow later joined the Tigers after Beamish retired and won an England cap.

Beamish set a then world record of 25 international caps at number 8 after he was recalled to the Irish side for the 1928 Five Nations Championships, missing only 1 game between 1928 and his final appearance in 1933.  He captain the Irish to a share of the 1932 Championship and in 1933 his final match as captain saw his younger brother, and fellow Tiger, Charles Beamish make his test debut at prop. 

Beamish was one of three Tigers to be selected for the 1930 tour to Australasia alongside 19 year old prop Douglas “Joe” Kendrew and captain Doug Prentice, a local Leicester lock captaining the Lions now why does that ring a bell?  Beamish undoubtedly made the largest impact on the tour playing 21 games, including all 5 tests, being described at the time as the “biggest and best of their forwards in all the tests” whilst Prentice had the strength of character to admit he was not playing at his best and hand over the captaincy for all but 2 tests.  Kendrew played 11 games at prop and hooker.  

Beamish was a tear away back-rower for the Lions, securing his test place by scoring a try against Otago the Saturday before the first test, both games were played at the famous Carisbrooke ground.  In the place of club mate Prentice he captained the Lions three times against Wairarapa/Bush, Canterbury and Marlborough/Nelson Bays. The Lions defeated the combined teams but fell to Canterbury, Beamish grabbing a try against Marlborough/Nelson Bays.

It was on this tour that Beamish, legend has it, led a delegation of Irish players determined to have some representation in the playing kit.  At the time the Lions wore the blue shirt of Scotland, with a white collar and white shorts of England, plus red socks of Wales, neatly also copying the three colours of the Union Flag.  His demands were met and Green flashes were immediately added to the socks, with green turnovers still being a feature on the kit today.

Beamish’s brother Charles went on the 1936 tour to Argentina, captained by Leicester’s Bernard Gadney and managed by Doug Prentice, and played 17 games for the Tigers over 10 seasons, whilst his other brothers Victor and Cecil played for the first XV in 68 and 13 games respectively.  Their record of 4 brothers playing for the Tigers held firm until November 2009 when Manu Tuilagi became the 5^th of that clan to play for the club’s first team.  Like Beamish he played in a side that beat the touring Springboks and is now a British Lion himself.  Rather fitting I think.

The UltraSubMarine Awards

So the inaugural season of the UltraSubMarines blog is over and we have celebrated some notable achievements.  The Tigers became English Champions for a record extending 10th time, Champ10ns as the branding has it, we also beat the Maori on a raucous night at Welford Road in November, their first loss for 5 years, and made our Wembley debut in September with a "thrilling" 9-all draw against Saracens. 

The players have been positively overburdened by garlands this season as Tom Youngs won Aviva Premiership Player of the season, Dan Bowden won try, and a whopping 8 players made the TalksSport Dream XV.  But I know what you are all really wondering.  Who does Leicester Tigers' premium reporter think is Player of the Season?  And if Martin Crowson isn't available what about you?

So here it goes my take on the Awards Season:


Signing of the Season:

We have a veritable smorgasbord to choose from after signing at least 11 players over the summer and during the season.  It might be Dan Bowden or Adam Thompstone, what about Flying Fijian winger Vereniki Goneva or Miles Benjamin?  Alright probably not Miles Benjamin.
  
In reality there seem to be two candidates: Goneva and Thompstone.  Goneva signed from Pyrenees side Tarbes and has 29 caps for his native Fiji.  Thompstone came from London Irish after missing the best part of 2 seasons with a broken ankle.  Goneva bookended the season with tries on the opening day at London Welsh and in the final against Northampton, making 15 starts, whilst Thompstone played the middle part of the season with 20 starts scoring 9 tries.  Between them they locked down the left wing spot playing 33 of 36 games, Niall Morris preferred for one league game and Alex Lewington playing 2 LV Cup games. 

So who is my signing of the season?  I can’t deny it I’m in love with Vereniki Goneva.  Typically Fijian in attack with his hard running, free passing style he marries this with a vociferous work rate in defence and moments of game breaking skill such as against the Ospreys at home for the first try and a similar inside break for Morris’s try in the Final.

Try of the Season:

Tigers are a team of both great try scorers and scorers of great tries.  91 tries in 36 games this season means there are plenty to choose from and it is impossible for even the most ardent of Tigers fan to recall them all.  But some stand out in the memory and will stand the test of time.  Who will ever forget Ed Slater dummying and charging his way over from the half way line, out pacing an England age group winger in the process?  Kitchener ghosting his way past the Saints defence and into the corner during the final.  Ben Youngs’s 80m tap and go at the Rec.  The Premiership panel considered Dan Bowden’s touch down of George Ford’s chip after Ford’s break the best but we have the freedom of Europe to pick from and it is there where I find my favourite.

