Tigers win but Sale are Kings

Tigers concluded their pre-season with a bonus point win at home to Sale, but the away side still walked away with the crown “Kings of the North” as Tigers failed to beat their points difference.  Whilst Tigers would have preferred to claim the title the coaches will be satisfied with the performance.

Mike Williams and Peter Betham were particularly impressive as Betham, Croft, Bell and Odogwu crossed for tries.

Tigers were hunting a 35 point victory and started impressively.  Running with intent Betham slid between two tacklers and burst through to touch down in front of the Crumbie.  Burns was successful with the conversion and a penalty after Tigers had attacked from their own 22.

Sale were attacking themselves and went close in front of the Met RX stand twice.  On the second occasion Greg Bateman over threw his jumper and opposite number Tommy Taylor was on hand to collect the poor throw and pounce for the try.  Sale levelled after a penalty against Mulipola for being Samoan, when Courtney Lawes is penalised for tackles like these I believe it’s not bias against Islanders.

Anyway Tigers prioritised with win over chasing the points difference too aggressively and Burns nailed two more kicks.  The first though should not have been taken by him as he was off the field for a “Head Injury Assessment” when the penalty was awarded.

A second penalty was earned and the score 16-10 at half time.  Sale were on the attack early pushing for the victory but as a contest the game was over following Peter Betham’s goal-line intercept and break.  The Australian picked off Cipriani’s pass and raced away, unable to finish he smartly passed from the floor to find Adam Thompstone in deep support, Thompstone’s intelligent quick pass to Croft saw the flanker exhibit his pace and finish from the 22m.

Tigers now did chase the tries, bonus point and points difference kicking penalties to the corner but struggled to convert some excellent positions.  Eventually Tommy Bell was given a clear run in from Betham’s pass down the Crumbie touchline.

Sale were fortunate to see Harry Thacker binned when he thought he had pilfered a ball at the back of a ruck and ran clear.  Decisions like this from referee Craig Maxwell-Keys is why England do not produce world class 7s.  The ball was out, and if it was in it was marginal, but rather than settle for a penalty due to a difference in interpretation he must feed his ego by flashing the cards about.  A poor referee that I doubt we will see in the Premiership this season, he has learned nothing from his grilling after the Hughes affair.

The Sale try was hard earned as Tigers defended stoutly, Mark Jennings burgling himself over in a similar position to where Betham scored the Tigers first try.

With the title gone but the win secure Tigers relaxed slightly and played better.  Fonua carried prominently but his ball control requires work.  For the final try he was the decoy as it was spun wide with Odogwu the man on the end scoring.

Williams and Betham were the standout men with Fitzgerald also adding to his reputation.  Burns seems more settled, his first step was usually forward and there were two classic matador breaks from his own 22.  Odogwu and Fonua showed glimpses in their cameos while Tom Croft is looking back to his best.

With three bonus point wins in pre-season and the defence stiffening markedly since the reverse fixture Tigers will go to London Irish full of confidence for a decent start.

Top 4

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?

Tigers Power to Local Win

Tigers title ambitions remain alive after a nerve jangling 26-21 win away to newly local rivals Wasps.  Tigers went into the game knowing that only a win would do and responded to the knock out rugby pressure with a fantastic performance bristling with power but married with the patience needed to break down modern defences. 

Tigers raced into a 10 nil lead in the first ten minutes and kept it the whole game with a Freddie Burns penalty followed up by the first try.  Tom Youngs and Graham Kitchener combined down the front of the line out, an old Wasps move we have been tricked by more than once, gaining good ground inside the 22 and skilfully keeping the ball in play.  Jordan Crane recycled possession and set an off side line before Mulipola and Tom Youngs trucked it up again.  Mat Tait and Adam Thompstone squirmed their way through tackles before Ben Youngs spotted Niall Morris one on one against Christian Wade.  Goneva drew the last man and Wade was powerless to prevent the Leicester full back shrugging off his challenge to score in the corner.

Goode got Wasps onto the score board after a soft offside 40m out by Seremaia Bai; Burns nibbled another three points after Wasps full back Andrea Masi was caught by a terrific Tigers kick chase only for Goode to score another 3 points following heavy pressure in the 22, Tigers lasting 14 phases before conceding the penalty to bring the score to 13-6 to Tigers.

Tigers’ second try came after 30 minutes, from a lineout Mulipola, Cole, Crane and Thorn smashed forward into the 22 before Seremaia Bai isolated Andy Goode on the fringe of the ruck and drove him back to within inches of the line.  Once again Ben Youngs was the architect of the score phase, a fast whipped pass cut out 5 Tigers and 4 Wasps to leave Burns and Goneva with a two on one against a hapless Wade.  The Wasps wing could do nothing as Burns drew him in before sending Goneva over for his first try since December.

Goode quickly reduced the arrears with a penalty for something in a ruck, Barnes explanation is cut off and BT never bother to show a replay.  Off feet against Gibson I think?

Tigers were playing with real intent, running the ball from within our own half and the forwards passing to each other just before or just after contact.  Go forward rugby.  Smashing the rucks to clear out the men, not relying on the officials to give us quick ball.

And then it all boiled over.  Just before half time Nathan Hughes was off his feet and killing the ball the penalty was due to us, but Barnes was not signalling and Seremaia Bai decided to ruck him out.  The contact looked jarring at full pace and Barnes produced a yellow card.  Then renowned Tigers fans Sean Davy made him watch again, with unclear camera angles in super slow motion, to wrongly decide Bai had made contact with Hughes’ head.  

On the replay he clearly smashes into Hughes shoulder, but Davy and BT show the angle from in front of Hughes many times where we cannot see the point of impact and only see Hughes head move only once showing the wider angle from above where you can see the impact is on the shoulder and the head only moves because of a glancing blow from Bai's arm.

Bai has a right to ruck Hughes out there and his technique whilst arguably illegal was no different to any other player on either side at any other ruck.  When Hughes kicked George North’s head and injured him out of the season BT commentator Laurence Dallaglio led the media campaign to clear him.  Does our own Austin Healey do the same for a piece of legitimate play that ends with no injury to Hughes?

No he does not.  Instead he bleats for a card prompting the replay on the big screen, it takes the BT Sports feed, which causes the red card.  Thanks Austin!

On half way what should have been a chance for Tigers to stretch their lead ended up with Goode reducing the deficit to only 6 points.

