Tigers secured a third straight win, their 15th of the Premiership season, to claim an 11th straight ticket to the play off lottery. The opponents will be Bath, at the Rec, the last visit drew Tigers largest ever reverse. 45-0. As if you could forget that. I know I've tried.
To the match. Northampton had drawn criticism for resting many players, Myler, Manoa, Lawes and more, but this is criticism is beyond stupid. Northampton had to way up the chance to knock Tigers out against the chance of injury to their players. Exeter, Saracens or Premiership Rugby have no right to make that decision it is Jim Mallender's alone.
Tigers started brightly earning a penalty converted by Freddie Burns; Tigers maul was strong and progressing at a rate of knots when hauled down. It was the maul again that earned the first try, Ed Slater rose to claim the lineout and Jordan Crane squeezed down the blindside to score in the corer.
Saints had tied the scores at 3-3 with a James Wilson penalty and two soft penalties allowed them to go into the break ahead. All Black Brad Thorn sometimes struggles to remember he no longer possesses the black cloak of invisibility and was pinged for the laziest of rolls away whilst Wilson poked Northampton ahead following a scrum penalty that many in the Crumbie felt should have gone the other way.
Tigers were unlucky to go into the break behind as they controversially had a try ruled out, the referee ruled Freddie Burns was "in at the side" at the ruck following Ben Youngs sniping break. If Youngs had passed better moments before however Tigers would surely have scored.
After half time Burns notched Tigers quickly into the lead with a long range penalty before The Scrums.
Well first a bright spell of Tigers possession; Logo Mulipola peeled round the front of the lineout to get onto the front foot with Ben Yougs keeping the pace high we zig zagged up the pitch to within inches of the line. After battering the door down for several phases Youngs thought he spied a gap and burrowed at the base of the post. The TMO was asked if there "was ay reason I cannot award a try" and despite finding no clear pictures of held up or short (or a grounding to be fair) decided he couldn't award the try anyway and we had The Scrums.
The Scrums. Anyone who was there will know the story, anyone not will quickly recognise the tale. Northampton were under the cosh and collapsing on the engage. There was one scrum where a reasonable shove was put on but that one was re-set and not penalised, therefore the referee had his hands tied and felt unable to award the penalty try. Instead he sin binned both Northampton tightheads causing uncontested scrums when Corbiseiro refused to play tighthead and meaning Tigers had to be content with just 3 points.
Most have said the referee could not award the penalty try as we were not shoving them backwards, but surely the referee can decide that where Saints not collapsing on engage the pushover was inevitable and still award the score? After all just because Saints were collapsing before they could go backwards this does not stop that penalty preventing the try.
Either way Northampton played some bright possession rugby to run down the clock but were unable to totally keep a baying Tigers attack out. Niall Morris eventually burst through to score Tigers second try.
Tommy Bell, on for an injured Freddie Burns, slotted an long range kick for Tigers to stretch the lead to 13 and all but securing the game.
Northampton did make a game of it with a try for Tom Stephenson but Sam Olver, son of John, shanked the conversion wide.
As after most games this season there was has been criticism of the Tigers backs however there were two great opportunities taken only to be ruled out by the officials, if these had stood we would likely be looking at a bonus point win.
For all the gnashing of teeth on the blog throughout the year our win/loss record is as good as it has been in many years. The lack of tries has held us back but the reality is we have won 15 games and Bath and Northampton have won only 1 more.
We are contenders now. We just have to do what we have not done this season and win against a top 4 side. We have to do what we have only done once in four years and win in Bath. That was a semi final too. And our fly half that night was George Ford. What ever happened to him?
Showing posts with label Northampton Saints. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Northampton Saints. Show all posts
Sunday, 17 May 2015
Sunday, 1 February 2015
Tigers seal Derby Day win
Tigers put one foot into the LV Cup knockout rounds with a 17-8 win at home to bitter rivals Northampton Saints. Without the likes of Dylan Hartley and Courtney Lawes this was a quieter affair than normal with no major incidents of foul play. More's the pitty as it would have livened up the game.
Tigers opening half hour secured the win with two muscular tries from the beefy pair Sebastian de Chaves and Laurence Pearce. De Chaves' effort came after only 5 minutes; Tigers had turned down a shot at goal in blustery conditions to go for the corner and set an attacking maul. Northampton resisted just enough and Tigers broke left towards the post. A noticable burst from Jack Roberts set the ruck and de Chaves burst through a weak tackle to crash over for his first try in Tigers colours.
Northampton dragged 3 points back after a scrum infringement but Tigers extended their lead after half an hour. Jack Roberts received the ball in space roughly on his own 10m line and ran with it. He scorched past two men, beating on for pace on the outside and gliding past another on the inside. Faced with the full back he kicked on again and tried to round him for the try. He didn't make it but did manage to stay infield, just, and set the ruck. Tigers pounded with the forwards and it was Laurence Pearce who ducked and spun and dived and reached out for the try line, slamming the ball on the whitewash for the 5 points.
Williams converted both scores for a 14-3 lead.
After that try Tigers did not find the cutting edge of their attacking play again. Northampton grew into the game and it took some heroic defence from Sam Harrison to force a knock on from Teimana Harrison as he tried to finish a good break with a try. From that position Northampton huffed and puffed at the Tigers line but never quite managed to get over it. As the clock ticked over 40 minutes Northampton had scrum after scrum, heft after heft at the Tigers line but Balmain, Thacker and Rizzo stayed strong. Eventually forcing the knock on and the relief of half time.
In the second half Tigers never really got going. Unable to pick apart Northampton's rush defence or use the forwards as a wrecking ball to crash through it Tigers relied on Williams and Catchpole's little nudges to maintain a dominance on the game's territory.
A Jack Roberts break early on was trucked up twice more by the forwards but with the line begging Harrison fumbled at the base of a ruck.
One attacking penalty was kicked to the corner and move attempted; thrown to the back Tigers quickly shifted the ball to a dummy maul at the front before releasing Barbieri on the peel. Unfortunately the referee ruled an obstruction, with no replay's available I am none the wiser to the accuracy of the call or the culprit.
Northampton replaced their half backs Hodgson & Hooley, who had been struggling to clear the ball past Tigers large forwards, with Alex Day and Sam Olver, son of hooker John. The replacement pair were effective, creating a try with Saints first real incursion into the Tigers 22 of the second half. Olver poked a ball through the Tigers' blindside defence and Howard Packman, son of legendary Saints winger Frank, won the foot race for the score.
That spelled a nerve racking ending for Tigers as they continued to dominate the territory but could not control the ball or drive back the Saints' defence. With just 5 minutes remaining Tigers cooled their fans nerves; a dynamic break from Laurence Pearce was followed up by a barnstorming run from Mulipola causing a Northampton forward to be trapped at the bottom of the ruck. With the penalty Owen Williams made no mistake and a 9 points lead established.
To their credit Northampton fought back but with a two score lead Tigers defence was under no real threat, as at the end of the first half the Tigers withstood an Northampton onslaught and sealed a 17-9 victory.
Depending on the result of the Wasps-Cardiff game at the Ricoh this afternoon Tigers may well have already secured a LV semi final spot. If Wasps fail to win both their remaining games, next week they face Northampton at the Gardens, Tigers will win the group. If we beat Cardiff next week we secure a home semi final, potentially against Northampton again!
Man of the Match: Laurence Pearce.
Tigers opening half hour secured the win with two muscular tries from the beefy pair Sebastian de Chaves and Laurence Pearce. De Chaves' effort came after only 5 minutes; Tigers had turned down a shot at goal in blustery conditions to go for the corner and set an attacking maul. Northampton resisted just enough and Tigers broke left towards the post. A noticable burst from Jack Roberts set the ruck and de Chaves burst through a weak tackle to crash over for his first try in Tigers colours.
Northampton dragged 3 points back after a scrum infringement but Tigers extended their lead after half an hour. Jack Roberts received the ball in space roughly on his own 10m line and ran with it. He scorched past two men, beating on for pace on the outside and gliding past another on the inside. Faced with the full back he kicked on again and tried to round him for the try. He didn't make it but did manage to stay infield, just, and set the ruck. Tigers pounded with the forwards and it was Laurence Pearce who ducked and spun and dived and reached out for the try line, slamming the ball on the whitewash for the 5 points.
Williams converted both scores for a 14-3 lead.
After that try Tigers did not find the cutting edge of their attacking play again. Northampton grew into the game and it took some heroic defence from Sam Harrison to force a knock on from Teimana Harrison as he tried to finish a good break with a try. From that position Northampton huffed and puffed at the Tigers line but never quite managed to get over it. As the clock ticked over 40 minutes Northampton had scrum after scrum, heft after heft at the Tigers line but Balmain, Thacker and Rizzo stayed strong. Eventually forcing the knock on and the relief of half time.
In the second half Tigers never really got going. Unable to pick apart Northampton's rush defence or use the forwards as a wrecking ball to crash through it Tigers relied on Williams and Catchpole's little nudges to maintain a dominance on the game's territory.
A Jack Roberts break early on was trucked up twice more by the forwards but with the line begging Harrison fumbled at the base of a ruck.
One attacking penalty was kicked to the corner and move attempted; thrown to the back Tigers quickly shifted the ball to a dummy maul at the front before releasing Barbieri on the peel. Unfortunately the referee ruled an obstruction, with no replay's available I am none the wiser to the accuracy of the call or the culprit.
Northampton replaced their half backs Hodgson & Hooley, who had been struggling to clear the ball past Tigers large forwards, with Alex Day and Sam Olver, son of hooker John. The replacement pair were effective, creating a try with Saints first real incursion into the Tigers 22 of the second half. Olver poked a ball through the Tigers' blindside defence and Howard Packman, son of legendary Saints winger Frank, won the foot race for the score.
