Leicester Tigers
Tigers v Saints Match Preview
By ChrisC
January 4 2011
Another excellent preview by Chris, and this week as a bonus you might notice some Beatles hits hidden about. Can anyone find them all ??
Day Tripper(s).
By ChrisC.
There’s much excitement down Northampton way these days as the stellar collection of players at Saints threaten to drive their fans to the same raptures of delight as the Fab Four did theirs when they played the old ABC cinema in the town twice in 1963, firstly in March of that year as support to Chris Montez and then again in November when they were touring in their own right.
I saw them on the same tour when they played the Granada in East Ham a couple of days later and my hearing has never been the same since!
As were the Beatles written off after their sojourn to Hamburg, Saints were also written off by the similarly ill informed when they were relegated at the end of the 2006/7 season but the coaching team of Tigers’ old boy Nobby West and ex Sale and England Saxons’ coach, Jim Mallinder, got the show back on the long and winding road to the Premiership and just as Brian Epstein guided the Beatles from their travails so did the Mallinder and West team the Saints, who blitzed through their exile in the First Division and returned to the Premiership in short order.
A combination of financial support from Keith Barwell, astute signings and the putting in of more than one hard day’s night on the training paddock has seen Saints become the team to beat this season and their status is not the outcome of some free ticket to ride but entirely reflective of their performances and it will take all the doing to stop them becoming the 2010/11 league champions after being runners up last term.
If they have had help it is that, by and large, they have been injury free in many key positions, but where injuries have occurred the stand ins have blended seamlessly into the structure with the attitude of we can work it out in adversity as have those who have had to fill in for the Saints’ England contingent when they are absent although the supporters couldn’t wait for their boys to get back.
It seems therefore that the East Midlands hegemony of the Premiership is set to continue.
In a weekend of some surprise results none was more shocking than Saints losing at Franklins Gardens 13 – 16 to Quins and the home support must have wondered how their team could have let it be so when at one point they were playing against just 13 opponents but could not make it tell against a Quins defence that was certainly not guilty of cowardice. In fact had Nick Evans not been off beam the score could have been 13 – 22.
At Tigers the curse of the EPS and the biggest long term injury list I can remember has seen the 2009/10 Champions stutter and fluctuate between the sublime and the gorblimey! For all that they again top the league but to win it they are relying on Saints’ to blink again as they did against Quins. Now don’t ask me why they faltered but Tigers will be hoping next weekend is time for it to happen again. The fixture congestion that sees Saints probably having to play mid week matches later in the season still being pivotal, especially as they, like Tigers in the past, could find themselves also competing in the final stages of the European Cup and Anglo Welsh Cup.
Saints game this season has been predicated on their redoubtable scrum indulging in some Kray-like bullying of the opposition but the Quins scrum would not succumb even though it came under severe pressure and conceded a penalty try so it was not possible for the Saints’ back division to act naturally.
Down at Sandy Park the following day Tigers, who are getting better all the time, came up against Exeter Chiefs who’s usually solid scrum was comprehensively dismantled by Tigers who seemed able to exert pressure any time at all and to which the hosts had no reply. Of course both tight head props mostly bound illegally, put ins were squint, back rows didn’t bind and mauls
were not properly formed or illegally stopped but largely it mattered not a jot to Mr Doyle in an haphazard rookie display which continued the trend of officials concentrating on minutiae while ignoring too many of the more important laws. Mr Doyle was not alone in this as in every match I watched over the weekend the match officials demonstrated similar predilections with much finger wagging as they said: “ you can’t do that” to the increasingly confused players.
What is also notable is the lack of empathy referees show especially when in penalising for not rolling away from the tackle area. England and Bath’s resident madman; Lewis Moody, was pinged against Irish for the offence even though, while his legs were pinned in the ruck preventing his exit, his upper body was free, out of the immediate area of play and he was demonstrably not interfering. Craig Newby suffered a similar fate at the hands of Mr Doyle who we can only wish well in the hope that he will improve in his future endeavours.
Northampton Saints this week are the visitors to Welford Road looking to break the chains that Tigers have held on the Premiership during the professional era and hoping that next Sunday they will not look back to yesterday in misery for when at the home of the Tigers there’s a place where everything little thing has to go just right to get the win.
The front row battle will be epic next Saturday as the two established front rows of Castrogiovanni, Chuter and Ayerza and twelve time capped South African Brian Mujati, England first choice hooker; Dylan Hartley and Soane Tonga'uiha go head to head, both sides usually winning their own ball.
This will be the key area again and it’s to be hoped that match official Dave Pearson, conducting his 150th Premiership fixture, manages to keep control of what should be a wonderful contest and maybe even correctly enforce the laws at scrum time. With the Tigers’ trio having their tails up and their opposite numbers bristling to make amends for last week, it’s a contest too close to call.