In the second half Tigers did not let the man missing affect their game.  Wasps had more of the territory and won scrum penalties where Tiger chose to pack only 7 men.  On our first entry to the Wasps 22 Mat Tait was pile drived head first into the turf by Alapati Leuia, though Barnes seemingly has no problem with this potential neck breaking tackle or the no arms tackles from Wasps’ hooker Festuccia, he does spot Ashley Johnson off his feet and Burns slots the penalty to stretch the lead back out to 9.

With the extra man and the impetus in their favour Wasps were slowing gaining more chances, Adam Thompstone winning the foot race to a ball kicked in goal, Burns being charged down then Wasps bursting through the left wing.

None came to much but Wasps dug into Tigers lead with two penalties, the first for holding on just outside our 22, the second for a harsh off feet call on Salvi when Haskell clearly enters the ruck from the side.

With the lead trimmed to 3 points Tigers knew they couldn’t just dig and hold on any more.  With Sam Harrison, Ed Slater and Christian Loamanu on Tigers took the game back to Wasps.

A lineout was won scrappily on half way but Tigers kept possession grinding out 18 phases, driving into the Wasps 22.  On the 18^th ruck Burns broke right towards the touchline, smashing Andy Goode in the tackle, on the front foot and with quick ball Loamanu times run to the line perfectly to slip between Johnson and Goode.  Stopped agonisingly inches short the ball again quickly recycled and flung wildly to the wing where Adam Thompstone was on hand to dot down in the corner.

Onto the TMO and whilst Loamanu may or may not have reached the line there was no question of a double movement so the try stood.  Tigers could question though why we were not awarded a penalty try, as there was a clear attempt to kick the ball out of Loamanu’s hands.  After recent events you’d have thought Wasps might know better than that.

With Burns pushing the kick wide Tigers had an 8 point advantage.  Wasps quickly cut the advantage to 5; Alex Lozowski slotting a long kick after a very tight call for an early tackle against Salvi.  On slow motion replay the decision is wrong but was so tight you cannot complain about the real time call.

That made the closing moments tight.  Tigers ran down the clock with a number of scrums and looked to earn the winning penalty at least 3 times, only for Barnes to blow the other way and keep the game alive.

Wasps were game and played the ball wide getting to the edge of Tigers 22 but in a clash of Marcos Ayerza, fuming after the last penalty, and James Haskell it was the Argentine who came off better forcing the ball loose to end the game.

With the shock Exeter victory over Saracens on Sunday we know that a win, any win, over Northampton will confirm Tigers as third in the league and face a trip to Bath whilst a loss will almost certainly see us miss out on the play offs for the first time in over a decade.  Pressure brought out the best in us this week, can we really keep it up for another 3?

Hapless Tigers lose in London

Tigers slim hopes of a home play-off semi-final were extinguished in Barnet after one of the most woeful attacking performances ever seen from Tigers.  Tigers constipated attack could only muster 6 points, all generated from penalties inside the first 20 minutes.  Saracens only 6 days after their heroics in Paris managed three tries in a ten minute spell either side of half time to secure a 22-6 victory.

Tigers played the first half with the wind and built their 6 point cushion courtesy of two Saracens penalties; the first for a mid-field offside following Chris Ashton’s muffed catch, the second after a Tigers lineout steal.  Tigers ambition to pay with the ball was negligible and kicking game executed poorly with no real attempt to chase the kicks.  If these tactics are to be employed you have to question the absence of Blaine Scully. 

But with a tough defence and the wind at their backs giving good field position Tigers maintained their lead right to the stroke of half time, courtesy of two terrible misses from Bosch and then Alex Goode from easy kicks.

The tide was turning with Tigers failing to clear properly from Goode’s missed kick and Saracens countering deep into our 22.  Matt Smith was on hand to intercept a potential scoring pass but suddenly the whistle was blown and Tom Youngs yellow carded.  On the replay we see Ashton with an extravagant dive after a Youngs stuck an arm out to slow down his chase.  A very soft penalty and yellow card.

Tigers scrum, which had been so solid, suddenly was forced into reverse gear with a series of penalties conceded.  Eventually Billy Vunipola picked from the base and forced himself over the line.

Straight from the second half kick off Tigers were flustered.  Parling and Tait combining to fail to catch the simple kick off under minimal pressure.  With Saracens tail now up they returned the box kick and attacked quickly down the left.  With Alex Goode looking to have interfered with play just as much as Youngs Saracens scored down the left.

Saracens made much more of the wind at their backs, attacking with pace and dynamic rucking winning quick ball.  Gaining good ground attacking wide they found themselves with a 5m attacking scrum.  With Vunipola held up then stopped short they spun the ball wide to easily find a gap in 
Tigers porous defence, American winger Chris Wyles going in for the score.

With 30 minutes still to go and 2 tries down Tigers were still in with a shot of turning the game around but they were bereft of ideas.  We had two weeks build up to this game and yet we seemed to have no idea of what we were doing or how we were going to break down the opposition.

We flung the ball ever wider and backwards with Burns the chief culprit in failing to draw any defenders.  He was by no means alone, though any Tiger who ran at the Londoners certainly was.  It is a difficult thing to say but our forwards are either too lazy or too thick.  They don’t get to the rucks in sufficient numbers or early enough.  Therefore we rarely get quick ball, and should we fluke it are so bewildered by it we have to slow it down again.

Either the forwards cannot read the game to anticipate where they are needed or they are not fit enough to get there.  Equally the backs need to be better at generating ball when they have to enter the rucks.

In a shambolic display there was only one chance carved from a good 20 minutes of possession; creating a three on one on the right wing following powerful bursts by Pearce and other forwards Burns decided to go straight to Goneva on the wing, instead of going through the other players hands.  This allowed the defence to get to Goneva to make the covering tackle, instead of the Fijian having a simple walk in.  Goneva should possibly have finished it anyway but threw the pass to no one instead.

I don’t know if Aaron Mauger and his new arrivals will be the solution to our woes but I am now sure the current coaching staff and players are simply not up to it.  To have two weeks to prepare for the game and produce that is simply unacceptable.  To have one game where we are not at the races is one of those things but this is just the latest in a string of disastrous games Bath, Gloucester, Llanelli, Harlequins and Ulster away were all similar.  If the current coaches have the solution then why aren’t they implementing it?

With two weeks to lick our wounds I sincerely hope they spend it a little bit more productively than the last fortnight.  We have not scored 50 points since 2011’s home game against Treviso, I expect that to change against the hapless London Welsh.

Parling Try Moves Tigers into Top 4

Tigers moved into the Premiership’s play off places with a solid 25-18 win at home to Exeter.  Tigers took advantage of poor Exeter discipline with Freddie Burns landing 6 penalties; Geoff Parling’s first try at Welford Road for 5 years sealed the win but a very controversial try gave Exeter a way back before a soft penalty with the 80 minutes up let Exeter steal a thoroughly undeserved losing bonus point.

