Leicester Tigers
Tigers v Newcastle Match Preview
By ChrisC
September 16 2013
The Boys Are Back In Town “Guess who got back today? Those wild eyed boys that had been away Haven’t changed, haven’t much to say But man I still think them cats are crazy” (Phil Lynott/Thin Lizzy)
Or as they may prefer at Kingston Park:
“Guess whee got back the dayuh?
Those wild eyed lads tha had been away
Haven’t changed, haven’t much te syah
But gadgie Ah still think them cats are crazy”
Yup the boys from Newcastle are back from the Championship and after others before them they’ll be rejuvenated and liberated by the experience as well as relieved to have made their “jailbreak”.
They’ll be wild eyed in their attempts to demonstrate the calumny of their demotion and their part as bystanders in the unedifying squabble over the promotion of London Welsh who have gone the way of all flesh and back to the nether reaches.
Falcons had become perennial survivors and will have regained confidence from their domination of the Championship. In that regard they’ll be hoping they have changed from their latter days in the Premiership.
With Dean Richards happily restored to Premiership rugby they’ll not have much to say and ever has it been thus where Deano is concerned, the Tigers’ legend happiest when his charges are doing the talking for him on the field with their results and there’ll be no “Waiting for an Alibi” for any failures.
Actually the Falcons have been back for a couple of weeks now starting off their campaign at Kingston Park and even though they pulled out a real doosie of a wet, and of course windy, Friday night at Kingston Park to signal their return to the top echelon of the sport, they still got a real thumping from Bath who “nilled” them in a 21 point pasting.
This inauspicious start was followed by a trip to Manchester to face last season’s strugglers; Sale Sharks who were fresh faced and excited after their win at Kingsholm but their optimism that the dark days were behind them was dented by a tough no nonsense performance, redolent of Dean Richards in his playing pomp, which saw the Falcons eek out a win by the narrowest of margins from a match between two clubs whos’ Directors of Rugby appear to have decided that they’ll defend until the death and cross their fingers at sneaking a victory.
As it turned out Sale’s Macleod will join Falcons’ Godman on Dean Richards’ Christmas card list, the former missing enough kicks at goal to see his side comfortably home while the latter put the travails of the Bath match behind him in a faultless display with the boot.
Just to help Falcons along they’ve now got a second away fixture in a row and at Welford Road no less where they’ll meet a battered and bruised Tigers who are getting toward a selection process based on last man standing.
After having the best of the first, third and fourth quarters of their match at Bath Tigers were ultimately undone by referee Mr Garner’s extraordinarily partial first half display which saw Tigers reduced to thirteen men during the fateful second quarter ,seeing the home side push on to a twenty-one points to three lead at the break after which Mr Garner, who maybe had been spoken to by the referee’s assessor at half time, regained control of himself and decided to referee both teams for a while.
This Damascene event occurred just as Tigers regained their full complement of players and put Bath through some trying times as the hosts’ lead was whittled down to a bare four points. An injury to Bath’s Batty, which took ten minutes to resolve, then saw the snarling Tigers go off the boil somewhat and Bath squeezed home, again thanks to some more distinctly odd officiating from Mr Garner. Tigers outscored Bath by three tries to two, the second try for the hosts coming from a Bath knock on ignored by Mr Garner and his associates.
The effect of the injury delay to attend to the stricken Batty was comparable to that which occurred back in 2001 when rain interrupted the Wimbledon 2001 semi final between Henman and Ivanisevic. The English #1 was two sets to love ahead when the enforced break in play arrived and after the interregnum Henman had gone off the boil, the Croatian recovering the following day to take the match by three sets to two. Momentum!
Tigers’ front row of Mulipola, Tom Youngs and Dan Cole are putting on the scummaging miles at the moment, the only respite coming from two undeserved Yellow Cards for Mulipola and Youngs which saw both players get ten minute breaks while Youngs also got a five minute breather at the end of the Worcester match giving way to Briggs, otherwise their labour was pretty much unrelenting for the second week running.
Hard to see much change from Richard Cockerill with Ayerza away especially as the Falcons’ trio looked much better against Sale with ex; Auch, Stade de Francais, Aix, Bourgoin and London Welsh loose head Franck Montanella making a mess of Sale’s Thomas, well when he got the chance after Mr Doyle belatedly spotted that the French prop was having his arm pulled down by the Sale tight-head (clue for Mr Doyle; if a prop is pushing then pulling his opponent’s shirt over his head and his binding arm down is counter intuitive!).
With Scott Lawson injured after his move from London Irish, an unhappy spell that must have had him rueing his transferring from Gloucester, Matt Thompson was back after missing out the week before and who, remarkably, made his top class debut as a substitute in Falcons’ Heineken Cup match against the old Newport side on 11th January 2002 when he got a ten minute airing. He had a few problems early on with his throwing but the Falcons’ scrum looked more assured than it had the previous week, especially with twenty-six year old Oliver Tomaszczyk going well on the tight-head. The last time the Londoner faced Tigers it was back in December 2011 when he was in Worcester colours and had a bit of a torrid time, eventually losing his head and getting a Yellow Card. However I somehow think that ex Tiger Kieran Brookes will get a start against his erstwhile employers to show what they’re missing by preferring the force of nature that is Mulipola.