That spelled a nerve racking ending for Tigers as they continued to dominate the territory but could not control the ball or drive back the Saints' defence. With just 5 minutes remaining Tigers cooled their fans nerves; a dynamic break from Laurence Pearce was followed up by a barnstorming run from Mulipola causing a Northampton forward to be trapped at the bottom of the ruck. With the penalty Owen Williams made no mistake and a 9 points lead established.
To their credit Northampton fought back but with a two score lead Tigers defence was under no real threat, as at the end of the first half the Tigers withstood an Northampton onslaught and sealed a 17-9 victory.
Depending on the result of the Wasps-Cardiff game at the Ricoh this afternoon Tigers may well have already secured a LV semi final spot. If Wasps fail to win both their remaining games, next week they face Northampton at the Gardens, Tigers will win the group. If we beat Cardiff next week we secure a home semi final, potentially against Northampton again!
Man of the Match: Laurence Pearce.
Sunday, 21 December 2014
Derby Day Defeat
Tigers suffered a derby day defeat despite Northampton spending 56 minutes with a man less following Dylan Hartley's dismissal for an ugly elbow to Matt Smith's face. Tigers and Saints scored three tries each but Stephen Myler was more effective with the boot slotting 8 points to Williams & Burns combined effort of 4 points.
But to lay the blame solely on the kickers would be wrong. Tigers defence was shocking in the second half, with a man advantage Saints created overlaps at will, and the home side dominated both possesion and territory. ESPN's "Match Stats" records Saints having 76% of territory in the second half (what that exactly means I couldn't tell you but its not likely to be good.).
The kicking strategy from hand was simply not good enough. With a man advantage you should be able to kick to land not hand, as the old saying goes. If the kick is not on then there must be space somewhere in the defensive line. Instead Williams' kicks were almost always fielded by Ken Pisi, George North or James Wilson; not a trio you want running back at you.
Both times we got the ball into their 22 we scored tries relatively easily. But we barely had the ball inside their half let alone their 22.
The first 20 minutes was Tigers best spell, dominating the scrum but giving away very soft line out penalties that only J.P. Doyle will know what for. From a terrific Salvi turnover Tigers spread the ball wide left with Goneva making inroads to the 5m line. Northampton did well to bring him down but cynically infringed to slow the ball down. On the advantage play Smith drove Hartley out with a text book ruck clearance, the Saints captain took exception to this and after the whistle slammed the point of his elbow up Smith's nose.
Doyle's initial reaction was, baffling, only a yellow card; claiming it was a forearm to the jaw. Sean Davey, the TMO, insisted that it be upgraded to a red. When Sean Davey is having to tell the referee to stop being anti-Tigers you know its going to be a bad day.
Dorian West stormed down to the touchline to harangue the fourth official, I await with bated breath the e-mail campaign from the Saints fans offended by his behaviour.
Saints sacrificed centre Stephenson rather than a forward but it made no difference as Tigers mercilessly drove the home side over for a penalty try. Unfortunately that was where the mercilessness ended. Some weak refereeing in the face of a home crowd gave Myler the chance to nibble into the lead and Doyle evened the numbers up for ten minutes after the softest high tackle call I have ever seen on Tom Croft.
Tigers lead 7-6 at the break and were surely confident of the win. But in the second half we were out psyched, out muscled, out thought and out fought. Northampton wanted this and the triffling matter of missing Hartley was not going to stop them.
Tigers lost Blaine Scully to injury at half time and with him went a lot of defensive solidness and our energy. He is not the perfect winger, I could not see him making the kind of break Benjamin did for the third try, but he energises those around him. It was down Benjamin's wing that Northampton scored all three of their tries.
The first was whilst Croft was still off; North took the ball at first receiver and cut out 4 Tigers defenders with a beautiful pass, Ma'afu fed Waller who dummied his way past Benjamin and over the line. For me Benjamin has to smash Waller and see if the prop can make the testing final pass.
Wilson missed the conversion and the game settled down for 15 minutes. Freddie Burns was on for Matt Smith, booed from the field by the Saints fans for his crime of being assaulted, and made a delightful shimmying break through the midfield to the 5m line. Tigers recycled quickly and Goneva burst through two ineffectual tackles to give Tigers the lead 12-11 on 60 minutes. Williams missed the testing wide conversion.
Saints struck back with a piece of clinical finishing. Myler spotted the blindside overlap; drew in Benjamin as the last man and manufactured a cheeky off load that I'd doubt you'd see in a text book. Foden raced away using the supporting North as a decoy to create confusion in Tait's mind before having the strength to hold off Ben Youngs.
At this point it looked like Saints were going to race away to a big winning margin. But Tigers dug in. And kept kicking. And kept kicking. It was baffling, frustrating and stupid. And it worked.
Mat Tait chased his own up and under. The lithe full back tackled Foden and in the ruck slipped the ball on our side. Crane fumbled, but backwards, I think, I'm sure, in clearing the ball wide but it mattered not. It went to Benjamin on half way. He went inside. He went outside. He scorched past Phil Dowson and curved into the 22 beating more men. He couldn't quite make it but Youngs was there quickly and whipped it away to Burns and through Ghiraldini onto Goneva. Burns nailed the conversion from the same spot Williams missed the first and Tigers had the 3 point lead with ten minutes to go.
Northampton huffed and the they puffed. Could we do it? We were holding, just barely but we were holding them. We couldn't get the ball and they were steaming forwards, their big beasts of Manoa, Lawes, Dickinson and Burrell were coming to the fore.
They got a penalty and kicked for the corner. If we could hold the maul we could win the match. But the Saints were confident. You could see it in them. Flowing from us folding in the semi, they fancied it. I fancied us but there was just a niggle. Just a random thread hanging loose.
We smashed back the maul. Yes. They came left. We held. They came left. We didn't. Burrell took three men to tackle him. We were sucked in. Again. And they scored through Elliott.
We didn't deserve to win, but that's not the point. We could have won with 3 minutes of better defending, or better kicking.
Tigers are now 11 points off second place with 12 games to go. The comeback has to start now.
But to lay the blame solely on the kickers would be wrong. Tigers defence was shocking in the second half, with a man advantage Saints created overlaps at will, and the home side dominated both possesion and territory. ESPN's "Match Stats" records Saints having 76% of territory in the second half (what that exactly means I couldn't tell you but its not likely to be good.).
The kicking strategy from hand was simply not good enough. With a man advantage you should be able to kick to land not hand, as the old saying goes. If the kick is not on then there must be space somewhere in the defensive line. Instead Williams' kicks were almost always fielded by Ken Pisi, George North or James Wilson; not a trio you want running back at you.
Both times we got the ball into their 22 we scored tries relatively easily. But we barely had the ball inside their half let alone their 22.
The first 20 minutes was Tigers best spell, dominating the scrum but giving away very soft line out penalties that only J.P. Doyle will know what for. From a terrific Salvi turnover Tigers spread the ball wide left with Goneva making inroads to the 5m line. Northampton did well to bring him down but cynically infringed to slow the ball down. On the advantage play Smith drove Hartley out with a text book ruck clearance, the Saints captain took exception to this and after the whistle slammed the point of his elbow up Smith's nose.
Doyle's initial reaction was, baffling, only a yellow card; claiming it was a forearm to the jaw. Sean Davey, the TMO, insisted that it be upgraded to a red. When Sean Davey is having to tell the referee to stop being anti-Tigers you know its going to be a bad day.
Dorian West stormed down to the touchline to harangue the fourth official, I await with bated breath the e-mail campaign from the Saints fans offended by his behaviour.
Saints sacrificed centre Stephenson rather than a forward but it made no difference as Tigers mercilessly drove the home side over for a penalty try. Unfortunately that was where the mercilessness ended. Some weak refereeing in the face of a home crowd gave Myler the chance to nibble into the lead and Doyle evened the numbers up for ten minutes after the softest high tackle call I have ever seen on Tom Croft.
Tigers lead 7-6 at the break and were surely confident of the win. But in the second half we were out psyched, out muscled, out thought and out fought. Northampton wanted this and the triffling matter of missing Hartley was not going to stop them.
Tigers lost Blaine Scully to injury at half time and with him went a lot of defensive solidness and our energy. He is not the perfect winger, I could not see him making the kind of break Benjamin did for the third try, but he energises those around him. It was down Benjamin's wing that Northampton scored all three of their tries.
The first was whilst Croft was still off; North took the ball at first receiver and cut out 4 Tigers defenders with a beautiful pass, Ma'afu fed Waller who dummied his way past Benjamin and over the line. For me Benjamin has to smash Waller and see if the prop can make the testing final pass.
Wilson missed the conversion and the game settled down for 15 minutes. Freddie Burns was on for Matt Smith, booed from the field by the Saints fans for his crime of being assaulted, and made a delightful shimmying break through the midfield to the 5m line. Tigers recycled quickly and Goneva burst through two ineffectual tackles to give Tigers the lead 12-11 on 60 minutes. Williams missed the testing wide conversion.
Saints struck back with a piece of clinical finishing. Myler spotted the blindside overlap; drew in Benjamin as the last man and manufactured a cheeky off load that I'd doubt you'd see in a text book. Foden raced away using the supporting North as a decoy to create confusion in Tait's mind before having the strength to hold off Ben Youngs.
At this point it looked like Saints were going to race away to a big winning margin. But Tigers dug in. And kept kicking. And kept kicking. It was baffling, frustrating and stupid. And it worked.
Mat Tait chased his own up and under. The lithe full back tackled Foden and in the ruck slipped the ball on our side. Crane fumbled, but backwards, I think, I'm sure, in clearing the ball wide but it mattered not. It went to Benjamin on half way. He went inside. He went outside. He scorched past Phil Dowson and curved into the 22 beating more men. He couldn't quite make it but Youngs was there quickly and whipped it away to Burns and through Ghiraldini onto Goneva. Burns nailed the conversion from the same spot Williams missed the first and Tigers had the 3 point lead with ten minutes to go.
Northampton huffed and the they puffed. Could we do it? We were holding, just barely but we were holding them. We couldn't get the ball and they were steaming forwards, their big beasts of Manoa, Lawes, Dickinson and Burrell were coming to the fore.