Tigers were never behind in the game; taking a 3-0 lead in the 10^th minute after their first attack was halted by a Chiefs penalty.   Exeter’s rising star, so the papers tell me, Henry Slade was wide with two earlier chances and refused to take a shot at levelling the scores instead pumping it to the corner.

Tigers defence turned them away with Dan Cole surging through the maul and Seremai Bai holding the ball up.

Burns doubled the lead after Geoff Parling was taken out without the ball and Slade was finally on the score board in the 22^nd minute; Jamie Gibson the transgressor after picking up the loose ball from an offside position following a Tigers charge down.

Exeter had the best of the next ten minutes, dominating possession and territory after Tigers failed to deal with the kick off.  The Chiefs strung together almost 30 phases of possession, but produced nothing to threaten the Tigers defence.  With the inevitable penalty against the defence, a travesty in this case as Salvi was on his feet and should have seen the whistle blow the other way, Exeter again refused a drawing kick instead going to the corner.

In contrast to a fortnight previously Tigers again turned Exeter back, forcing them wide until Matt Smith’s ferocious defence took Ian Whitten and the Chiefs into touch.  Tigers cleared the pressure and were rewarded with two penalties before half time.

The first followed a devilish break from Miles Benjamin, unfortunately his last involvement before a knee injury, with the front five also prominent creating the space on the blindside.  The second followed a smart line out move with Ben Youngs breaking onto brother Tom’s quick throw.  Ben returned the ball to Tom but he was unable to finish.

Tigers showed no patience in attack, with the ball flung 20 yards backwards to try and exploit a marginal overlap on the other touchline, rather than continuing to drive through the forwards.  Thankfully there was an advantage and Tigers went into the break 12-3 up.

Into the 2^nd period Tigers first attack of the half was ended when Exeter took the man early again.  Tigers fifth entrance to the Exeter 22 and the fifth Exeter penalty did not seem to interest Doyle with a yellow card but Burns made no mistake to earn a 15-3 lead.

In Exeter’s first attack of the second half, and in stark contrast to Tigers rushed approach, they scored the game’s first try.  Thomas Waldrom was the scorer as Exeter picked and went round the corner until they exposed the weak shoulder.  There was no video evidence of the grounding but referee JP Doyle was on the spot and happy to make the award.

Despite the score being almost under the posts Slade missed the simple conversion, under pressure from Gibson’s charge he skewed the kick horribly into the post.

This seemed to stir Tigers into action, with Goneva become much more prominent, breaking through the middle of a ruck before popping up on the outside later.

Goneva was almost in at the corner following a string of Tigers attacks but was forced into touch by Nowell.  Exeter overthrew the lineout allowing Dan Cole to claim possession but the burly prop was held up in his attempts to ground the ball.

Tigers attacked from the collapsed scrum finding De Chaves on the left flank who drew the last Exeter defender and freed Parling to scoot in by the touchline.

Exeter’s second score had controversial origins, their replacement hooker Elvis Taione playing the ball from a clearly off side position to secure one of the game’s rare turnovers, with the Tigers defence disorganised Slade cut through the left side and found Chudley in support to dart under the posts.

Tigers missed the chance to extend the lead when Tommy Bell’s estimate of his kicking range proved optimistic but Freddie Burns was able to push the lead out to 10 points after Dean Mumm played the half back from within the ruck.

Tigers looked to be cruising to the win and so it proved but not before a soft scrum penalty with the clock dead gave Exeter their losing bonus point.

A fifth league win in a row has lifted Tigers into the top 4, currently 3^rd but expected to drop when Bath face Welsh today, and with games against Saracens, Wasps and Northampton to come we hold of destiny in our own hands.

Tigers don't pass Semi Chance

Tigers were dumped out of the LV Cup by Exeter, losing by 8 points at the semi final stage.  Tigers shot themselves in both feet, several times, conspiring with the referee to hand the match to a bemused Exeter who did next to nothing to earn the win.  Just stand back, let the referee whistle the opposition off the park and watch them implode when he didn't.

In essence you can boil the game down to two crucial decisions.  Two crucial pass.  Two ex-rugby league forwards.  Laurence Pearce, with turnover ball, didn't raise his head, didn't look around and fed Exeter wing Vainakolo with a simple interception pass.  About an hour later Brad Thorn, after a scintillating Miles Benjamin break, was the last but one man with a single defender in front of him he didn't raise his head, didn't look around and this time didn't feed the Tigers winger waiting for his chance.

14 points swing right there.  And with that we wouldn't be micro analysing Tim Wigglesworth's joke shop refereeing, we wouldn't be asking where, exactly, the Hull based offical feels the middle of a maul is if it isn't where the ball is and we wouldn't be steaming mad for two weeks but playing Saracens in a final.

Tigers started the game with real ambition and married it to perfect execution.  Benjamin cut through on a terrific line before Catchpole kept it alive.  Mele found Michele Rizzo running a perfect line back towards the ruck and the Italian dove over for the opening score after only 4 minutes.

But after that beginning Tigers decided to retreat to their shell.  With penalties galore Tigers decided to kick for goal, to enter into a tight niggly match when they could have pushed on and blown a shaky Chiefs out of the water.

Exeter leveled the score through hooker Tainoe, unlike Tigers they kicked for the corner.   Tigers, having seemingly forgot how to defend lineouts, stood off and let Exeter form the maul.  Once the maul is set a referee like Wigglesworth is not going to let them leave without a penalty at least and a try at worst.  And they did, driving the hooker over off the side of the maul.

With one of Tigers penalties giving us a 10-7 lead Exeter kicked off.  With ball bouncing loose Mele swept the ball to Whetton, with an over lap begging he passed on to Pearce.  We've already discussed what happened next.  14-10 to Exeter and we never saw the lead again.

Tigers were seemingly happy with tit for tat penalty goals for much of the match.  Showing no ambition to play and executing their kick and chase very poorly, it was not a combination for a happy crowd with the boos starting from the Crumbie.

Tigers slowly began expanding their game though, with Thorn breaking through the middle.  Exeter offended, offside and never onside they killed the momentum and lost a man for ten minutes.  In the ten minutes Tigers added the 3 points from that penalty and should have killed the game.

