By Ian Birks
January 5 2004

Duncan McRae, the man most Tiger fans love to hate, lead Gloucester to a 28-18 victory as Leicester lost yet another game at home. Gloucester supporters were treated to a brace of drop goals and a try from McRae in a game that saw the Tigers beaten by three tries to two. One of the telling differences between the two sides on the day was the accuracy of the kickers: Paul putting Goode in the shade as the ex-Sarries and Leicester man failed to emulate the drop goal and penalty count of the opposition. Van der Westhuyzen continued to impress for Leicester at full back, as did Smith and Baxter who both scored tries on the day.

McRae scored the first points of the day in the 18th minute with a drop goal from 25m, but Leicester replied straight away with a scintillating try from Ollie Smith. A slip pass from Goode into the hands of Smith, hitting the line at speed, opened up the Cherry and Whites defensive line. A missed tackle left the Leicester centre with a simple run in under the posts, converted by Goode, to take the score to 7-3 after 22 minutes.

A penalty from Paul and a second drop goal from McRae edged the visitors to a 7-9 lead, even though the Tigers pack seemed to be well in control for much of the half.

Gloucester capitalised on a mid-field fumble by Healey with the opposition backs and forwards combining to move the ball towards the Leicester line, the move finally resulting in a try by Brown in the corner. Paul missed the conversion and Gloucester went in at half-time 7-14 ahead.

Henry Tuilagi was lucky to stay on the field after a deliberate knock on was allowed to go unpunished and a dangerous high tackle on Brown, as he scored his try, was ignored by the inept officials.

An early second half penalty from Goode reduced the Tiger’s deficit to four points, but a flash of brilliance from Paul created the second try for the visiting side. A long looping pass to Boer cut out three Leicester defenders and the ball was tipped inside to Paramore who crashed over the line. Paul converted from the touchline and the score moved to a healthy 10-21.

Leicester replied through a Baxter try after a break by Goode created space on the right wing. Baxter, who had to juggle the ball initially, was not held in the tackle and he was rewarded for his persistence as he reached for the try line.

A further penalty from Goode brought the score to a respectable 18-21, but the last word came from Gloucester late on in injury time with a try from McRae which was converted off the woodwork by Paul. This took West Country side to a comfortable looking 18-28 victory, but in reality a win by three points either way would have been a fairer reflection, in a game in which neither side shone.

On a slightly different note, it must be said that the match officials were very poor on the day. Referee Maybank seemed to be playing to the cameras by making some bizarre decisions around the ruck, line out and scrum. Even the Rotund One – Mr. Barnes noticed that the touch judges were ‘conservative’ in their estimation of where the line outs should be, often falling short for both teams by 10-15 metres and generally refusing to venture outside of the 10m lines!

Note for the RFU- its time to recruit and train some younger match officials to get some new blood, fresh legs and binocular vision into the game. Please, for all our sakes!

Leicester: Van der Westhuyzen; Baxter, Lloyd, Smith, F Tuilagi; Goode, Healey; Rowntree, Richards, Morris, M Johnson, Kay, W Johnson, Back, H Tuilagi.
Replacements: Chuter, Nebbett, Deacon, Skinner, Myring, Vesty, Gelderbloom.

Gloucester: Delport; Garvey, Todd, Paul, Simpson-Daniel; McRae, Gomarsall; Woodman, Fortey, Deacon, Cornwell, Brown, Boer, Buxton, Paramore.
Replacements: Collins, Roncero, Wood, Eustace, Merriman, Page, Fanolua.