They got a penalty and kicked for the corner. If we could hold the maul we could win the match. But the Saints were confident. You could see it in them. Flowing from us folding in the semi, they fancied it. I fancied us but there was just a niggle. Just a random thread hanging loose.
We smashed back the maul. Yes. They came left. We held. They came left. We didn't. Burrell took three men to tackle him. We were sucked in. Again. And they scored through Elliott.
We didn't deserve to win, but that's not the point. We could have won with 3 minutes of better defending, or better kicking.
Tigers are now 11 points off second place with 12 games to go. The comeback has to start now.
Wednesday, 3 September 2014
2014/15 Season Preview: Northampton
Northampton
Nickname:
Saints
Founded:
1880
Years in Top
Tier: 22
Last Year: Champions
(2nd in Prem 75 points), Group Stage Heineken Cup, Amlin Challenge
Cup Champions, Anglo-Welsh Cup beaten Finalists
Europe:
Heineken Cup
Director of
Rugby: Jim Mallinder
Transfers:
In: Joel
Hodgson (Newcastle), Jon Fisher (London Irish)
Out: GJ Van
Velze (Worcester), Tom Warren (Moseley), Ryan Glynn (Jersey), Paul Diggin
(Retirement), Fa’atoina Autagavaia (Nevers), Rob Verbakel (Unknown)
Ins: 2
Outs: 6
“Northampton has once again opened up their cheque book to attract the star names that they hope will lead them to a first ever English title.” So started last year’s preview. Well fair play to them it worked.
Northampton became the 8th side to earn the right to call themselves English Champions when local boy Alex Waller burrowed over in the last minute of extra time in a pulsating final. Saracens may well quibble several interventions from the TMO but now the dust has settled and its Northampton that will forever be engraved as 2014 Premiership winners.
After last summer’s mega moves this has been a quieter affair, two squad players brought in and two squad players in Van Velze and Diggin leave, the others barely featured. With Alex Corbiseiro allegedly fit and well he may break his current Premiership records of starts in a season, which is currently 6. Lions hero he might be, durable he certainly isn’t.
In previous years Northampton have been remarkably consistent, before last year finishing 4th three years in a row, with the exact same number of points too; I see nothing in their summer moves to change that. The Champions tag may be a heavy burden for them to bear but the manner of victory has to instil a huge amount of belief; just like before they will be consistent but at this new higher level.
Last year Tigers finished 3rd with a record points tally and I feel that one of Tigers, Saints and Sarries is bound to repeat that feat; the top of the table looks so tight and congested that 75 points might not be enough this year.
Northampton are vulnerable to a nagging injury to Stephen Myler, one that would keep him out but not for long enough to sign an injury dispensation case, that is the only way I can see them falling below 3rd.
Prediction: A very close 3rd (Look, you want impartial analysis you’ve come to the wrong place!)
Monday, 11 August 2014
Tigers Serve up Plate
Tigers took home the inaugural Premiership 7s Plate on Friday night following victories over Northampton and London Irish.
Tigers made two changes to the squad that earned qualification; George Catchpole rested a minor knock and Tomi Jones was dropped. In their place Tigers called up Stourbridge's Gary Dipple & Tynedale's Ben Frankland.
Tigers looked set take their place in the night's blue ribbon Cup competition as tries from Andy Bulumakau and a scything break from Oli Bryant gave them a 14-5 lead over Cardiff with just 2 minutes remaining. But a break away score by Welsh 7s international Dan Fish gave the Blues hope before Tom Williams shattered Tigers' hopes.
Tigers started with Farnworth, Frankland, Tresidder, Fowles, Bulumakau, Woodhead and David Williams and conceded early as Cardiff broke down a large blindside from a midfield scrum. Cardiff dominated the first half, two try saving tackles from David Williams kept the score to one before a crucial intervention from Fowles on the goal line not only prevented a certain try but created one; Bulumakau racing the length of the field for a half time lead.
Cardiff started the second half well but the first clear cut chance came to Tresidder; spotting a hole in the Welsh defence the field opened up before him, but the Derbyshire native did not have the pace or the support to finish the break. Sub Dan Rundle also had a great chance following his chip and go but muffed his fly hack; under pressure Cardiff knocked on and from the scrum Tigers' Oli Bryant cut back through the breaking up pack to race under the posts.
9 points up with 2 minutes remaining Tigers will be frustrated with how they threw the game away. A simple missed tackle inside the Cardiff 22 gave the Welsh side an inch, they took a mile simply drawing the full back for Dan Fish to race away for a 90 metre score. Tigers earned a penalty with the TV clock showing 14 minutes but the referee's time had 14 seconds left. A poor ruck let Cardiff turn Will Owen over at the base and Dan Rundle's turnstile defence let Tom Williams in for the heartbreaking score.
With the Cup spilled Tigers were left to the Plate and an intriguing derby match with Northampton, who had been over run by eventual champions Gloucester. In torrential rain Tigers started with Owen, Farnworth, Tresidder, Fowles, Bulumakau, David Williams and Bryant. Much like the Cardiff game Tigers were down early; Sam Olver's delicate chip was gathered by Hutchinson and despite Fowles attentions was ruled to have scored. Saints made it 12-0 after first team flanker Teimana Harrison picked off Will Owen's sloppy off load.
Tigers were facing an early and chastening exit but another top draw intervention from Bryant gave hope. Receiving the ball on half way he broke through a Saints tackle before possessing the pace to round the full back and score under the posts. Tigers then scored straight from the second half's kick off to take the lead 14-12. First Tresidder went up the right before it was spread wide left to Fowles whose pace stretched the defence, he off loaded to Bulumakau; the Fijian's footwork beat the last man and he was clear to the line.
Bulumakau created the last score for Rundle; he swept up the loose ball and beat his man to crack the middle of the defence. Rundle's support play earned him the easy finish as Northampton chased Bulumakau back hard. Tigers had a 21-12 lead and managed to see out the remaining 3 minutes to secure a place in the Plate final against London Irish.
Tigers started the final with Owen, Frankland, Tresidder, Fowles, Bulumakau, Woodhead and David Williams. Tigers took the lead as Fowles pounced on Woodhead's chip through, smashing the ball onto the line to ground it. Tigers defence and poor discipline from both sides made the game fairly slow, Irish earning a yellow card for killing the one clean break in the first 6 minutes.
Tigers took the full 2 minutes to take advantage of their superior numbers, Will Owen's pass cut out half the Irish team, allowing Frankland to draw the final man and give Woodhead a run to the line. Tigers defence suffocated the Irish attack and created turnover ball that Tigers exploited for the final try. George Tresidder's excellent catch and pass under pressure created the space for Dan Rundle to score. Fatigue effected Irish badly as Tigers managed to keep them out and secure a rare clean sheet.
Oli Bryant was the stand out attacking player on the night with his two tries excellent, David Williams will be pleased with his defensive contribution but disappointed with a high profile knock on as he took a quick penalty. Of the specialists Andy Bulumakau has already secured a deal with Doncaster and surely Josh Fowles talents will see him move on from Longton in the 6th tier of English rugby.
Tigers made two changes to the squad that earned qualification; George Catchpole rested a minor knock and Tomi Jones was dropped. In their place Tigers called up Stourbridge's Gary Dipple & Tynedale's Ben Frankland.
Tigers looked set take their place in the night's blue ribbon Cup competition as tries from Andy Bulumakau and a scything break from Oli Bryant gave them a 14-5 lead over Cardiff with just 2 minutes remaining. But a break away score by Welsh 7s international Dan Fish gave the Blues hope before Tom Williams shattered Tigers' hopes.
Tigers started with Farnworth, Frankland, Tresidder, Fowles, Bulumakau, Woodhead and David Williams and conceded early as Cardiff broke down a large blindside from a midfield scrum. Cardiff dominated the first half, two try saving tackles from David Williams kept the score to one before a crucial intervention from Fowles on the goal line not only prevented a certain try but created one; Bulumakau racing the length of the field for a half time lead.
Cardiff started the second half well but the first clear cut chance came to Tresidder; spotting a hole in the Welsh defence the field opened up before him, but the Derbyshire native did not have the pace or the support to finish the break. Sub Dan Rundle also had a great chance following his chip and go but muffed his fly hack; under pressure Cardiff knocked on and from the scrum Tigers' Oli Bryant cut back through the breaking up pack to race under the posts.
9 points up with 2 minutes remaining Tigers will be frustrated with how they threw the game away. A simple missed tackle inside the Cardiff 22 gave the Welsh side an inch, they took a mile simply drawing the full back for Dan Fish to race away for a 90 metre score. Tigers earned a penalty with the TV clock showing 14 minutes but the referee's time had 14 seconds left. A poor ruck let Cardiff turn Will Owen over at the base and Dan Rundle's turnstile defence let Tom Williams in for the heartbreaking score.
With the Cup spilled Tigers were left to the Plate and an intriguing derby match with Northampton, who had been over run by eventual champions Gloucester. In torrential rain Tigers started with Owen, Farnworth, Tresidder, Fowles, Bulumakau, David Williams and Bryant. Much like the Cardiff game Tigers were down early; Sam Olver's delicate chip was gathered by Hutchinson and despite Fowles attentions was ruled to have scored. Saints made it 12-0 after first team flanker Teimana Harrison picked off Will Owen's sloppy off load.
Tigers were facing an early and chastening exit but another top draw intervention from Bryant gave hope. Receiving the ball on half way he broke through a Saints tackle before possessing the pace to round the full back and score under the posts. Tigers then scored straight from the second half's kick off to take the lead 14-12. First Tresidder went up the right before it was spread wide left to Fowles whose pace stretched the defence, he off loaded to Bulumakau; the Fijian's footwork beat the last man and he was clear to the line.
Bulumakau created the last score for Rundle; he swept up the loose ball and beat his man to crack the middle of the defence. Rundle's support play earned him the easy finish as Northampton chased Bulumakau back hard. Tigers had a 21-12 lead and managed to see out the remaining 3 minutes to secure a place in the Plate final against London Irish.