Miles Benjamin eschewed the rigid kicking game to gloriously counter, finding Neil Briggs in support.  The Sale bound man had neither the pace nor the support to finish the move but it was quickly swept left towards the Crumbie.  But Thorn did not find Catchpole, who followed him up into the ruck.  Illegally according to Wigglesworth.  The only in at the side by the attack all game.  Apparently.

With that the momentum seemed lost.  Tigers tried to play the tight game but were stymied by a referee who simply refused to ping the Chiefs.  For their final try he may as well have put on a white shirt and joined the maul.  Sam Harrison spots the ball carrier at the front of the maul and latches onto him.  This, according to the man who has refereed hundreds of games and has presumably read the rule book at some stage, is in at the side.  Where can you come from then?  What can you actually do once you don't disrupt the set up?

From the second lineout it was inevitable.  Tigers can only blame themselves for this one.  They didn't compete for the ball, they didn't hit the man the moment his feet touched the floor and drive them backwards.  These days with any referee, a good one or one like today, you will concede if you passively let them set up then try to hold the drive.  I know that, you my millions of readers know that, why don't the players on the field?

A very frustrating day for Tigers.  We were good enough to win, with a competent and fair referee we would have won, if we hadn't quite literally thrown the game away we would have won.  I think this will be the last we see this season from a number of today's players.

Tigers win in Newcastle

Regular readers will know I am no Premiership rugby puff boy; not a fluffer who writes endless articles about how, like, utterly amazing the Premiership is and how it's super duper competitive.  Better Than Ever.  The kind of site who either posses a memory that would make a goldfish's wife worry her husband has dementia or genuinely only started watching rugby in 2008 and has never really bothered to find out what happened before.

The kind of "independent" blogs suspiciously well promoted by BT Sport and Premiership rugby on twitter and facebook.

But this season's run in is turning into a remarkable tale.  It's March and four sides will have the domestic double as a realistic goal and Northampton & Saracens will internally be targeting the elusive beast.  The Treble.  Bath still have ambitions for the Premiership & European double that Tigers won in 2002 and Wasps won in 2004.

Tigers dream of only their second ever domestic double.  Despite the spite directed at the team.  Despite 45-0 at they who shall not be named.  Despite only scoring 25 tries in 17 games.

Despite what was a pretty poor opening hour on Sunday.  Tigers were toothless in the first half.  Blunt.  Lacking incision.  We had plenty of ball in the opening exchanges, dominating the first 10 minutes of possession and territory.  But a series of poor kicks were replied to with exquisite Falcons replies, eventually forcing Mat Tait to lamely limp into touch just 5 metres out.

With Newcastle's formidable maul hardly a secret the result, whilst hardly inevitable, was no surprise.  Scott Lawson the baldy nuggety hooker from Scottish borders claimed the spoils.  You have to question the thought process from Tait.  He had options.  Kicking gains a few yards, often crucial in defending mauls; standing up and trying to stay in play would have gained us a ruck and again a better clearance; and controversially, dotting down behind our own line would have given a scrum.  And from a scrum, often as not, we were getting penalties.

Deliberately conceding a 5m scrum is a cardinal sin.  Usually.  But with current interpretations making maul defence impossible against well drilled units the lottery of the scrum has a certain attraction.

Tigers chipped into the lead with a Burns penalty after a collapsed scrum, reading the wind or getting lucky with the swerve as it carved its way left to right and through the middle.  

Newcastle caused problems every time they attacked.  Catterick was an impish threat reminiscent of Healey in his pomp, the evasion, the visions, the ahem, "tactical" kicking.  Sinoti Sinoti was equally dangerous with ball in hand.  A hitchkicker defenders naturally stand off him afraid of over committing.

Tigers cut back to 7-6 following an impressive Tait break down the left and a Newcastle penalty in the ruck but it was not long before Newcastle extended their advantage.  With Tom Croft down injured Tigers had the ball slightly outside the 22, unable to kick directly to touch Burns heaved the ball down centre field.

Alex Tuilagi, needing no introduction, bulldozed his way through the Tigers defence.  Morris nailed him and with the help of Pearce kept the behemoth out.  Newcastle quickly swung the play to the opposite flank and Sinoti.  Sinoti stepped in, he stepped out.  He wriggled his way over, freeing his arms to slam the ball home as his body was being dragged into touch.

The wide conversion was dragged wider and halftime was quickly signaled.

The second half was different.  Salvi was introduced for Croft, Bell for Morris and Crane for Pearce all in the first ten minutes.  They made an impact as Tigers firstly subdued Newcastle's attack.  Catterick had their one golden chance in the second period, after some neat interpassing of the Falcon's pack he broke free only for a Sam Harrison lunge to dislodge the ball.

Tigers forwards were introduced to each other at half time and told, it seems, that they were in fact allowed to pass the ball and that despite the smells it was probably a good idea to get close and support the man in possesion of it.

These revolutionary tactics bore immediate rewards as Tigers became noticeably more fluent with Crane a real influence on proceedings.  New leaf freshly turned over, along with the ball, Tigers attacked through Goneva and Mulipola.  The momentum building until Newcastle offended Tigers closed the gap to 3.

Catterick's kick off drifted on the wind directly into touch.  Tigers replaced the entire front row to immediate effect as Rizzo had Newcastle's loan prop Rogers in all sorts of trouble.  Burns was short but the momentum was with Tigers as Gibson rose to deny the Falcons' clearance.

Tigers were now rampant and Newcastle badly retreating into their shell.  A Tigers attack or two were denied for attacking penalties but the collisions and the rucks were only going one way now.  It was Michele Rizzo who burst through, with Balmain joining to create the maul that Newcastle dragged down, Burns kicked cross field but to noting.  To the corner and another maul.  Dragged down again.  Another advantage.  Another cross field kick.

But this time it worked.  Mat Tait leaped into younger brother Alex, knee high in the traditional style he could not claim the ball but did enough to disrupt his sibling.  The ball spilling loose on the plastic turf.  Bell swept forward and applied the finish.

It went to the TMO.  And he looked. And we looked.  And I couldn't see anything at all as it was at the other side of the ground.  But he gave it.  On reviewing the highlights he could hardly have done anything else, Mat Tait does not touch the ball but he is clearly trying to.

Burns was faced with the crucial conversion.  Miss and Newcastle would have ample time to pressure Luke Pearce into finding a penalty against us, whether one existed or not, but succeed and we are immune to the penalty and can defend with the extra edge that a 4 point cushion allows.

From the same spot that Catterick missed the Bath born fly half made no mistake, the wind mercifully quiet as he struck it elegantly through the posts.

