By Chris Chaplin
February 26 2003

As the West Country's tractors converge on Northampton. With no home advantage for either side the gnarled old Tigers take on the pretenders to their throne at Franklins Gardens this weekend. Who'll win the second round of this seasons three, or possibly four, round contest to decide who gets the silverware?

I think most supporters have pretty much accepted that Gloucester will be this year's Premiership Champions (for the uninitiated they're the one's that finish top of the Premiership) True we may still get a chance to pinch their pot but at the moment both camps are concentrating on Saturday's Powergen Cup Semi-final.

Having been unceremoniously dumped out of the Heineken Cup the Gloucester club from top to bottom want this cup and want it badly. The desire is even greater as to get any further they've to beat their old adversaries the fabled Leicester Tigers - mouth-watering stuff and how fortunate for Mr Barwell, although not for Powergen and the RFU, that the two old foes should meet in the semi at Franklins Gardens. As DelBoy might say - Cushty!

Both teams have been their best at home this season, although of course thus far Gloucester are unbeaten at Kingsholm whereas Tigers......well let's not dwell on painful memories.

Gloucester have been the THE team to beat this term and not many have, however Tigers are amongst that happy band, having put a poor Gloucester side to the sword at Welford Road. As was the case that night much depends on the state of mind of Ollie Azam. When he's in the mood he can throw with accuracy, be fantastic in the loose and keep his hands to himself. On other days his throwing does well to keep within the lineout area let alone find his jumper and he'll wander around as if he's waiting for the ice cream van. The option is for the Ryan/Melville team to play the dependable Chris Fortey, not the star that Ollie is maybe but dependable to a fault and he may just start given how crucial the lineout will be. Phil Vickery is still ailing with a disc problem and reportedly out for the rest of the season but Woodman is going to at least start on the bench, having been back in training following his being broken by Woodward in the Autumn. I don't really see Woodman playing a full 80 (or whatever time it turns out to be) so Roncero, who has been something of a revelation since his arrival from part time occupation in Argentina and Andy Deacon will probably share the propping duties with the England prop. Either way a front row not to be trifled with.

The acknowledged weak spot of the Cherry and Whites pack is the second row. I personally think that the tap dancing Adam Eustace is the pick of the locks followed by Mark Cornwell. Rob Fidler has been out of sorts for a while, largely I suspect due to personal problems being at the forefront of his mind rather than rugby. Ed Pearce can be dragooned in from the back row but for my money the strongest pairing is Eustace and Cornwell.

The Gloucester back row is a bit of a conundrum in many ways. If one first accepts that the fabulous Jake Boer starts, by then looking at who partners him it is possible to tell exactly what the Cherries' game plan is. Paramour and Buxton = grunt, rolling mauls, pick and drive. The presently and at last fit Andy Hazell and James Forrester = long balls to the back of the lineout, running off the back of the scrum. Talented players all and how unlucky has the injury prone young Hazell been not to be able to give our own Tyro MadEye Moody a run for his money in claiming an England jersey.

My guess is that they'll start with grunt and then make a change or two later, it would certainly be a high risk strategy to start with the lighter Hazell and Forrester from the off.

Gomersall will start at scrum-half following his unhappy time against France and will be wanting to show Woodward the error of his ways in dropping him for a little better Bracken against Wales. If Gomersall is going through a prolonged dip in form (he has looked a bit tired and out of sorts for a few games) then it will be a positive advantage for Tigers, particularly as there is not much strength in depth at 9 at Kingsholm with young Stuart-Smith being next in line and while he is highly rated by Melville he's not ready yet they say.

Mercier will start at 10. The Frenchman is generally in good form with the boot, although he can have the occasional off day, and his overall game has come on tremendously this season, his making some good darting breaks and getting his centres moving much more efficiently than in the past. Another of Melville's conundrums is in the centre pairing of Robert Todd and Terry Fanaloua. They are effective but predictable with Toddy running straight and hard at the opposition defence, holding the ball up and offloading brilliantly. Unfortunately the Shed's favourite son our Terry is also a strong running centre, the only difference is that he runs diagonally rather than straight. This tends to make the attack pretty predictable.

As it happens Todd is likely to be banned so the problem solves itself. The Cherries have lately tried their itinerant back that is that faux Englishman Henry Paul, in the centre with some success, which is probably where he should play. He has all the skills and paired with Fanaloua they could be hard to defend against. Many of the Gloucester faithful would like to see James (Sinbad) Simpson Daniel at 13 but my bet is that this vastly talented youngster will start on the wing. Garvey may start on the other wing but the more sensible option would surely be to start with Tom Beim and then bring the youngster on when play loosens up. Talented though Garvey is he looks uncultured beside Simpson-Daniel and in the tighter early stages of a game is often marked out as a consequence but when the players tire and gaps appear then he comes into his own.

Anyway I doubt that the coaching staff will make the mistake of putting Paul back at #15 (we should be so lucky) returning Thinius Delport to the wing in the process, for while Delport is a superb full back he is only a good wing, lacking the pace off the mark of either Beim, Sinbad or Garvey.

The key issue for me is the make up of the Cherry and White's pack and while in the case of Trevor Woodman and Phil Vickery it's down to fitness the other options are pure judgement calls for Dean Ryan and Nigel Melville - let's hope that as was the case against Munster they get it wrong!

Another big test for the Tigers then with a final at HQ beckoning.

There's no way that Deano can take any risk so that Gloucester get a score or two in front. They've got a formidable defence and if they get a bit of clear water it'll be the Devil's own job to catch, let alone overtake, them. Regardless of the opposition front row I hope that Rowntree, West and Franck start. This all international front three has exactly the right blend of power and mobility to combat the possible combinations that will face them. Which I guess will be Deacon/Azam/Roncero/Woodman.

With Johnno leaping to freedom with one giant bound (see - miracles DO happen) he will join Ben Kay in the second row, being ably supported on the bench by the massively improved Louis Deacon. In the locking department I can't see any of the potential Gloucester duos besting them, especially if Azam is in one of his more laissez faire Gallic shoulder shrugging moods.

On the subject of the back three. Well with MadEye seemingly now seriously injured and Backy also out for some weeks we'll have to make do with the most capped Kiwi instead. As much as I like Boer, Paramour et al I really think that provided we start with Cozza and Josh and the talented Adam Balding on the blindside they'll have the beating of the Kingsholm trios other than when it comes to pace where Forrester and possibly Hazell have gas to spare and if they get loose it'll be hard to stop them.

If he's fit I'd like to see Harry Ellis or even that invisible man Tom Tierney start at 9 both have good defence and should be able to combat Gomersall unless the Gloucester man is back to his very best. I think Jamie Hamilton will be too slow and the Cherry's will swallow him up. Fly half is easy - we've only got one - Sam Vesty and while he's still got a way to go he should be able to contain Mercier on the hoof at least.

Rod and Ollie will clearly need to resume their centre partnership which has been an enduring feature this season, having made 13 starts out of a possible 24 and on the three occasions that the backs have retained their format in consecutive games these two have been ever present. Surely Stimmo will start this time having failed to make the starting line up in the last two matches. In fact the last time he started in the #15 spot was in the away match at Wasps although I strongly believe that he's still the best full back at the club while Geordan is the best winger . I hope Geordan starts at 14 and that Fred also retains his position to soften up the opposition prior to Boothy's appearance later on.

This is going to be difficult one to call. Were the match not at a neutral venue things would be a little simpler. However Tigers did look to be getting back to form against Bristol and Glaws seem not to have really recovered from their Munster experience. I think Tigers should be able to edge it but only by the odd score - which brings me back to Stimmo!