Tigers started the final with Owen, Frankland, Tresidder, Fowles, Bulumakau, Woodhead and David Williams. Tigers took the lead as Fowles pounced on Woodhead's chip through, smashing the ball onto the line to ground it. Tigers defence and poor discipline from both sides made the game fairly slow, Irish earning a yellow card for killing the one clean break in the first 6 minutes.
Tigers took the full 2 minutes to take advantage of their superior numbers, Will Owen's pass cut out half the Irish team, allowing Frankland to draw the final man and give Woodhead a run to the line. Tigers defence suffocated the Irish attack and created turnover ball that Tigers exploited for the final try. George Tresidder's excellent catch and pass under pressure created the space for Dan Rundle to score. Fatigue effected Irish badly as Tigers managed to keep them out and secure a rare clean sheet.
Oli Bryant was the stand out attacking player on the night with his two tries excellent, David Williams will be pleased with his defensive contribution but disappointed with a high profile knock on as he took a quick penalty. Of the specialists Andy Bulumakau has already secured a deal with Doncaster and surely Josh Fowles talents will see him move on from Longton in the 6th tier of English rugby.
Saturday, 17 May 2014
Under Pressure
The run is over. With
Tom Wood’s 77th minute try the Saints went into the lead for the
first time. For the first time in 11
matches Northampton beat Leicester. For
the first time since 2004 the Tigers will not be in the Premiership Grand
Final. For the first time since 2000
Tigers will end a season without reaching a final of one sort or another.
The pressure in the second half was huge. The home fans were rabid, baying for the
visitor’s blood, and when Leicester refused to play Christians to the
Northampton Lions referee J.P. Doyle was more than happy to oblige. With no release, no possession, no territory
for large chunks of the second half the pressure of the occasion just kept
rising.
A short spell of 5 minutes possession in the Saints half might have been enough to lift it. Quieten down the home fans, prick the pressure on the ref and run down the clock more. Maybe even score some points.
This really was the classic game of two halves. Tigers won the first half 17-6; Saints the
second 15-3. Tries from Manu Tuilagi and
Ben Youngs caused elation in the visitors section before the break, George
North crashed over to bring the home side back into it with around 15 minutes
to go. Then Wood dealt the killer blow.
In the second half we didn’t seem sure of what to do. A score would have killed the game, like Twickenham last year, but open the game up too much and you might gift Saints an early score to get back into the game.
We tried crazy aggressive play in our own 22, which failed
when Goneva’s quick throw was ruled forward but worked when Mat Tait scorched
away for a 60 metre break. We tried
kicking the leather off the ball but couldn’t pressure the Saints lineout into
turnover ball and just invited the waves of attack back on ourselves.
When Tom Youngs was sin binned for being punched in the face we didn’t seem to know what to do. First Jamie Gibson retiring, then Steve Mafi seeming set to replace Jordan Crane before Mat Tait, of all people, gave way. It seemed an odd call at the time. Not keeping 8 forwards, that was a great decision, but sacrificing the versatile and on form Tait when Goneva and Bowden were already on yellow cards.
But ultimately it was one missed tackle on Wood that cost us. It wasn’t the case that “the try was always coming”, Saints had been trying to knock the door down for an age and we had not wilted. It is not fanciful to suggest that tackle is made and we are on our way to Twickenham.
Saints though have been better than us this season. The only times they have looked vulnerable is when Steve Myler has been absent. How anyone rates George Ford or Freddie Burns above him is beyond my comprehension. He sits deep and brings his runners onto him at such pace that they crash over the gainline, his goal kicking has been magnificent and his temperament has improved no end.
A bit like the Heineken Cup if the knock out round was at Welford Road I think we win. And the reason we were away in Clermont and away last night? Our home form during the campaign. Dropped points to Quins, Saints and Bath cost us a home playoff and dropped points to Ulster cost us a home Heineken Cup quarter final. Rebuild the Fortress Welford Road and the rest will follow.
Thursday, 15 May 2014
Semi Final Preview
It's almost here. The pre match hype is almost over. According to Jim it's all "rubbish" anyway as he only reads what he wants to read. And not even Cockerill has the power to infiltrate Jim's preferred publications. He's tried. Oh how he's tried. But even after drawing a nipple on his head and pretending to be a boob Razzle turned him down.
By now most of us can probably reel off the stats by rote. 10 games unbeaten. Tying the fixture's record streak. 3 wins at Franklin's Gardens. Also a record.
But the reason these are records is because this is such a close rivalry. No Tigers fan worth their salt needs reminding of the game that broke the previous 10 game sequence. 1990 Pilkington Cup Quarter Final. Last year's finalists the Tigers come to the Gardens to face Second Tier Northampton. David vs Goliath.
These days Northampton are a Goliath in their own right. A fixture in the play offs last year was the first time they progressed to the Final in 6 attempts. They will not want to miss out again.
From the fixture in March their two most notable additions are Californian-Tongan barnstormer Samu Manoa and Widnes wizard Stephen Myler. The American bruiser slots into the second row alongside Courtney Lawes, Christian Day will feature from the bench. Stephen Myler's absence was crucial in the last fixture, he has matured into possibly the best fly half in the league.
He does not posses the running game of George Ford but his delicious pass for Jamie Elliot's try away to Bath will be on the highlights packages for years to come. His goal kicking this season has been above 80% and leads the league. Northampton fans will just hope he has learned the rules regarding drop outs.
Tigers make a number of changes from the side that faced Saracens 6 days ago. In the official release press release Tigers hint darkly that moving the game to the Friday has cost us Geoff Parling, Blaine Scully, Rob Hawkins and Boris Stankovich to concussion protocols.
In the forward pack Marcos Ayerza, Tom Youngs, Logo Mulipola and Ed Slater return to the tight five and join Louis Deacon who retains his place. This season's most popular back row is reunited as Jamie Gibson, Jordan Crane and Julian Salvi start. Steve Mafi is included in the squad after his impressive hour last week.
The backs though sees some very controversial choices. Despite his perfect kicking record in the earlier meeting Owen Williams is benched. Departing Toby Flood starts in his place at Fly Half with Dan Bowden, set to leave for Japan, recovered from his broken nose and starting at 12. Cockerill is never afraid to change his team for the play offs and has certainly surprised me with his choice. Whether he has caught Mallinder on the hop too is open to question.
The outside backs really do pick themselves as Manu Tuilagi and Flying Fijian Vereniki Goneva are joined by Mat Tait and Niall Morris. This is backline is just the absent Anthony Allen away from the Championship winning side of last season.
The reserve front row will worry some Tigers fans. Tom Bristow hasn't featured since January and has not been getting into London Welsh's starting XV of late. Should the worst happen to Ayerza I feel that Fraser Balmain is more likely to step up. Balmain is certainly no weakness but nor is Mulipola. Similarly Neil Briggs is a perfectly fine player but Tom Youngs he ain't.
With Steve Mafi covering the backrow Graham Kitchener covers lock. Kitchener is surely the only substitute guaranteed to feature. Cover in the backs is provided by Frenchman David Mele, Owen Williams and Adam Thompstone.
Leicester
15 Mat Tait
14 Niall Morris
13 Manu Tuilagi
12 Dan Bowden
11 Vereniki Goneva
10 Toby Flood
9 Ben Youngs
1 Marcos Ayerza
2 Tom Youngs
3 Logovi'i Mulipola
4 Louis Deacon
5 Ed Slater (c)
6 Jamie Gibson
7 Julian Salvi
8 Jordan Crane
Replacements
16 Neil Briggs
17 Tom Bristow
18 Fraser Balmain
19 Graham Kitchener
20 Steve Mafi
21 David Mele
22 Owen Williams
23 Adam Thompstone
Northampton: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 George Pisi, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 George North, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i; 1 Alex Waller, 2 Mike Haywood, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 4 Samu Manoa, 5 Courtney Lawes, 6 Tom Wood, 7 Phil Dowson (c), 8 Sam Dickinson Replacements: 16 Ross McMillan, 17 Alex Corbisiero, 18 Tom Mercey, 19 Christian Day, 20 Calum Clark, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 James Wilson, 23 Tom Stephenson
By now most of us can probably reel off the stats by rote. 10 games unbeaten. Tying the fixture's record streak. 3 wins at Franklin's Gardens. Also a record.
But the reason these are records is because this is such a close rivalry. No Tigers fan worth their salt needs reminding of the game that broke the previous 10 game sequence. 1990 Pilkington Cup Quarter Final. Last year's finalists the Tigers come to the Gardens to face Second Tier Northampton. David vs Goliath.
These days Northampton are a Goliath in their own right. A fixture in the play offs last year was the first time they progressed to the Final in 6 attempts. They will not want to miss out again.
From the fixture in March their two most notable additions are Californian-Tongan barnstormer Samu Manoa and Widnes wizard Stephen Myler. The American bruiser slots into the second row alongside Courtney Lawes, Christian Day will feature from the bench. Stephen Myler's absence was crucial in the last fixture, he has matured into possibly the best fly half in the league.
He does not posses the running game of George Ford but his delicious pass for Jamie Elliot's try away to Bath will be on the highlights packages for years to come. His goal kicking this season has been above 80% and leads the league. Northampton fans will just hope he has learned the rules regarding drop outs.
Tigers make a number of changes from the side that faced Saracens 6 days ago. In the official release press release Tigers hint darkly that moving the game to the Friday has cost us Geoff Parling, Blaine Scully, Rob Hawkins and Boris Stankovich to concussion protocols.
In the forward pack Marcos Ayerza, Tom Youngs, Logo Mulipola and Ed Slater return to the tight five and join Louis Deacon who retains his place. This season's most popular back row is reunited as Jamie Gibson, Jordan Crane and Julian Salvi start. Steve Mafi is included in the squad after his impressive hour last week.