In the end Tigers should have been awarded another try.  Burns swopped on a free ball and an ingenious kick pass from Mele to Thompson brought Tigers onto the goal line again.  Jordan Crane picked his spot through the ruck and went for the try.  One camera showed him well over the line, but unsure on the grounding, and another showed him on the ground but not where he was in relation to the line.  Apparently it is beyond the wit of Trevor Fisher to add these images together to make a try.

With a bizarre penalty at the resultant scrum Newcastle had a lifeline but never looked capable of the unlikely 90m try.

And Tigers remarkable season of utterly unremarkable games carries on.  Despite the first hour.  Despite a points difference of +7.  Despite ourselves.  The dream of the double lives on.

Tigers munch Sharks

Tigers moved to within one point of second place with a comprehensive 28-8 victory at home to Sale, stretching their winning run against the Sharks to 12 games and almost 6 years.  After two tryless games Tigers fell just short of the bonus point despite a frantic final minute searching for the point that would have put us joint second.

Tigers opened the scoring after just 5 minutes with a Freddie Burns penalty; Seremaia Bai had made a telling break up the right touchline that set the tone for the performance.  Tigers will be disappointed that 10 minutes in the Sale half ended with the opponents leveling the score.  After a contentiously awarded Sale lineout the Sharks surged forward 10 meters in a driving maul before Neil Briggs collapsed it as it passed halfway.  Nick Macleod nailed the 50m kick for 3-3.

Tigers roared back through Laurence Pearce; breaking the long tryless spell.  First Parling made ground before Pearce squirmed and squeezed his way over.  Pearce twisted and turned his body, keeping the legs driving, so that despite Sale full back Mike Haley's tackle he slammed the ball down over the line as he landed on his back.

Sale were fortunate to avoid a yellow card just 3 minutes later; Tigers were rampant again inside Sale's 22, Jordan Crane burst through a gap and had options either side taken out early by the Sale defence.  Pearce was to his left and Ayerza to the right.  With only the full back to beat the early tackles surely warranted a penalty try and yellow card but Welford Road was left baffled as referee Greg Garner, from Coventry, refused to give more than a penalty.

To make matters more bizarre 2 minutes later Sale wing Tom Arscott was sin binned for a marginal deliberate knock on a full 50 metres out as Tigers were again breaking through.  Arscott was hard done by to concede a penalty let alone spend ten minutes thinking about his troubles.

During the sin bin period Tigers were held up over the line twice; first Neil Briggs seemed to have capitalised on mounting Tigers pressure to drive over under the posts, only for the TMO to deny him.  With no bodies under the ball and him clearly over the line it was a very harsh call, Northampton will be thankful the same logic was not applied last May at Twickenham.  Tigers tried again from the scrum and Pearce again forced his way over, this time cute to his ways Sale made sure to clamp over the ball and deny a grounding.

The move was not yet over though as Sale's Mancunian Viking Magnus Lund, replete with long hair and handle bar moustache, was caught off side at a prior ruck and sin binned.  Tigers went for the scrum and after initial inertia worked their magic and powered forward.  Crane was prevented from grounding the ball by an illegally unbound Sale flanker and this time Garner was in no doubt about awarding the amply deserved penalty try.

Tigers had one last bash at the Sale before half time, Bai and Goneva combining to see the latter clear to the full back, unfortunately he and Adam Thompstone did not quite read each other correctly and Goneva's pass went to ground.  Sale had the last chance of the half, forcing Tigers into their own 22 for the first time and a series of concerted efforts came to naught as Judas Gibson forced the penalty for holding on.

The second half was a different kettle of fish entirely.  Sale were much better, keeping the ball and playing patiently, Tigers much worse, fluffing lineouts and handling errors creeping back in and Garner was Garner, bizarrely sin binning Seremaia Bai for a very marginally early tackle a full 50 metres from the line, where earlier he had refused to sanction a Sale player just 5 yards out, and seemingly determined to make up for some perceived pro Tigers calls in the first half by making even more just to the other side this time.

After the Bai penalty Sale went to their trusty driving maul, once again the Northerners set about marching forward but some slackness at the back enabled Sam Harrison to insert himself and steal the ball.  With Harrison then being tackled by an offside man a Tigers penalty was surely coming but instead a scrum 5 to Sale, apparently there was no maul, no offside, simply good pressure.  From the scrum the ball was spun wide, Sale were seemingly in touch with the touch judge flagging Arscott before he put the ball down.

Garner though was not to be denied and awarded the try after consulting the TMO, to me his foot was clearly in touch before the grounding but it was a nip and tuck decision; how Mark Cueto must wish this TMO was in Paris in 2007!  Now I sincerely hope that in the rest of this season we have no players punished for playing on after the whistle, as clearly in the TMO age the referee can ignore his own officiating team's decisions if he fancies and see what happens.

With Sale now back within two converted tries, and having had a decent shot at a second try rebuffed by manful Tigers defence, Tigers took their next chance to extend the lead with both hands.  Burns converting a scrum penalty from 40m rather than kicking the corner as had been the early tactics.

Tigers had a third try ruled out as Burns interception and clear run the try line was pulled back for an earlier penalty, despite Sale having at least three phases and 30 yards of progress.  Sale retained possession well to take the time away from Tigers and dim hopes of a try bonus point.

With just three minutes left Tigers kicked a penalty to the corner, our chance was here, slim though it may be, to take the try.  They lost the line out.  But forced a knock on from Maxim Cobilas, brother of starting tighthead Vadim, from the scrum Bai was unleashed and breaking a tackle he crashed over.  With just 90 seconds left Burns quickly taken drop goal conversion was wide.

Tigers attacked from the deep kick off, Burns looked for a cross field kick but it was blocked, deflected.  Straight into the arms of Thacker!  He fed Rizzo, the prop generating roars from the Crumbie as he dummied outside and stepped inside.  Running free he was looking for the pass, Whetton was on his outside and Goneva coming up the middle, but the Sale defence was blocking the passing lanes and he rightly took the tackle.

A penalty advantage gave Tigers room for an error, which they took, but promptly found another as Thacker knocked on trying to take a pass at full pace just inches from the defence.  He had already broken the line when he dropped it, such was the flatness of the ball.

Still 4 points was a good reward and the style it came in will have lifted the hearts of many Tigers fans.  It might seem as bizarre as a Greg Garner decision after some of the games this season but Tigers really are still in with a shot at an 11th English Championship!

Tiger the Comeback Kings as Sale jump the Shark

Phew.  What a game.  Tigers inept and inspired within the same 80 minutes as this roller coaster hit the heights and plumbed the depths.  Tigers produced the second biggest comeback in club history to secure a vital 5 points and keep our dreams of a home semi final on life support for a few more weeks.