In open play Tonga'uiha is a force of nature and is second to only Quins’ Turner-Hall in the offloads he makes to his support runners, who cluster to him as bees seeking a taste of honey, with Dylan Hartley similarly mobile but prone to give away penalties when on the offensive as he can become isolated and although better damped he still has a short temper and his discipline needs work on as, on their last performance, does that of the whole Saints’ pack.
The Tigers’ second row options of Deacon/Slater/Skivington look secure enough now that Louis Deacon is restored after such a long, long, long absence and it really benefits from the presence of Steve Mafi with the athletic Courtney Laws partnering Christian Day, a player who has come on so well since his days at Sale and now tops the stat for line out steals, although somewhat surprisingly Saints still lose a fair bit of ball on their own throw and are at the same success level as Tigers.
Laws showed his relative inexperience last Saturday when holding on to the ball and conceding a penalty in a case of white line fever, with players in support release to whom would have surely led to a try. The locks on both sides this weekend look accomplished and for that reason the lineout could rest on the ability of Mafi and Newby to continue being the pests they were against the Chiefs and if they’re successful that means a lot.
Elsewhere in the back row with the cerebral Phil Dowson, who is a leading player in providing try assists, and Tom Wood seeming strangely off the boil in countering the excellent Quins back row, only the consistently superb Irishman Roger Wilson looked himself, running and tackling his heart out as usual.
Steve Mafi is turning out to be another good signing for Tigers, matching his excellent line out work with good defence and an ability to get to the ball at the breakdown and dig it out for Ben Youngs as well as being here, there and everywhere around the park.
Craig Newby was back to his best showing just why he’s in the top tackling stat and Woods will have it all to do to get the #7 shirt back from the All Black open side.
It was interesting to see Thomas Waldom coming off the bench and to contrast his style with that of the newly restored Jordan Crane and the different skills they bring. Waldrom continues to amaze with his deft footwork through flying tackles and is third in the beaten defenders stat, being led only by backs, he’s second in carries made and is the only forward to feature in the metres gained stat, bringing a revolution to the Tigers’ attack.
Saints were the best team at adapting to Leagunion by leading the way in committing few players to defensive breakdown situations preferring to deploy them in a defensive wall, while in attacking positions their attack forwards assault the fringes and pile though the centre and as a consequence neither won or lost much ball however both Quins and Exeter have recently been able to put Saints under pressure at the breakdown and Saints’ discipline has showed fragility.
Ben Youngs looked to have benefitted from his break and the excellent performance of Grindal and the supporting role played by young Sam Harrison the week before will have reminded him that Tigers’ have options here even though Harry Ellis has been forced from the scene.
Jeremy Staunton again confounded his critics with a pinpoint strategic kicking display against Exeter and over the past couple of weeks has demonstrated that he’s not just a kicker, playing some of his best rugby from hand together with some top rate distribution. Flood made a cameo appearance late on and looked to need the game time so it will be a tough call for Richard Cockerill as to who starts against Saint of these two boys but I will expect Flood to start.
Lee Dickson reclaimed the #9 shirt from Ryan Powell against and went about his business in an effective manner with a good secure pass and really can’t be blamed too much for the charge down of his kick that led to the Danny Care try as Wilson had put him in an impossible position with a pass that had a blue flashing light on it, When under pressure Dickson can leak penalties and has the worst record of any scrum half in this regard but seems to now be in a settled partnership with Stephen Myler who can blow hot and cold as demonstrated by his 60% kicking success rate and position at second in the missed conversion and third in the missed penalty stats so the Tigers’ back row will be doing their utmost to put him off his stride and prevent him acting as a fulcrum for the Saint’s back line enabling their effective kicking game.
It’s always a mystery to me why the Saints’ centre pairing of James Downey and Jon Clarke don’t attract more plaudits outside of the home of the Northampton lighthouse which overlooks Franklins Gardens (it’s actually a disused lift testing facility and a listed building at that!). Yes there is the glamorous Foden, Ashton, Hartley, Laws and free scoring Tonga'uiha who are the centre of media focus but because it’s the centre pairing that make it happen for Saints and these two are truly the King Beam that holds the Saints’ house together I don’t see why they are so in the media shadows.
Dublin born Downey is a wonderful club player, aggressive and happy to put himself about and at 6’4” and over 16 stones, and denied a try against Quins when the pass to him was judged to be forward, he’ll give Anthony Allen plenty to think about and even though the Tigers’ inside centre tackles well above his size I expect to see Billy Twelvetrees back in the match day 23 as an option here although as yet he can’t match the ex Gloucester player for guilewho now stays on his feet in the tackle in a most Hipkissesque manner.
Jon Clarke runs sublime lines off the ball where he does so much good work, popping up in unexpected places, his approach work combining with power and a good step to get through the tackle and release the lethal Saint’s back three. Tigers will presumably continue with Manu Tuilagi at 13 who will need to be spot on with his defensive alignment and with some solid work I can see both pairings getting in behind the opposition defences.