The backs though sees some very controversial choices. Despite his perfect kicking record in the earlier meeting Owen Williams is benched. Departing Toby Flood starts in his place at Fly Half with Dan Bowden, set to leave for Japan, recovered from his broken nose and starting at 12. Cockerill is never afraid to change his team for the play offs and has certainly surprised me with his choice. Whether he has caught Mallinder on the hop too is open to question.
The outside backs really do pick themselves as Manu Tuilagi and Flying Fijian Vereniki Goneva are joined by Mat Tait and Niall Morris. This is backline is just the absent Anthony Allen away from the Championship winning side of last season.
The reserve front row will worry some Tigers fans. Tom Bristow hasn't featured since January and has not been getting into London Welsh's starting XV of late. Should the worst happen to Ayerza I feel that Fraser Balmain is more likely to step up. Balmain is certainly no weakness but nor is Mulipola. Similarly Neil Briggs is a perfectly fine player but Tom Youngs he ain't.
With Steve Mafi covering the backrow Graham Kitchener covers lock. Kitchener is surely the only substitute guaranteed to feature. Cover in the backs is provided by Frenchman David Mele, Owen Williams and Adam Thompstone.
Leicester
15 Mat Tait
14 Niall Morris
13 Manu Tuilagi
12 Dan Bowden
11 Vereniki Goneva
10 Toby Flood
9 Ben Youngs
1 Marcos Ayerza
2 Tom Youngs
3 Logovi'i Mulipola
4 Louis Deacon
5 Ed Slater (c)
6 Jamie Gibson
7 Julian Salvi
8 Jordan Crane
Replacements
16 Neil Briggs
17 Tom Bristow
18 Fraser Balmain
19 Graham Kitchener
20 Steve Mafi
21 David Mele
22 Owen Williams
23 Adam Thompstone
Northampton: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 George Pisi, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 George North, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i; 1 Alex Waller, 2 Mike Haywood, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 4 Samu Manoa, 5 Courtney Lawes, 6 Tom Wood, 7 Phil Dowson (c), 8 Sam Dickinson Replacements: 16 Ross McMillan, 17 Alex Corbisiero, 18 Tom Mercey, 19 Christian Day, 20 Calum Clark, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 James Wilson, 23 Tom Stephenson
Monday, 31 March 2014
Perfect 10
A try from Anthony Allen and 17 points from the boot of Owen
Williams secured Leicester the victory over Northampton in the 230th
meeting between the sides. The win made
Tigers undefeated in 10 games against their southerly neighbours, tying the
record set between 1983 and 1990.
Northampton has a mental block about playing Leicester. In the whole of 2013 they only failed to win
5 domestic games and 3 of them were Leicester.
They haven’t beaten us since September 2010 and even with a 2 man
advantage at the end let it slip through their grasp. Northampton’s kickers missed 10 points whilst
Owen Williams was a perfect 6/6.
The first half was when Tigers gouged their advantage. Dominating not so much possession as territory it meant that when the Saints erred it was within Williams’ scope to eek the lead out further. The second half was scrappy with Saints unable to harness their passion and drive.
Tigers were fast out of the blocks. The first half hour was a pitched battle of bloody intensity as Tigers’ forward carriers battered at the Northampton gates. Hooley opened the scoring after Goneva failed to roll away.
Tigers were hammering away at the Northampton line. The temperature was rising. Tom Wood’s deliberate knock on was deemed only accidental by referee Wayne Barnes and Tigers had a 5m scrum.
And what a scrum. The packs were fired up, straining at the leash like murderous dogs waiting for the call of “set”. The first one is reset. The second one stands up. Then Northampton pile through. As the bodies come up Tom Youngs’ face is covered in blood. He’s seething. He says his been bitten.
No evidence is forthcoming and they go again. Straining every muscle and every sinew it’s a dead heat.
Tigers play. It goes left three phases then back right through Tuilagi and Crane. Ed Slater runs a powerful line from Ben Youngs’ shoulder, ripping through three tacklers to within an inch of the line. Northampton sense the danger; Phil Dowson attempts to kill the ball. He can’t. There’s an overlap. George North is tempted out of the line by Ben Youngs’ magnificent 25 yard floated pass and Anthony Allen is over unmolested in the corner.
Owen Williams starts his perfect day with his most challenging kick, from the right hand touchline he starts it wide right and draws it just inside the right-hand upright.
Burrell is caught holding on in his own half then Kahn Fotuali’i fails to release the man in tackle, Williams slots the 40m penalty each time to stretch the lead to 13-3.
Northampton lost captain Hartley and prop Ma’afu before halftime, Hartley injuring his shoulder attempting to ruck Jamie Gibson.
At the same time as Hartley was leaving the field Hooley spooned a penalty kick wide right.
Northampton denuded of their captain came back into the match strongly. Ben Youngs failed to deal with a chip through and Louis Deacon did magnificently to track back and hold Calum Clark just short. When the ball went wide Dowson looked like he had the easiest of run ins, only to falter, that mental block again, and check his run inside.
The pressure was not relieved though; Northampton had a 5m line out. 2 minutes left before halftime and with the drive being repelled Kahn Fotuali’i took the ball and ran. Using referee Barnes as a shield he escaped Owen Williams and ran through Anthony Allen for the score.
The second half was a cagier, scrappy affair. The first 20 minutes of the second quarter especially. Tigers often gained good territory but through mistakes and Northampton’s excellent defence always came up empty. Kicks were to the fore as both teams only wanted the ball in the opposition half.
Hooley had a kick at goal following a high tackle, but again he pushed it wide. Williams in contrast slotted his attempt from a similar spot following a scrum penalty.
With Hooley hooked James Wilson was tried at fly half. He had no troubles slotting a penalty, after Marcos Ayerza made no effort to release a tackled man, to get within a try of the lead with 20 minutes remaining.
And Northampton went for it. Perhaps too much. With confidence flowing through their veins and memories of a vivid counter attack to score in last year’s final they played from their own 22. And for a while it looked like working. Stretching the Tigers defence.
But they counted not for Ed Slater. The Milton Keynes Mammoth had other ideas. Tackling George Pisi he slammed him to the floor, rising and releasing his man like a swimmer gasping for air he dove again to go for the ball. Pisi hung on. Barnes blew his whistle. Williams slotted his kick plum centre.
Panic suddenly set in. From the kick off there was no one home to claim Ben Youngs’ box kick; Dowson eventually capturing it on the rebound before the Saints were driven back into touch in their own half. Nervous and itching to get in a good hit their entire backline was caught offside at the lineout.
Williams again. Lead stretched to 11 points. 2 tries were not longer enough; the Saints would have to find their kicking boots too.
Tigers made their subs with 10 minutes left. Trying to save fuel for the decisive trip to Clermont this weekend. Northampton’s own sub Lee Dickson raised the pace to run the Tigers defence ragged.
But still they could not crack the defence. It took two yellow cards gifted from Wayne Barnes before they could break down the epic defence.
The first was for Ben Youngs. Youngs kicks through, Tigers muff the catch and North breaks. To my eye he gets back to his feet and competes fairly for the ball, arguably winning a penalty for holding on. But Barnes saw no release of the man and also saw fit to put Youngs in the bin.
Buoyed by the man advantage the Saints played wide. Tigers thought they had the choke tackle and piled men into the maul, but Dickson showed ferocity to dig the ball out. With 7 Tigers men in the tackle plus the man in the bin Tigers were severely underhanded and the Saints scented blood.
Fotuali’i, now at fly half, throws the miss pass to Samoan test winger Ken Pisi, 10 yards out and the line at his mercy. Surely he’s in at the corner? Surely? But no! Adam Thompstone is flying in like a man possessed to knock him off balance and Scott Hamilton sweeping round a full 30 meters from behind the ruck is there to bundle him into touch a matter of millimetres from the line.
Just 2 minutes after the first card and Barnes is reaching for another. Goneva, the mild mannered Fijian, is fingered this time for, of all things, a dangerous tackle.
Goneva attempts to dislodge the ball with a swinging arm, and gets a good piece of the ball. A lesser player than George North would have fumbled it. But he holds on. With that penalty given Dickson taps it quickly and goes again. Goneva leaves him go the ten meters then seeing the pass already gone dives over him.
As Fotuali’i's cross kick comes to nothing Goneva is binned. Madness. And the Saints fans have the audacity to claim Barnes favours Leicester.
With the two man advantage the try was inevitable. Tigers simply could not cover all the bases. They manfully dealt with the driving maul but as play went centrally then back towards the touchline Tigers were a man short and Ethan Waller dove in for the score.
Crucially Wilson missed the conversion and Saints still needed the full fat 7 points for victory.
Tigers will be disappointed they let Saints get as close as they did. Locked into the Saints half and with the ball Tigers should have seen it out. But with 30 seconds of the game remaining and for the first time all match Barnes decided that Kitchener had gone off his feet to win a ruck.
I do not for one minute contest that Kitchener was off his feet. He clearly was. But so was every player for at least half the rucks all match. Rugby is a hard game for players at the best of times, there is no need for refereeing inconsistencies to make it harder.
So less than 30 seconds left and the Saints had the ball on the 22. They needed a try and a conversion to secure victory. Off the top they run a wrap around off the inside centre, Burrell fumbles the ball, backwards according to Barnes, North sweeping behind gathers and chips in one motion. Pisi is at full pelt whilst Manu and Hamilton have to turn. The after burners come on for Tuilagi. He storms past Hamilton to take the ball in front of Pisi.
The ball slips out of his grasp into touch. 10 seconds left. The Saints are too slow to form the lineout and to the relief of the Tigers full time is called.
Friday, 28 March 2014
Team Named for Derby Day
It’s finally time.
Derby day is here. Tigers make
one change from the side that thrashed Exeter as Mat Tait takes over from Scott
Hamilton. Last time out Northampton
struggled to defeat away to Sale and have made 3 changes; Kahn Fotuali’i comes
in at scrum half, George Pisi starts at outside centre and Phil Dowson starts
at openside.