Tigers spent a grand total of 3 minutes in the lead.  But like was said last week it doesn't matter.  We could have won and this time we did.  Julian Salvi was credited with the winning try; a huge heaving effort from forwards and backs alike saw Ayerza and Bai clamp on to the Australian and drive him home.  Fantastic composure from all involved, as not only did the forwards grind it over but Benjamin & the other backs remained alive drawing men away from the breakdown, perhaps creating that small gap.

To the match itself Sale were much the better side during the opening 50 minutes, our wide defence was cut to ribbons by a fast and vivid Sharks attack, only heroic goal line defending kept the score to 30 points.  

The first try was scored down Sale's right wing.  Sam Tuitupou took the ball deep from Cipriani on our 22m line, shrugged off Freddie Burns then Tommy Bell's pretty ineffectual tackles to storm to the 5m line, dragged down by Crane and Benjamin.  Sale then battered the line.  Will Addison took out Miles Benjamin off the ball to open up a gap which Chris Cusiter spotted to dive over for the opening score.

Tigers attack by contrast was more leaden but did eventually get over the line.  A fantastic trademark stepping burst from Goneva freed Benjamin to stride deep into the Sale 22, it seemed to take an age going side to side and the chance looked lost when Ghiraldini was being driven backwards.  But Burns' quick thinking ripped the ball free and floated a short pass over a Sale man to Crane.  Crane did the simple pass well to Bai who stormed over to level the score.

A Cipriani penalty for a rare Leicester infringement gave the lead back to Sale and Tigers could have been further behind but for Jamie Gibson forcing a knock on from Mike Haley as the full back tried to ground the ball for a try.

Tigers however took back the lead after an aggressive decision to kick a penalty to touch rather than at goal.  A quick maul was, perhaps, inching forward when Youngs spotted the gap.  For my money he was in himself but chose to feed Tait on the wing who just nipped in.  After consultation with the TMO the try was awarded and Burns nailed the difficult touchline conversion.

This sparked Sale into a spell of sustained pressure and excellence as they scored 22 points in 15 minutes.  Will Addison scored almost immediately after Tait; taking advantage of Tommy Bell being caught ball watching he slid wide of the full back for the easy score.  With the first try as well it really was not Bell's day on his return to his former club.

Tigers were reeling at this point, Sale cutting loose in front of their biggest ever crowd.  Thankfully one move was ended as Eiffion Lewis-Roberts the gargantuan prop was the man free on the over lap and Tait could lasso the big man at the knees.

Sale joined Tigers in turning down a stream of kickable penalties as they went for the kill.  Eventually Gibson was sent to the sin bin, harshly as he was pinned at the bottom of the ruck, and Sale again went for the drive.  Tigers withstood the pressure for a time but Nathan Hines was soon enough driven over for a 25-15 half time lead.

Quickly into the second half Sale extended their lead and secured the try bonus point to boot.  Burns kicked from the shadow of his posts just barely finding touch allowing Sale to go quickly.  The Sale winger's boot was clearly in the field of play when he took it and the lineout should have been brought back but referee Wigglesworth was at the mercy of his linesman who did not make the call.

Haley shimmied his way to the 22m tight to the touchline, Tait and Bell miscommunicated as the small blindside was clearly theirs to defend and that wily old fox Tuitupou took advantage ambling over for what seemed like the knock out score.

15 points down and Tigers were lost, down beat and out for the count.  Only once before in the 134 year history of England's most storied club had "The Death or Glory Boys" dug themselves out of a hole bigger than 14 points.

But as Rocky Balboa rises bloodied and battered from the canvas asking for more the Tigers never gave up.  On 50 minutes Gibson was re-introduced with Ayerza, Tom Youngs and Balmain, giving Tigers fresh impetus.  Shortly after Thompstone replaced Bell, with Tait back at home at full back.  

Tigers kicked again to the corner.  Again it seemed to take an age of going left to right but eventually the half chance was created; Burns to Tait, the half jink and on to Benjamin with no room to manoeuvre but the Birmingham born winger dazzled the defence with a stop and go.  He slighted to the right, then blasted past them on the left beating four men to squeeze into the corner with only millimetres to spare.

Belief was building now.  But Sale were not quite in their shells just yet; they burst through the middle for the clinching score.  Mat Tait as ever is Tigers weather vane, where his form goes so does the team, and his form was bubbling to brilliance as he ran the channel and blocked down the final pass in a surely try scoring Sale move, only to then pounce on the loose ball to eradicate the danger.

With Freddie Burns pulled after yet another midfield chip and chase horror ball, the calming presence of Owen Williams was introduced.  The Welshman steered the Tigers around the park noticeably running the ball from deeper and kicking less frequently and more importantly less aimlessly.  With the game now being firmly played in the Sale half and the home side leaking penalties it was inevitable that Williams would eventually be given a chance to cut the deficit to five.  Belief was now coursing through the Tigers veins.

Sam Harrison was introduced at around the same time as Williams and added spark and pace to Tigers attack at just the time that Sale were tiring and perhaps starting to think about their first victory over Tigers in 11 games and over five and a half years.

The clock was beginning to run dangerously low and Tigers had to decide between aiming for 2 more penalties or going for the try.

In the end the decision was made for us as Sale did not infringe again until only four minutes were remaining; Will Addison again taking liberties with off the ball contact, this time taking out our support man and forcing Harrison into the ruck to secure the ball, thus losing crucial quick ball in a great position.  Wigglesworth spotted the offence and showed no hesitation in brandishing the yellow card for the second time in the match.

To the corner they went, with new man Peterson brought into the fray, De Chaves won the lineout and was driven.  Tigers broke off the side and towards the posts.  Gibson, Barbieri, Bai.  Peterson, Barbieri, Balmain.  They all tried and were repulsed. Then Salvi lead a charge featuring Bai and Ayerza as his lieutenants, with Gibson adding his weight too.  Standing behind the posts we could just see Bai's mocha head pop through the ruck and several orange shirts belly flop over the line.

Delight, relief, joy!  It was given!  The vociferous and partisan Sale crowd were appalled and Owen Williams did not exactly help matters milking every last one of his allotted 90 seconds, and then some, to kill as much of the clock as possible.

It was not yet over though as Tigers muffed the kick off and had to defend their lead for two agonising minutes until Leota knocked on to end a topsy turvey , a glorious, a memorable match.

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.