Treviso in December.  It was bitterly cold and wet.  A boggy pitch was making it tough going against a sturdy and determined opposition.  We were perhaps not agreeing with every call from the referee, though worse from him was to come, but he gave us a penalty practically on our own goal line.  Seeing the play bunched in front of him Youngs went quickly sprinting out of the 22 in a wide arc.  Anthony Allen straightened and put the charging Mat Tait into space and into the Italians half before getting it back from Tait’s out the back of the hand off load.  Allen then linked play to the left wing Adam Thompstone who raced home into the corner.

In the end that try won us the game, saving our face from an embarrassing defeat in Italy and helped us to win the group and make the European quarter finals.





Game of the Season: 

 It’s so tempting to pick the final.  A 20 point thrashing against your local rivals in the final, how couldn’t that be the game of the season?  But there have been so many others it would surely betray a lack of imagination to just pick the last one? 

Some of the other performances have been magnificent.  Ospreys at home in October with its crazy frantic last ten minutes that sealed the bonus point and ultimately the group; the Maori in November when denuded of our internationals we took on the famous New Zealand tourists and sent them home with their first loss in 5 years; the Saints in Northampton during March and Quins in the semi final too, the form we exhibited after the 6 Nations when we finally had our full squad back was sublime and the I’ve rarely seen a team so dominant as those two games. 

But bringing the A game when it matters hasn’t always been a strength of the Tigers.  And it mattered last Saturday more than it ever has done before.

Academy Player of the Season:

To be eligible for this award you must have played some part in the Under 18s Academy League. 

The Academy had a fantastic season winning the inaugural Academy League Northern Conference with a 100% record of 6 Bonus Point wins out of 6.  They also had 12 players represent their nation at various levels from U-17s to U-20s spread across 4 countries with England, Wales, Italy and Canada all requiring a Tiger at one stage or another.  

The academy seems packed with potential at the moment with guys like Harry Thacker, Ed Milne, Javiah Pohe and Rhys Williams impressing.  However the winner of this award has also been able to make his mark at a higher level.  Since his summer signing from Wasps Henry Purdy has had a dream season, top try scorer in the autumn’s A League, making his full Tigers debut in November’s LV Cup encounter with Saracens, helping England to win the U-20s Six Nations and currently in France representing the Under 20s in the Junior World Cup. 

With Goneva, Thompstone, Morris, Benjamin and Camacho ahead of him it’s going to be hard work to break into the Tigers line up but this young man should back himself to achieve that goal.

Young Player of the Season (U 23):

The definition of a Young Player is one born after 1^st September 1989 and is defined as Under 23.

It’s fair to say Tigers have some outstanding options in the category.  But we’ll come to those later.  Even amongst the players we still consider youngsters we have the departing George Ford, Sam Harrison now a veteran of 49 first team appearances and the emerging talent of Fraser Balmain.

But let’s not get like the rest of the British rugby press and celebrate new rather than great.  The others who qualify for this category are Graham Kitchener, England tourist and final try scorer, Steve Mafi, Tongan international almost the equal of Tom Croft, Manu Tuilagi, Lion, Beast, brilliant and Ben Youngs his fellow Lions tourist.

A handy quartet and one that it is a hell of a job to separate.   Steve Mafi had a year scarred with injury after tearing his hamstring against Toulouse in January so misses out; Kitchener had 21 starts as he blossomed into a first team regular but is not a dominant player internationally like Youngs and Manu.

The two Lions are impossible to split; Manu raises his game v Ospreys, Youngs calls with his try v. Bath.  Colleagues with England and now the Lions in the poker game of life they are a competing pair of Royal Flushes.

Are joint winners a cop out? You separate them!

Player of the Season:

For the Tigers collectively this has been a fantastic year but on an individual level it for many it has been simply amazing.  Jordan Crane, Tom Croft and Mat Tait have all returned to regular rugby from career threatening injuries and were like three new world class signings such was there impact. 

Croft has also made the Lions tour alongside 5 of his colleagues as Ben Youngs, Tom Youngs, Dan Cole, Geoff Parling and Manu Tuilagi all gain the highest representative honour available.  Steve Mafi was part of the Tongan squad that won away in Scotland, whilst Martin Castrogiovanni’s Italy defeated both France and Ireland in the Six Nations.  Scores of players made their Tigers debut, who knows which of the youngsters we will be talking about in years to come? 

But the story has to be Tom Youngs.

This time last year he hadn't even started a Premiership game in the front row, now he is in Hong Kong with the British Lions preparing for the quadrennial assault on the southern hemisphere super powers.  The legend has it that Heyneke Meyer suggested the switch after a sin binning for fighting with a prop in the second team.  Whatever the truth of it the unusual conversion has worked a treat.

He’s had to deal with learning a new and sometimes baffling position and had to deal with taking a massive step backwards to ultimately emerge in a rarefied company he probably would never have reached at centre. 

This season Youngs started in all but two games for which he was available, playing 22 games.  He also made 9 appearances for England including the famous 38-21 win over the All Blacks in which he was at his bullocking best.   

Tom Youngs the Leicester Tigers Ultra SubMarines Player of the Season.


Read my view on Youngs just before his international debut in November