Tigers go into this match in terrific form winning 5 on the
bounce and scoring 13 tries in their last 3 games. Meanwhile Northampton has lost their last two
away to Exeter then Sale; before that though they were on a 13 game unbeaten
run. We all know the cliché of the form
book going out the window in derbies; but Tigers have been on a great run
against Saints going undefeated in the last 9 meetings.
Tigers’ man of the moment is Vereniki Goneva with 6 tries in his last 5 starts, how Northampton cope with Goneva will be crucial. In the 9 game unbeaten run Tigers have managed to score 25 or more points in 6 matches; the Saints meanwhile have only reached that score once and lost that game. The last two meetings at Franklin’s Gardens have ended with Bonus Point wins for the visitors.
With a cloth ear to controversy the RFU in their infinite wisdom have appointed Wayne Barnes as referee. The same Barnes who sent off Dylan Hartley in the Premiership final after he accused Barnes of being a “fucking cheat”, the same Barnes who sent off Alesana Tuilagi and Chris Ashton three years ago, the same Barnes who sin binned Manu Tuilagi and Ashton in the Premiership semi final of 2011. Given the Northampton crowd’s obsession with Barnes he will be under immense pressure to “right the wrongs” they perceive him to have done to them in the past.
Equally Cockerill will be looking for Barnes to clamp down on Northampton’s history of late tackles on our key playmakers; he is in an unenviable position of scrutiny. The RFU must make these appointments deliberately as Barnes has now refereed 5 of the last 8 meetings between the sides. Given they let people referee their own local clubs they probably don’t even think about this sort of pressure on a referee.
Both teams are missing their USA internationals as the Eagles welcome Uruguay to Atlanta in a World Cup qualifier. Last week Samu Manoa scored a breakaway try as the USA struggled to a disappointing draw in Montevideo. Any side would miss a player like Manoa but it is another absentee that is likely to be felt more strongly.
Northampton’s two game losing streak has coincided with the injury to fly half Stephen Myler. The Widnes born controller has been in magnificent form, both in open play and as a goal kicker. The Saints can be accused of a lack of depth in position as the only cover is youngster Will Hooley, originally from Cambridge.
Tigers number 8 Jordan Crane makes his hundredth league start for Leicester. Crane has been in brilliant form the last two matches as he is getting back towards his best. His strong central carrying has been key to Tigers getting onto the front foot and drawing in the defenders, giving the wide men like Goneva and Tuilagi more room to roam.
The history books and the form guide suggest Tigers should be favourites but Northampton will never be more motivated to turn over their greatest rivals than this week. With 8 wins and draw in the last 9 fixtures it is surely their time to gain the bragging rights.
Leicester
15 Mat Tait
14 Vereniki Goneva
13 Manu Tuilagi
12 Anthony Allen
11 Adam Thompstone
10 Owen Williams
9 Ben Youngs
1 Marcos Ayerza
2 Tom Youngs
3 Logovi'i Mulipola
4 Louis Deacon
5 Ed Slater (c)
6 Jamie Gibson
7 Julian Salvi
8 Jordan Crane
Replacements
16 Rob Hawkins
17 Boris Stankovich
18 Fraser Balmain
19 Graham Kitchener
20 Pablo Matera
21 David Mele
22 Toby Flood
23 Scott Hamilton
Northampton
15 Ben Foden
14 Jamie Elliott
13 George Pisi
12 Luther Burrell
11
George North
10 Will Hooley
9 Kahn Fotuali'i
1 Alex Waller
2 Dylan
Hartley (c)
3 Salesi Ma'afu
4 Courtney Lawes
5 Christian Day
6 Calum
Clark
7 Phil Dowson
8 Tom Wood
Replacements:
16 Mike Haywood
17 Ethan Waller
18 Tom Mercey
19 James Craig
20 GJ Van Velze
21 Lee Dickson
22 James Wilson
23 Ken Pisi
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant Referees: Roger Bailiff and Gordon Goodliffe
TV: BT Sport 1HD, Saturday 3:15 KO.
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant Referees: Roger Bailiff and Gordon Goodliffe
TV: BT Sport 1HD, Saturday 3:15 KO.
Sunday, 6 October 2013
Terrible Tigers Roar back to Share Spoils
For the vast majority of this match Tigers were second best
in almost all aspects. Out muscled, out
thought and out fought the Saints were enjoying a dominant display at Welford
Road and with 10 minutes remaining looked set to end Jim Mallinder’s Welford
Road hoodoo as they led by 10 points.
But then the Tigers finally woke up. David Mele and Dan Bowden were introduced from the bench; Tigers first subs coming as late as the 70th minute, and immediately upped the ante. Bowden put Goneva through a tiny hole in the Saints midfield to burst from halfway to the 22m line. Courtney Lawes, so often the villain, gave away the penalty and Tigers were back in touch.
The atmosphere even got to the referee who lost his rag with Tigers frustrations at Saints penalty count, 18 Saints penalties to only 7 from Leicester. Louis Deacon saw yellow for dissent whilst Lawes was binned for failing to roll away. Back within 7.
A clever kick from Mele gave Saints a 22m restart and Tigers good territory. More impressive carrying from Bowden and Goneva forced Saints to give away yet more penalties. To the corner. A drive. Yet another penalty. The Corner again. This time quickly to Flood; He’s through! No, he’s stopped short. Mele frantically tap dancing on the forest of Northampton arms. It’s free now.
Mele moves laterally attracting the fringe defence. This is exactly what Austin Healey was demonstrating two weeks ago with Danny Care. He spots Saints front rower Denman turn his shoulders in and puts Ed Slater through the hole. The local boy raised in Saints territory. I can’t think of a better player to score the try. Flood converts quickly for the drawing conversion.
19-19 is the final score but that wasn’t the end of the game. As befits two cracking and aggressive sides both wanted the win, not the draw. Samu Manoa, the giant Californian, blocked Mele’s box kick but Flood was first to react and cleared to Foden. He countered but strong Tigers pressure forced the Saints back. Salvi and Crane gang tackled Tom Wood stripping him of the ball and Flood kicked deep into Saints territory. The inch perfect kick forced Foden to clear to touch.
From the lineout, one phase and Tigers quickly set for the drop goal. It’s not the best pass but Flood knocks it on, for once JP Doyle’s partial blindness benefits the Tigers and he misses it. Another phase and this time it is Mele in full French madness mode with the snap 50m drop kick. He scuffs it. But you can’t mark a drop kick nor can it go for a scrum back, so whilst not the best option it was by no means the worst.
From the 22 Saints kick long and Crane runs it back. With less than a minute on the clock Flood puts in an inch perfect kick to the corner. All the pressure is on Hartley now. Will he bottle it like usual? He’s in front of the sedate GNC stand rather than the Crumbie baying for his blood. He twitches. He dummies. He’s bottled it again!
Deacon and Lawes return from the bin for the final confrontation. Tigers take the scrum. It’s a clean engagement. The drive is on. Saints are going backwards at a rate of knots and surely it’s only a matter of time until Doyle puts his arm out or goes straight under the posts?
But no! Dickson gambles and takes the ball from the back of the scrum. Doyle plays on and now its Tigers scrambling back under pressure. Thompstone, Flood and Bowden do incredibly well to keep Dickson penned into the touchline as if he gets into midfield its game over. He passes to winger Elliot whose kick forward is into touch and finishes the match.
Back to the scrum a second though and Tigers will feel hard done by. If Crane gets his foot back to it before Dickson does there is no way the referee would rule he has kicked it back in, so like Schrödinger’s Cat the ball is both in the scrum and out of it. For me Mele has to be closer to the 8 offering some protection and potentially looking for the pushover try too.
Back to the beginning and as the match started Northampton set their stall out immediately with Sam Dickinson taking Blaine Scully out with a swinging arm to the throat. Scully needed extensive treatment but was able to carry on after passing the pitch-side concussion tests.
Northampton’s indiscipline is best summed up by this stat, every single one of their starting pack conceded a penalty. I repeat from earlier Northampton gave away a massive 18 penalties during the game to Leicester’s 7.
Their first two were in quick succession at a scrum then ruck to give Flood the chance to open the scoring but his long range attempt went wide. It was Northampton who bossed the first half with their cavalier attitude in the ruck not only slowing down any possession Leicester did manage but securing good ball on their own too.
Only the scrum and Saints indiscipline allowed Tigers to keep a foothold in the first half.
Myler was perfect with the boot to punish the few penalties Tigers did allow and put the Saints 3-0 nil up.
Luther Burrell saw yellow for a spear tackle and Flood was on hand to level up the scores after a quarter of an hour. Tigers failed to take advantage of the extra man though as the 10 minute period ended with Saints up 6-3 after Julian Salvi entered the ruck from the side.
Saints were dominating the collisions and the territory as they pushed further ahead when catching Jordan Crane holding on around half way.
A period of greater fluency for the Tigers was rewarded when the Saints were again pinged for not rolling away from the tackle. Mulipola was particularly prominent in a series of powerful surges. Flood’s penalty brought the Tigers back within 3.
The only clear try scoring chance of the half came right as it ended. From a Northampton lineout the ball was spun wide to Ben Foden who chipped through for the mega-bucks George North to chase. North looked to have won the race for the ball but literally let it slip through his fingers. Perhaps in future he should visualise a wad of £50 notes instead as he’d never let those out of his grasp.
The try was coming as Northampton upped the pace at the begging of the second half. They were powerful and precise as they swept through the Tigers half in over ten phases. This summer’s other big money mover Alex Corbiseiro was the man to finally drive over the line. Some consolation for his torrid day in the scrum.
And it should have been more for a now rampant Saints. Despite Flood’s penalty after another Saints offence in the ruck Northampton were completely on top in open play, driving the Tigers back at every collision. Sam Dickinson, the bald headed number eight, powered over the line but Ben Youngs and Blaine Scully’s limpet like defence saved the Tigers as he was held up. Lee Dickson fed at the scrum and the pressure was relieved.