Tigers tamed in Toulon

Tigers unbeaten streak of 6 competitive games came crashing to a halt with a dispiriting defeat in Toulon.  The defending double European Champions avenged their loss at Welford Road 6 days previous with a blistering opening 20 minutes where they romped to a 16-0 lead.  Tigers held the Red and Blacks from then onwards with the final 60 odd minutes yielding only seven more points, the game finished 23-8.

This was Tigers worst defeat since October's calamity at Kingsholm; and bore similar hallmarks.  A trip to a famously partisan atmosphere, a poor start snowballing into a unassailable lead before a gritty second half keeping the score respectable.

Tigers were simply out muscled for the first try.  A succession of negative tackles that halted the man but only after he gained ground eventually led to Ali Williams crashing over to the right hand side of a goal line ruck.  Some commentators have claimed there were "no missed tackles" in this move.  Bollocks.  If your tackle from 2 metres out hasn't stopped him grounding the ball then to me it's pretty obviously missed.

Whilst Toulon never got that momentum rolling again they were constantly knocking Tigers back in both attack and defence.  Tigers forwards were unable to gain ground and referee George Clancy's more classical (read lax) interpretation of tackler's release and Tigers inability to ruck them clear contributed to a stream of slow ball and penalties for holding on as Basteraud in particular wreaked havoc.  

The lack of a forward platform was exacerbated by a poor day with the boot from Owen Williams.  The usually reliable Welshman was off target with two of three kicks, costing the Tigers 5 points in the first half.  Were he successful with those kicks the half time score would have been 16-10 and if still a slim chance of the win then definitely the chance of the losing bonus point.  Williams punting was also askew with several kicks straight into touch and one penalty kicked dead.  The Welsh wizard did spark Tigers sole try, with a powerful burst up the middle setting up Jamie Gibson to put Blaine Scully away to the corner.

With Ulster losing away to Llanelli second place in the group is achievable but no bonus points in four games has left us behind in the race for one of three best runners up spots.

Guess Who's Back?

Tigers got their European Champions Cup campaign back on track this Sunday after dispatching double Euro & defending French Champions Toulon 25-21.  Welsh wizard Owen Williams was the star of the show slotting a sumptuous 20 points from the boot, as well as providing Toulon with their first try courtesy of a gift wrapped interception for Springbok Bryan Habana.

Tigers raced in a 13-0 lead after only 20 minutes as the Tigers ferocious defence forced key errors from a harried Toulon team.  Fast defence forced Bakkies Botha into a poor pass hacked on by Anthony Allen, Toulon recovered possession but from the ruck Owen Williams charged down Drew Mitchell’s attempted clearance to force a 5m scrum; the reunion between Marcos Ayerza and Martin Castrogiovanni was won conclusively by the Argentinean Ayerza forcing a penalty which Williams simply slotted.  Tigers lead was doubled quickly; Castro’s late entry to a ruck forcing the referee to reverse the penalty previously awarded to Toulon.

Similarly the first try was born from Toulon errors.  A series of areal ping pong seemed to have been won with Delon Armitage’s excellent clearance but Mat Tait’s hard chase of his own kick forced Sebastian Tilous-Borde into a sloppy pass to a shell shocked Mitchell.  The Australian simply went M.I.A. allowing Tom Youngs to sweep onto the ball and set Brad Thorn up for his first try in Tigers colours.

The 13-0 lead was short lived however, directly from the kick off Tigers were held up in a maul forcing a scrum and this time it was Toulon with the penalty which Nicolas Sanchez comfortably slotted.  Tigers were now the ones making errors, Jordan Crane’s pass and Mat Tait’s fumble gave Toulon terrific ball under the posts.  Were it not for Tait’s magnificent tackle a try was sure to be scored.  As it was an inevitable penalty was conceded as Toulon battered at the Tigers line with Sanchez again on the mark.

The scores were levelled when Williams flung his fateful pass, over the head of Salvi, too short for Kitchener it was just right for Habana to pounce.

Williams had also missed a tricky kick from right in front of the Crumbie just previously and missed a further testing penalty on the stroke of half time but made amends early in the second half.  Mat Tait’s scudding low kick found touch deep inside the 22, after forcing a knock on in the lineout the Tigers pack roared, marching Toulon backwards at a rate of knots to earn a simple three points for Williams to slot.

The next scrum was not to be so successful.  Tigers failed to hook the ball cleanly, the ball ricocheting off the front row’s shins into the Toulon side, Tilous-Borde caught Jamie Gibson unawares leaving Goneva with an impossible two on one to defend.  Ironically it was serial offender Mitchell who had the run in for the five.

Facing a tricky touchline conversion on Welford Road’s boggy side Sanchez went under the ball, floating the kick, just, short and wide.  This left Tigers within a score and was to prove crucial in the final reckoning.

Tigers were resilient.  And ambitious.  On loose turnover ball Tigers gained a fortuitous penalty for a high tackle on Ben Youngs.  The captain seeing the gap went quickly only a few yards from his line, the momentum gained another penalty and this one could be kicked deep into Toulon territory.  Some sure possession rugby was perhaps not so inspired but drew the necessary penalty and Williams made no mistake to ease Tigers back into the lead they had previously held for 40 minutes.

Tigers were really on song now, pinning Tilous-Borde into the corner and gaining the 5m attacking lineout.  Tigers’ forwards drove the ball over the line but never fully having it controlled failed to ground it, instead letting themselves be shunted to touch in goal and a relieving 22m drop out.

Toulon then wasted a golden chance inside the Tigers own 22 when they conceded the penalty for sealing off; Williams’ mighty boot bypassed the midfield and gave Tigers a lineout at the other end of the pitch.  Tigers were more patient than their opponents, again forcing the clumsy error from the Toulon defence.  This time it was Georgian goliath Mamuka Gorgodze getting pinned on the wrong side of a ruck.

Toulon though are not European & Top 14 champions for nothing.  Breaking through a quick tap from Ali Williams they played quickly and fluently moving into the Tigers 22 with ease, the move was only halted by a soft offside error from sub Robert Barbieri.  The Canadian-Italian flanker was offside after making an earlier tackle giving Sanchez the easiest opportunity to cut the arrears to a single point.

Tigers were calm though, Williams’ low slung kick again pinning Toulon deep into their own half before his up and under was claimed by Scully.  The kicking game may not be to everyone’s taste but was executed well enough so that when Bryan Habana risked an early charge at Ben Youngs the penalty was inches within the Welshman’s range.

The drama carried well over the 80 minutes; not only did Tigers make a meal of finishing off the game, requiring a Toulon knock on with 10 seconds left and again after losing that scrum, but also Martin Castrogiovanni’s expletive ridden tirade at Richard Cockerill’s behaviour over his transfer between the two clubs and Delon Armitage’s excursions which seem both many and varied at this point in time.