In the back three I see no reason why, in Scott Hamilton’s absence for his nuptials, Matt Smith should not continue given the good impression he’s made there of late and where, for my money, he looks a more natural fit than at centre. Alex Tuilagi seems to have come back from his latest trip into the mental wilderness so he also looks set to continue in what is increasingly looking a settled team, the giant Samoan sharing third place in the Premiership try scoring stats with his younger brother.
It is important however that Tigers stop falling off tackles as they’ll get no lee way from Saints as they have thus far missed 13% fewer tackles than their hosts this week and will feel it’s their birthday if the Tigers do not improve here.
I was worried about Geordan Murphy however I should have known better as he put in a good display against both Sale and Chiefs and the Saints more expansive style should suit him well, hopefully he’ll be better supported and stop conceding so much turnover ball.
Saints have the arch finisher Chris Ashton out wide and Tigers must concentrate on depriving him of the ball as did Quins. To me he’s like William Brown of the eponymous Just William books with that other bad boy from his gang, Ben Foden, causing endless mischief and when he comes off his wing looking for the ball he is arguably even more dangerous as he comes so late into the line.
Local boy Paul Diggin, who, along with Ashton, has scored 4 tries in this year’s competition, seems to be preferred to the now venerable Bruce Reihana although if he’s fit I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see the talismanic All Black trot out once more at Welford Road and bring his experience to the party for the visitors.
Ben Foden will be an ever present danger at full back with his incisive mazy running although I sometimes wonder if he, like Nick Abendenon at Bath, chooses to back the God given talent and run the ball back when other options would be better, it’s true to say that he is well up there with the most clean breaks and metres gained however he beats relatively few defenders cleverly choosing to offload rather than take contact and risk being isolated. Clearly he can be lethal especially if he manages to link up with Ashton on the charge or pick up the centres’ offloads.
If Saints want the Tigers’ Premiership crown they’ll have to come and get it and for sure they’re in with a good shout but there is so little between the sides it may come down to the Welford Road 16th man getting the home side across the finishing line for a four point win with the visitors going back down the M1 in the forecast rain with a losing bonus point which wouldn’t seem bad to me.
Yeah, yeah, yeah!!
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:01:11:19:09:19 by Stephen Bath.
Game on, lads!
*I could agree with you - but then we'd both be wrong...*
The Tigers providing another Magical Mystery Tour with Strawberry Fields Forever.
Thank you Chris.
No alcohol for January. I'm a dryathlete in aid of cancer research.
Dryathlon
Oh - and St Rich - you be careful coming up the 5199 you may find the barriers raised against you at Welford!
...
Nice preview.
Er, not since the Saints turned into a plc 10 years ago.
video: [url][/url]
"Your days are numbered. Use them to throw open the windows of your soul to the sun. If you do not, the sun will soon set, and you with it."
-- Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor 161-180 A.D.
Anyone who thinks the banks would be lending to Saints or Tigers without Barwell and Tom is pretty naive. IMO.
No alcohol for January. I'm a dryathlete in aid of cancer research.
Dryathlon
And since it's a border settlement the regular (bi-annual) skirmishes lead to a frequent changes of side...presently your side of the Avon has sway but come Saturday night...
...
No alcohol for January. I'm a dryathlete in aid of cancer research.
Dryathlon
If I appear from an internet cafe 5k miles away you know it hasn't worked
My Castro beard will be at the games, though, and it expects 5 point victories in both
'Lions led by donkeys' .. Lest we forget
My football loving 10 year old, only recently asked me... "If you could play rugby for any team other than the Saints, who would it be?" was somewhat shocked when I said "Tigers!" I tried to explain to him, that unlike his own dislike of Man Utd being a Liverpool supporter, I could only admire and applaud what you guys have achieved, especially in the professional era.
Should be a fine game if it is allowed to be. The kick up the backside from Quins has hopefully refocused some of our players' minds.
Quote:ChrisC
Yep, crucial two weeks indeed, though forced with the choice I'd rather win down at Scarlets and stay in the heineken, buts thats the sort of thing that happens with a pay off system.
and I got these!!
ticket to ride
we can work it out
let it be
act naturally
getting better all the time
you can’t do that
break the chains
yesterday
every (thing) little thing
revolution
Yeah, yeah, yeah
suspect I missed some
No prize other than knowing you're a smarty pants if you get them all
I know the first two are in there, can't remember if the last one is!
Day Tripper
The long and winding road
Hard day’s night
Ticket to ride
Help
We can work it out
Boys
Get back.
Let it be
Not guilty
Ask me why
Act naturally.
Getting better all the time,
Any time at all
No reply.
You can’t do that.
Madman
Chains
Yesterday
Misery
There’s a place
Everything little thing
Taste of honey
Long, long, long
That means a lot.
Dig it
Here, there and everywhere
Flying
Revolution
Boys
I will
Money
I should have known better
Bad boy
Come and get it
Shout
Bad to me.
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