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.

Tiger Cubs roar into 7s Finals

Tigers secured their place in a second consecutive Premiership Rugby 7s Finals day with a second place in finish in Group D on Saturday night.  A reported crowd of 7,057 were on hand to see Tigers secure victories over London Welsh & Sale.

Tigers opened the proceedings by facing hosts Newcastle.  The Falcons’ new artificial pitch is being installed at Kingston Park which forced the change of venue to the Darlington arena.

Sevens specialists Tomi Jones, Andy Bulumakau & Dan Rundle joined academy prospects George Catchpole, George Tresidder, Oli Bryant and Rhys Williams in the starting line up; Falcons had Premiership experience in Tom Catterick and former Super League Grand Final Man of the Match Lee Smith.

Tigers opened the scoring after only 27 seconds.  Bulumakau broke free through the middle and had the pace to scorch in from his own half.  Falcons claimed a messy ball from the restart and played patience possession rugby until Chris Harris found a gap sniping up the side of a ruck to break free and score.  Newcastle struck again as Tom Catterick seemed to have added another but it was ruled out; Tresidder's tackle forced a knock on. 

George Catchpole claimed Tigers second try of the night; Coventry winger Dan Rundle, guesting for the Tigers, stretched the Falcons' defence running from his own 22, his off load found Tomi Jones who weaved his way through 3 tackles before giving Catchpole a simple run in to the line. 

Newcastle’s second try was fortuitous, the field opened up after a blocked kick, but Tigers will be disappointed with the lost scrum just before.  The try meant Tigers went into half time with a 14-12 lead.

Catterick showed his skills to add another try just after half time, cutting back inside Rhys Williams to expose Tigers inside defence, giving Newcastle the lead for the first time.  Bryant & Tresidder were wasteful in the Newcastle 22 but a quick turnover by Will Owen gave Tigers good ball and Tresidder went under the posts unmolested to quickly restore Tigers’ 2 point advantage.

Catterick claimed his hat trick with under a minute left.  Tigers were ruled to have held on; the try was inevitable, 3 men still on the floor from the ruck, a tap and go exposed the gaps.  A home town decision in the final ruck gave Newcastle possession to run down the clock and secure a 5 point win.

Next Tigers faced Welsh, the Exiles had only 10 minutes rest from the end of their win against Sale.  Academy hooker Jake Farnworth joined specialists Josh Fowles and Phil Woodhead in the starting line up as Rundle, Rhys Williams and Bryant made way.  Bulumakau again showed his footwork and pace, beating his man in his own half and having the speed to race away to the line.  Welsh responded when Chris Levesley raced past Phil Woodhead like he wasn’t there to score under the posts.

Tomi Jones’ neat grubber looked to have unlocked the Welsh defence but his second touch was too strong, booting it out the back of the in goal area.  Bulumakau set Catchpole through but the centre lacked the pace or support to finish, the Fijian then had to leave the field with a head knock ruling him out for the rest of the night.  Former Tigers academy man Will Hurrell looked to have scored on the final play of the first half but could not shake the attentions of Josh Fowles who prevented the grounding.

Fowles got the next try after half time, his pace seeing off Hurrell in his own 22, before some great footwork on half way beat the last man.  Hurrell got his own back with a try off the back of some clever passes from Welsh, manipulating the Tigers defence and giving him an easy run in.

With less than a minute left it looked like Tigers had returned to form of previous years and were going to crash out after 2 rounds.  But this is sevens after all and anything can happen.  Straight from the kick off David Williams tapped the ball down to namesake but no relation Rhys Williams.  He spread it wide to Bryant who gave Rundle the ball with clear ground in front of him.  The former Tynedale winger went inside one man, outside another and raced away with his ears pinned back for the winning score.

The final game was against Sale, also on 10 minutes rest, with Tigers knowing a bonus point win would see them through to Finals day next Friday at the Stoop.  Tigers started with Will Owen, Catchpole, Tresidder and David Williams joined by the specialists Jones, Fowles and Woodhead.

Sale took advantage of a slip in the Tigers line to pile on some early pressure but good work rate and discipline meant the Tigers got back just in time; a goal line stand forced Sale into the error but they were still first to score minutes later when George Beal went over in the corner following nice work from Nathan Fowles.

Tigers struck straight back with a try of good quality from George Tresidder.  Lazy defending on the inside was ruthlessly exposed by Tresidder who simply ran straight and ran hard, bamboozling two defenders.  In a see saw game Fowles put Sale straight back into the lead with a solo try, brushing off Phil Woodhead’s attentions.

With 7 minutes up it was good to see both sides continue to play the game, rather than seeking half time with touch, and it was Tigers who profited; considered build up saw the ball through all 7 pairs of hands before George Catchpole pirouetted his way through the Sale defence and strode in under the posts for the go ahead score.

The second half was more of a procession for Tigers; first Josh Fowles simply outpaced his man one on one to score on the outside, then David Williams jagged back towards the posts after good work by Tresidder to secure the bonus point.  Finally Dan Rundle had a short jog into the corner following a sniping break by Woodhead.

That result meant Tigers were through unless a bizarre game between Newcastle and London Welsh resulted in an 18 point or greater win for the Exiles with Newcastle scoring at least 4 tries.  Needless to say that odd result was not achieved and Tigers can look forward to a trip to the Stoop next Friday.

Sevens specialists Josh Fowles and Andy Bulumakau impressed for Tigers whilst George Catchpole and George Tresidder top scored with 14 points each.  Oli Bryant was an effective cog in many of the moves whilst Will Owen showed his ability in the ruck, earning a crucial turn over in the first game.

With no friendly lined up for next week hopefully Tigers will be able to name an even stronger squad.

3 Tiger Cubs named in England youth squads

Flanker Will Owen and Full Back Tom Hudson have been named in England's U-18 squad for this year whilst Scouse Lock Charlie Beckett has been named in the U-17 squad.  Congratulations must go out to those three individuals.

Overall Tigers will be disappointed with the low numbers, even remembering age group recognition is no guarantee of success, as Northampton lead the way 9 players of the 2 squads whilst Bath and Wasps both have 8.  Tigers tie 10th with Worcester, out of 14, in terms of pure numbers only Gloucester, Newcastle and Bristol have fewer players selected.  Maybe the new U-18s league will provide a few players a platform to prove the England selectors wrong.