The off field stuff can wait for another day, the important points from Sunday were the four that Tigers bagged and perhaps the casual one that Toulon took with them too.

3 Star Tigers Take Ulster Scalp

A breath taking 20 minutes which saw Tigers score three tries was just enough to seal a crucial 25-18 European win against Ulster at Welford Road.

Tigers coped with losing talisman Manu Tuilagi on 14 minutes brilliantly by scoring tries from Owen Williams, Graham Kitchener and Freddie Burns in the next 20 minutes whilst Ulster crumbled from a solid 3-0 lead to trail 19-3 at the break.

And it could have been more had Tigers not started the day with the indifferent Burns attempting the kicks to the posts.

Ulster opened the scoring with a Paddy Jackson penalty on 8 minutes after Tigers had infringed at the ruck, and Tigers were lucky that the red haired Irishman was off target with an earlier kick or it could have been 6-0 down in almost as many minutes.

Tigers responded immediately as Blaine Scully leaped like a salmon to claim Burns' restart and power into the heart of the Ulster defence.  Eventually scragged down Ulster's last man looked to have deliberately knocked on in the following move but referee Poite was unmoved, not the only time Ulster were lucky to escape censure from the Frenchman.

Ben Youngs wasted two good opportunities in the 22 through a chip to no one and a floated pass that was intercepted but Tigers were not to be denied.  Julian Salvi broke down the right hand side before play was switched to Tuilagi rampaging down the left, drawing a penalty from Ulster on the 5m line; Manu re-injured his groin in the move though and was swiftly withdrawn as Tigers kicked for the corner.

From the lineout Tigers drove and were denied, the pack heaved again and were denied, before Owen Williams, warming to his role as a crash ball centre, took the ball at pace and with intent.  The Welshman slammed into three Ulster bodies and fought to successfully ground the ball.

There was no mistake with the conversion but Burns was off target with a later penalty skewing it badly wide right.  Again Ulster rode their luck with Mr Poite as Tommy Bowe's ugly challenge on Miles Benjamin in the air was punished with only a penalty.

Ulster challenged again but were unable to convert any possession to points; Tigers slowly won the kicking battle to gain good territory in the Ulster 22.  The conservative kicking strategy was vindicated when Youngs picked off an innocuous pass from the base of an Ulster maul setting Graham Kitchener up for the second try before the half hour mark.

Tigers extended the lead just 5 minutes later when Burns, now relieved of the goal kicking duties, dummied his way over bamboozaling four Ulster defenders in the process.  

Ulster were down to 14 men at this point following a yellow card to Craig Gilroy for yet another tackle on the man in the air.  Ulster were very fortunate that referee Poite did not produce a red card.  With these two incidents and the one last year against Saracens you have to ask is this a deliberate tactic from Ulster designed to intimidate opposition players?

Tigers looked to have taken full advantage from the extra man and the wave of momentum when Leonardo Ghiraldini twisted, worked, wrestled and squirmed his way over in the Crumbie corner on the stroke of half time but he was correctly denied by the TV ref; Ben Youngs foot just barely grazing the line before the final pass was completed.

Tigers won the lineout but were unable to finish the job off, forgetting how effective running hard, straight and flat to the gainline had been for Owen Williams' try instead we went wide and deep attempting to take advantage of the missing winger.  It did not work.

With the break for half time the momentum Tigers had built was lost and never to be regained.  The second half was almost all Ulsters.  The kicking game that was so effective in the first half was not so much over done as done much much worse.  Playing territory and forcing another mistake was a good strategy but badly employed.

For me much of the blame must go to Burns.  His kicking for territory was poor and when he did successfully earn us possession in their half he flippantly wasted it with his selfish and immature chips to nowhere and no one.  It was a real slap in the face when this alleged England contender was replaced by scrum half David Mele to see out the match.

But Tigers did start the half well extending their lead to 22-3 when Owen Williams converted a straight forward scrum penalty.  Ulster were a totally different team in the second half running the ball with vigour and verve, causing us all sorts of problems to our defence.  First they cut the gap with a penalty following Tigers collapsing an attacking maul.

Then they scored the try of the day, the first of two outstanding efforts; Ulster won 30 yards from a kicking duel between the back threes ending with a lineout on half way.  Sweeping a rare clean catching off the top they went through the hands, taking advantage of Miles Benjamin's poor decision to step in they raced into the 22 and smart running lines and sharp passing helped them evade the Tigers scramble defence for the try.

The score rattled Tigers.  They looked panicked.  Trying random 50m drop goals and retreating further into our shell.  A scrum penalty successfully converted by Williams helped calm the nerves, and of course eventually was the match winning score.

Ulster's second score had two parts, first was the delicious inside ball to British Lion Tommy Bowe who scythed his way forward, only stopped by a crunching Blaine Scully tackle.  Second was the finish by Franco van der Merwe, a huge swinging dummy was bought by all before the lumbering 6'6" beast dove over the ruck like an NFL running back diving over a pile of bodies.  In this game of course you've got to get back to ground the ball and the South African just about did despite the attentions of Ben Youngs.

Crucially Paddy Jackson was unsuccessful from the simple conversion.  Did the young man get a case of the yips and skew his kick you wonder?  No, the growing force of Jamie Gibson was sharp on the uptake and using all of his 6'5" frame, all of his wingspan and all of his vertical leap he managed to charge down the conversion!  I can't remember ever seeing that in a top level game before.

That left the gap at 7 points and Tigers in a bit of a quandary when a chance for 3 points came.  Are we battling with Ulster or Toulon in this group?  Do we take 3 points and deny Ulster the losing bonus, or are we challenging Toulon, do we go for the try and damn the risk of Ulster's point or possible draw?

We went for the ambitious.  We went for the try.  We went for Toulon.

We messed it up.  Twice.  Then again sort of a third time.  Well, you can't fault the ambition.   First line out was taken cleanly and the maul set up, but Ulster resisted and emboldened by Tigers spurning the kick infringed again.  This time we tried a trick line out.  Why?  Your guess is as good as mine.  Ulster cleared but only to the 22.  We tried another trick line out.  Why?  According to ESPN's stats these were 2 of only 3 line outs we lost all game, the other was a not straight call.

Ulster tried for the draw but Tigers defence was stout and held out.  Before the match I'd have taken a win, any win, 2 weeks ago I'd probably have taken a close defeat; but today and last night I'm gutted we didn't kill them off with the 4th try.