In many ways that was the end of Northampton’s chances as Tigers grew into the final twenty minutes gaining more and more chances. First Flood danced through a hole only for Jordan Crane’s pass to drift into touch. Then Ed Slater fumbled the ball only 5 yards out after some lovely hands from Crane and Kitchener. Goneva dropped an unsympathetic pass from Ben Youngs too as the pressure on the Saints began to mount.
A controversial scrum penalty, which did not tally with the previous interpretations of standing up, looked to have put Northampton clear at 10 points up with 15 minutes to go but as we all know, beware of the injured Tiger!
Friday, 4 October 2013
Cockerill faces Nemesis Northampton and signs new 5 Year Deal
Tigers face Northampton for the 229th time tomorrow as they aim to extend their 8 game winning run in the fixture. This is the second longest winning streak for Tigers in the fixture,only beaten by the 10 game run between 1983 and 1990.
Northampton are looking for their first victory at Welford Road since the Stephen Myler inspired victory in their most recent relegation year of 2007. Jim Mallinder makes two changes to the side that slaughtered Sale as Samu Manoa replaces the injured Christian Day and Coventry native Tom Wood replaces the arm breaker Calum Clarke at blindside wanker, I mean flanker. A new name to many will be number 8 Sam Dickinson signed from Rotherham last summer. The burly northerner has been a revalation after missing most of last season with a broken arm.
Richard Cockerill may still be banned after the hate campaign waged by bitter rival Dorian West and the Northampton e-mail warriors but his face will be in abundance as Tigers will be giving out free masks bearing the likeness of the Dear Leader. This week Cockerill signed a new 5 year contract which looks set to make him the club's longest serving coach in the Professional era.
Whatever the RFU and their stuffed shirts in London might think to me Cockerill embodies all the best characteristics of game of Rugby, the city of Leicester and the Leicester Football Club. He is passionate and honest to a fault. He works long, hard days and would never ask someone to do something he wasn't prepared to do himself. He worked way his way up to the very top of his profession after leaving school at 16 with no qualifications. He had no silver spoons or helping hands, everything he has achieved he has worked at and earned for himself. When he makes a mistake he doesn't have an old school chum to defend him in his Telegraph column.
And far more importantly he knows his Rugby.
Cockerill makes only one change from the side that struggled to beat to Exeter last weekend as Graham Kitchener replaces Geoff Parling. Parling left the field injured last week but it is unknown if the injury is still bothering him or whether it is a simple case of rotation. After his outstanding performance in last year's Premiership Final Cockerill may have simply opted for Kitchener. If he can score a try or do another try saving tackle it will have been a great call.
On the bench Thomas Waldrom replaces Jamie Gibson after his run out for the A team on Monday night. Owen Williams continues in the place of bad boy Ryan Lamb.
Last week's Man of the Match Vereniki Goneva will be making his 20th start for the club so will earn his players tie.
Saturday's referee will be John Paul Doyle. JP as he is known is a Dubliner who relocated to London for university and is now a mainstay of English refereeing. Doyle has refereed 13 Tigers game with 11 victories to only two defeats. Doyle refereed the LV Cup Final between the two sides in 2012, so will need to reminding to watch out for dirty Saints play in and around the ruck.
The game is live on BT Sports 1HD, coverage starts at 3PM for a 3.15 K.O.
Leicester Tigers (v Northampton Saints, Welford Road, Saturday 3.15pm)
15 Niall Morris
14 Blaine Scully
13 Vereniki Goneva
12 Anthony Allen
11 Adam Thompstone
10 Toby Flood (c)
9 Ben Youngs
1 Logovi'i Mulipola
2 Tom Youngs
3 Dan Cole
4 Louis Deacon
5 Graham Kitchener
6 Ed Slater
7 Julian Salvi
8 Jordan Crane
Replacements
16 Neil Briggs
17 Boris Stankovich
18 Fraser Balmain
19 Geoff Parling
20 Thomas Waldrom
21 David Mele
22 Owen Williams
23 Dan Bowden
Northampton Saints
15 Ben Foden
14 Jamie Elliott
13 George Pisi
12 Luther Burrell
11 George North
10 Stephen Myler
9 Lee Dickson
1 Alex Corbisiero
2 Dylan Hartley (c)
3 Tom Mercey
4 Samu Manoa
5 Courtney Lawes
6 Tom Wood
7 Phil Dowson
8 Sam Dickinson
Replacements
16 Mike Haywood
17 Alex Waller
18 Gareth Denman
19 G J Van Velze
20 Calum Clark
21 Kahn Fotuali'i
22 James Wilson
23 Ken Pisi
Leicester Kit:
Northampton Kit:
Northampton are looking for their first victory at Welford Road since the Stephen Myler inspired victory in their most recent relegation year of 2007. Jim Mallinder makes two changes to the side that slaughtered Sale as Samu Manoa replaces the injured Christian Day and Coventry native Tom Wood replaces the arm breaker Calum Clarke at blindside wanker, I mean flanker. A new name to many will be number 8 Sam Dickinson signed from Rotherham last summer. The burly northerner has been a revalation after missing most of last season with a broken arm.
Richard Cockerill may still be banned after the hate campaign waged by bitter rival Dorian West and the Northampton e-mail warriors but his face will be in abundance as Tigers will be giving out free masks bearing the likeness of the Dear Leader. This week Cockerill signed a new 5 year contract which looks set to make him the club's longest serving coach in the Professional era.
Whatever the RFU and their stuffed shirts in London might think to me Cockerill embodies all the best characteristics of game of Rugby, the city of Leicester and the Leicester Football Club. He is passionate and honest to a fault. He works long, hard days and would never ask someone to do something he wasn't prepared to do himself. He worked way his way up to the very top of his profession after leaving school at 16 with no qualifications. He had no silver spoons or helping hands, everything he has achieved he has worked at and earned for himself. When he makes a mistake he doesn't have an old school chum to defend him in his Telegraph column.
And far more importantly he knows his Rugby.
Cockerill makes only one change from the side that struggled to beat to Exeter last weekend as Graham Kitchener replaces Geoff Parling. Parling left the field injured last week but it is unknown if the injury is still bothering him or whether it is a simple case of rotation. After his outstanding performance in last year's Premiership Final Cockerill may have simply opted for Kitchener. If he can score a try or do another try saving tackle it will have been a great call.
On the bench Thomas Waldrom replaces Jamie Gibson after his run out for the A team on Monday night. Owen Williams continues in the place of bad boy Ryan Lamb.
Last week's Man of the Match Vereniki Goneva will be making his 20th start for the club so will earn his players tie.
Saturday's referee will be John Paul Doyle. JP as he is known is a Dubliner who relocated to London for university and is now a mainstay of English refereeing. Doyle has refereed 13 Tigers game with 11 victories to only two defeats. Doyle refereed the LV Cup Final between the two sides in 2012, so will need to reminding to watch out for dirty Saints play in and around the ruck.
The game is live on BT Sports 1HD, coverage starts at 3PM for a 3.15 K.O.
Leicester Tigers (v Northampton Saints, Welford Road, Saturday 3.15pm)
15 Niall Morris
14 Blaine Scully
13 Vereniki Goneva
12 Anthony Allen
11 Adam Thompstone
10 Toby Flood (c)
9 Ben Youngs
1 Logovi'i Mulipola
2 Tom Youngs
3 Dan Cole
4 Louis Deacon
5 Graham Kitchener
6 Ed Slater
7 Julian Salvi
8 Jordan Crane
Replacements
16 Neil Briggs
17 Boris Stankovich
18 Fraser Balmain
19 Geoff Parling
20 Thomas Waldrom
21 David Mele
22 Owen Williams
23 Dan Bowden
Northampton Saints
15 Ben Foden
14 Jamie Elliott
13 George Pisi
12 Luther Burrell
11 George North
10 Stephen Myler
9 Lee Dickson
1 Alex Corbisiero
2 Dylan Hartley (c)
3 Tom Mercey
4 Samu Manoa
5 Courtney Lawes
6 Tom Wood
7 Phil Dowson
8 Sam Dickinson
Replacements
16 Mike Haywood
17 Alex Waller
18 Gareth Denman
19 G J Van Velze
20 Calum Clark
21 Kahn Fotuali'i
22 James Wilson
23 Ken Pisi
Leicester Kit:
Northampton Kit:
Friday, 13 September 2013
U 18s League Fixtures released
Tigers Academy Under 18s will open the defence of their Northern Conference Title with a trip to the north west to face their Sale counter parts on Saturday October 26th.
Last season Tigers' cubs romped to a 100% record of 6 bonus point wins from 6 and this year's age group will look to emulate the 2012/13 team and go one better as Leicester Tigers UltraSubMarines understands that there will be a final with the Southern Conference Champions to crown inaugural national U 18s champions.
After the trip to Sale Tigers welcome Worcester and Northampton to Oval Park in consecutive weekends in December before traveling to Gloucester then Leeds in January. They round off the league by playing Newcastle in February.
Unfortunately last year's double header of the Gloucester U-18 game with the Wasps LV Cup game can not be repeated as there are away games on the 21 December and the 8 February, whilst Montpellier has already been confirmed for Sunday 15 December.
To be eligible for the league games players must be born no earlier than September 1995; 3 "over age" players are also allowed so long as they are still 18 years old.
26 October Sale (A)
14 December Worcester (H)
21 December Northampton (H)
4 January Gloucester (A)
18 January Leeds (A)
8 February Newcastle (H)
Last season Tigers' cubs romped to a 100% record of 6 bonus point wins from 6 and this year's age group will look to emulate the 2012/13 team and go one better as Leicester Tigers UltraSubMarines understands that there will be a final with the Southern Conference Champions to crown inaugural national U 18s champions.
After the trip to Sale Tigers welcome Worcester and Northampton to Oval Park in consecutive weekends in December before traveling to Gloucester then Leeds in January. They round off the league by playing Newcastle in February.
