By Mike Hill
December 15 2002

Tigers answered their critics (me included) in emphatic style as they thrashed Beziers 53 -10 and scored eight tries in the process. Freddie Tuilagi lead the way with a hat trick but it was merely the icing on a great all round team performance. Beziers had struggled the week before and were sorely missing a number of key internationals in the pack and Tigers took full advantage. The backs played with a swagger and gusto not seen for many a moon and after a slow start the tries kept coming right up to the end.

Supporting Tuilagi's three tries were Dorian West, Rod Kafer, Sam Vesty (1st for the club), Louis Deacon and the irrepressible Geordan Murphy with one each. The game didn't start well though with knock-on's and wayward passes spoiling the early attacks. Geordan opened the account with a sweetly struck penalty but it wasn't until midway through the half that Freddie crossed for the first try.

After an incisive break by Geordan and some good drives by the forwards the ball eventually came out wide on the right but a poor pass from Ollie landed at Freddie's feet. He hacked forward into the goal area and showing great determination was first to pounce on the bouncing ball. Geordan converted to make the score 10 - 3 Quesada having kicked a penalty which was to be their only points of the half.

Murphy was involved again minutes later when Leon fielded a weak kick and fed the full back who stepped past four Beziers defenders before being held inches short. Tigers then took advantage of the ensuing panic in the Beziers defence shifting the ball wide to the right for Louis Deacon to score his second try for the club in the corner.

It was one way traffic for most of the rest of the game with West adding the third try from a fairly routine catch and drive to make the score 20 - 3 at the break. Any hopes of a second half comeback by the French side were dashed when Tuilagi added a second try to his tally seven minutes into the half. Tigers were showing no signs of easing the pace and their aggressive tackling was forcing Beziers into handling errors.

Although the entire pack was magnificent the back row of Balding, Corry and Will Johnson was exceptional and they were joined in the wide-open spaces by a couple of maraudering front rowers by the name of Tournaire and Garforth. On several occasions the first player in support of a break by one of the backs was Daz or Frankie and their handing was faultless.

Kafer was another player seemingly refreshed by the Heineken Cup and he bulldozed over from thirty metres out after a succession of missed tackles saw him score close to the posts. He was at it again later when an extravagant dummy saw him clear before he generously passed the ball to a faintly embarrassed Sam for his first try for the club.

Beziers added seven to their mediocre total when a catch and drive resulted in one of their many Georgians Vano Nadiradze crashing over. This was merely a consolation as Tigers added three more before the close. Geordan finished off a fine attack when Booth drew two defenders then fed Austin Healey who in turn gave Darren a clear run to the line. The slow motion sprint to the line was a props dream but he knew he was never going to get there so he cleverly tapped the ball over to Geordan.

Murphy broke clear once more to set up Freddie to score his third before Vesty added the final coup de grace. It had been a vastly improved performance albeit against a poor one by the French side the true test of our rejuvenation will come away to Wasps on the 27th in a must win game. Before that of course we have a potential banana skin when we welcome an in form Worcester side for the Powergen Cup.

The man of the match award had many contenders this week with strong showings from Murphy, Balding and Tierney amongst others. The nod goes to the Samoan hurricane for making up for lost time in some style as he opened his season's account with a hat trick. Unrecognisable from the player who struggled against Saints and Irish Freddie was a revelation and made big inroads into the defence every time he touched the ball.

FREDDIE!, FREDDIE!,FREDDIE!

Keep it going lads.