Unfortunately last year's double header of the Gloucester U-18 game with the Wasps LV Cup game can not be repeated as there are away games on the 21 December and the 8 February, whilst Montpellier has already been confirmed for Sunday 15 December.
To be eligible for the league games players must be born no earlier than September 1995; 3 "over age" players are also allowed so long as they are still 18 years old.
26 October Sale (A)
14 December Worcester (H)
21 December Northampton (H)
4 January Gloucester (A)
18 January Leeds (A)
8 February Newcastle (H)
Monday, 9 September 2013
Tigers pack pummeled by Wanderers
Tigers opened their A league campaign with a disappointing loss to local rivals Northampton in front of a big crowd at Welford Road. A 79th minute penalty try dubiously awarded by Leicestershire referee Martin Fox gave Northampton a 23-15 win and denied the Tigers even a losing bonus point.
An heavy mid afternoon shower left the pitch in a greasy condition which combined with some poor basic skills made for a scrappy match. There was a lack of quality moments in the game; for Tigers Sam Harrison showed that he has an eye for a gap from 10 and Henry Purdy put in a physical performance despite heavy strapping on his right arm; Northampton's star backs of Paul Diggin and Vassily Artemiev failed to shine as it was their forwards that dominanted proceedings.
Australian test prop Salesi Ma'afu and Ethan Waller dominated at the scrum, with James Craig and Rob Verbakel in the engine room Northampton had a very strong tight five and it proved the difference. Tigers were simply unable to even retain their own ball at times as the Northampton 8 drove them backwards at a rate of knots.
With the likes of George Chuter, Jerome Schuster, Tom Price and Sebastian De Chaves in the pack there was no excuse. This is the second time I have watched Schuster and the second time he has struggled badly in the scrums. He came here with over hundred games at loosehead for Perpignan and only 3 at tighthead, time will tell but a shift back to number 1 would seem the best course of action for the Frenchman.
The evening started relatively brightly even though Northampton got on the board first on 11 minutes when Tigers were ruled offside. Straight from the kick off and with a mighty whiff of a knock on from Jamie Gibson the Tigers scored. Sam Harrison raised a steepling kick off that was contested by Gibson, the ball ran loose towards the Crumbie touchline and Henry Purdy chipped the loose ball through. Purdy's pace saw him soar past the motionless Northampton defence, winning the foot race to touch down for the try. Sam Harrison knocked over the touchline conversion with amplob.
But Tigers lead was to be short lived. Another fumbled kick off gave the Wanderers great position but they thought they had blown it knocking on inches from the line. But that mighty pack got them out of trouble as a huge shunt caused 18 year old George Tresidder to loose the ball under pressure and Ben Nutely was on hand to sweep up, making it 10-7 to Northampton.
Tigers had chances to close the gap but Sam Harrison couldn't replicate his early form missing two kicks from in front of the posts and another outwide, meanwhile Northampton fly half Sam Olver kicked his attempt in the 33rd minute to make it 13-7 at half time.
In the second half the game was breaking up a bit more. Tigers gained a penalty in the midfield from the Northampton defence and kicked it to the corner. The line out was taken by Tom Price and as the Crumbie stand roared them on the Tigers set to work driving. HEAVE. The cry went up. HEAVE. The pack responded. A superbly constructed maul gave Northampton no chance of disrupting and Michael Noone was awarded the try, though it could have been anyone.
Another Harrison miss left Tigers trailing by a point.
Northampton attacked well and had the option of going for the pushover try but strangely decided to go for the posts instead making it 16-12.
With Tigers finally realising that both set pieces were falling apart and that their best two players were clearly Harrison and Purdy they started to work the ball to them more often. Sam Harrison was like a matador as the Northampton defence charged and he skipped away to find a gaping hole through the middle. Henry Purdy came storming through on his right and stepped the Full Back on the inside going for the posts. The cover defence was excellent though and he couldn't quite wriggle free to ground the ball.
With Tigers set to try and score from 5 meters referee Fox suddenly decided to call feeding against Tresidder despite allowing it all game previously. These are the decisions that infuriate spectators and players alike, are we playing this law or not? Why only give it when 5m out from the line?
Shortly after Harrison was pulled off for Peter Osbourne, seemingly Tigers weren't interested in winning match after all as Harrison had been toying with the Northampton mid-field all match. His goal kicking was well askew but there were 6 other backs on the field to sacrifice if we wanted a kicker that desperately.
Osbourne succeeded with his only attempt at goal 8 minutes later but seemed to panic and kick too much and too poorly. Our set pieces were shot but our outside backs were causing problems.
But then Northampton turned the screw with a series of line out drives and scrums. Eventually the referee got bored and, despite Tigers certainly driving them back in the mauls and pretty much keeping the scrums even, he sided with the earlier dominant pack.
Tigers Man of the Match was Purdy but Salesi Ma'afu was the difference between the two sides as he stopped Tigers having any kind of platform to play from, just emphasising why Tigers played Julian White in this competition for all those years.
Tigers:
Humphreys; Catchpole, Hepetema, Dunn, Purdy; Harrison, Tresidder; Bristow, Chuter, Schuster; Price, De Chaves; Wells, Noone, Gibson.
Subs: Cain (h/t-60 mins De Chaves, 71 mins Chuter), Williams (50 mins Hepetema), Guillaume (53 mins Gibson), Farnworth (60 mins Cain), Pasquale (63 mins Schuster), Osbourne (63 mins Harrison); Subs Not Used: Brugnara, Prince.
An heavy mid afternoon shower left the pitch in a greasy condition which combined with some poor basic skills made for a scrappy match. There was a lack of quality moments in the game; for Tigers Sam Harrison showed that he has an eye for a gap from 10 and Henry Purdy put in a physical performance despite heavy strapping on his right arm; Northampton's star backs of Paul Diggin and Vassily Artemiev failed to shine as it was their forwards that dominanted proceedings.
Australian test prop Salesi Ma'afu and Ethan Waller dominated at the scrum, with James Craig and Rob Verbakel in the engine room Northampton had a very strong tight five and it proved the difference. Tigers were simply unable to even retain their own ball at times as the Northampton 8 drove them backwards at a rate of knots.
With the likes of George Chuter, Jerome Schuster, Tom Price and Sebastian De Chaves in the pack there was no excuse. This is the second time I have watched Schuster and the second time he has struggled badly in the scrums. He came here with over hundred games at loosehead for Perpignan and only 3 at tighthead, time will tell but a shift back to number 1 would seem the best course of action for the Frenchman.
The evening started relatively brightly even though Northampton got on the board first on 11 minutes when Tigers were ruled offside. Straight from the kick off and with a mighty whiff of a knock on from Jamie Gibson the Tigers scored. Sam Harrison raised a steepling kick off that was contested by Gibson, the ball ran loose towards the Crumbie touchline and Henry Purdy chipped the loose ball through. Purdy's pace saw him soar past the motionless Northampton defence, winning the foot race to touch down for the try. Sam Harrison knocked over the touchline conversion with amplob.
But Tigers lead was to be short lived. Another fumbled kick off gave the Wanderers great position but they thought they had blown it knocking on inches from the line. But that mighty pack got them out of trouble as a huge shunt caused 18 year old George Tresidder to loose the ball under pressure and Ben Nutely was on hand to sweep up, making it 10-7 to Northampton.
Tigers had chances to close the gap but Sam Harrison couldn't replicate his early form missing two kicks from in front of the posts and another outwide, meanwhile Northampton fly half Sam Olver kicked his attempt in the 33rd minute to make it 13-7 at half time.
In the second half the game was breaking up a bit more. Tigers gained a penalty in the midfield from the Northampton defence and kicked it to the corner. The line out was taken by Tom Price and as the Crumbie stand roared them on the Tigers set to work driving. HEAVE. The cry went up. HEAVE. The pack responded. A superbly constructed maul gave Northampton no chance of disrupting and Michael Noone was awarded the try, though it could have been anyone.
Another Harrison miss left Tigers trailing by a point.
Northampton attacked well and had the option of going for the pushover try but strangely decided to go for the posts instead making it 16-12.
With Tigers finally realising that both set pieces were falling apart and that their best two players were clearly Harrison and Purdy they started to work the ball to them more often. Sam Harrison was like a matador as the Northampton defence charged and he skipped away to find a gaping hole through the middle. Henry Purdy came storming through on his right and stepped the Full Back on the inside going for the posts. The cover defence was excellent though and he couldn't quite wriggle free to ground the ball.
With Tigers set to try and score from 5 meters referee Fox suddenly decided to call feeding against Tresidder despite allowing it all game previously. These are the decisions that infuriate spectators and players alike, are we playing this law or not? Why only give it when 5m out from the line?
Shortly after Harrison was pulled off for Peter Osbourne, seemingly Tigers weren't interested in winning match after all as Harrison had been toying with the Northampton mid-field all match. His goal kicking was well askew but there were 6 other backs on the field to sacrifice if we wanted a kicker that desperately.
Osbourne succeeded with his only attempt at goal 8 minutes later but seemed to panic and kick too much and too poorly. Our set pieces were shot but our outside backs were causing problems.
But then Northampton turned the screw with a series of line out drives and scrums. Eventually the referee got bored and, despite Tigers certainly driving them back in the mauls and pretty much keeping the scrums even, he sided with the earlier dominant pack.
Tigers Man of the Match was Purdy but Salesi Ma'afu was the difference between the two sides as he stopped Tigers having any kind of platform to play from, just emphasising why Tigers played Julian White in this competition for all those years.
Tigers:
Humphreys; Catchpole, Hepetema, Dunn, Purdy; Harrison, Tresidder; Bristow, Chuter, Schuster; Price, De Chaves; Wells, Noone, Gibson.
Subs: Cain (h/t-60 mins De Chaves, 71 mins Chuter), Williams (50 mins Hepetema), Guillaume (53 mins Gibson), Farnworth (60 mins Cain), Pasquale (63 mins Schuster), Osbourne (63 mins Harrison); Subs Not Used: Brugnara, Prince.
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