The scrum was chaotic (again) both at the A J Bell Stadium (it’s the new name for the City of Salford Stadium – catchy eh?) and at the Recreation Ground, with randomisation the name of the game.
Scrum halves are still feeding the scrum, sometimes they get sanctioned but most often they don’t. Loose-heads now routinely walk round the scrum, sometimes they get penalised but most often they don’t. Flankers release their bind – sometimes they get penalised but most often they don’t. Props are still binding illegally but sanction is rare. It’s a chaotic shambles. Progress is holding us back.
So I’ve no clue either what’ll happen on Saturday. If the scrum is properly and consistently managed by the match officials then I’d favour Tigers but if the experiences of the first two weeks are replicated then who knows?
With Kitchener, Parling and Deacon amongst the early season wounded Ed Slater seized his chance with both hands down in the West Country and deChaves also did well. It was still encouraging to hear that Parling and Deacon are reportedly fit for selection again, so I hope to see the pair reunited and causing Falcons’ locking duo problems.
Falcons may stick with Scottish international lock Scott McLeod, who’s been capped twenty-four times and also been around a bit, starting with Border Reivers (remember them?) Scarlets, Edinburgh and Kobelco Steelers before joining Falcons to be part of their Championship winning side. A solid and immovable object is McLeod with outstanding defence and a great line out presence. I suspect he’ll be partnered by South African born Italian international; Carlo Del Fava who joined Falcons from the defunct Aironi playing a dozen Championship matches for his new club. He’s another very experienced and canny international operator who’s been around the track a bit and I’d favour him ahead of ex Sale lock McKenzie for the trip to Welford Road.
As Tom Croft is out with a long term injury the Tigers’ medical staff will be working hard to get Steve Mafi fit for I thought he looked a bit lame when scoring his try against Bath, if he’s not fit then Slater could move to the back row. Otherwise Jamie Gibson or even Thomas Waldrom could get a start, the latter looking to reprise his dynamic double act with Crane who looks likely to carry on carrying at #8 but the Tigers line out wouldn’t be as formidable.
With Julian Salvi likely to be on parade Falcons will be pleased that the excellent Andy Saull is fit for duty. One of that endangered species; a genuine open side of high quality, he’ll be needed at the breakdown where, both at Bath and Manchester, it was the customary lottery. Players not coming through the mystical “gate”, flopping over the ball as if hit by a Syrian sniper and sanctioning being the usual random mess. Will Welch is a good modern open-side who tackles like a dump truck and a robust performer who has been with Falcons through thick and thin but it’ll need a great technician to combat Salvi’s expertise and Saull also has a prodigious turn of speed.
Twenty year old Dom Barrow, a signing from Leeds where he was equally at home in the second row, took a Yellow Card for his team up in Salford who racked up an impressive penalty count, Barrow was randomly selected for pulling a player into the ruck (it went on all match by the way but Barrow drew the short straw from Mr Doyle). He provides a valuable additional jumper at the lineout and looks a good prospect although he’ll have to resist the claims of Mark Wilson who featured regularly in the past both at Championship and Premiership levels and who I always rather liked for his dogged approach. I am assuming that ex North Harbour Kiwi flanker; Richard Mayhew is injured as otherwise his versatility would surely see him in the match day squad.
Of course a Falcons’ pack wouldn’t be a Falcons’ pack without multi capped Scottish international Ally Hogg. He really is a superb player who’s been ever present since he joined from Edinburgh and will be in Tigers’ face all afternoon, who will have to be on top tackling form to resist his go forward which can open the way for his colleagues.
The Falcons’ pack scrummages, defends and comes around the fringes with the alacrity one would expect of a side coached by Dean Richards but have not, in the two matches I’ve seen this term, generated much go forward even with Richards’ expertise at coaching the intricacies of the maul and I expect to see Tigers with the edge in all departments but it’ll be pace in changing the point of attack that Tigers will need to break down Falcons’ redoubtable defence as it’s the speed of Premiership play that the new arrivals are having trouble adjusting to during these early days.
Behind their pack, aside from the classy Mike Blair, freshly arrived after a season at Brive where he went from Edinburgh and still the only Scot to have been nominated for the IRB International Player of the Year award, Falcons have looked a bit of a blunt instrument.
Ex British Lion Blair (he replaced O’Leary in the 2009 squad in South Africa) has all the experience and it would have been a nice vignette to have seen him oppose new Lion Ben Youngs but that looks unlikely and David Mele seems sure to make his third Premiership start in a Tigers shirt. The Frenchman had a torrid time at the hands of Greg Garner down in Bath but borrowed an invisibility cloak for the second half and had few problems after the break. Mele will, I think, have the benefit of a pack going forward and he’ll need every advantage against Blair.
I expect that after Newcastle’s own meeting with Bath and the Godman horror show the Kingston Park faithful were crying “whither Gopperth” into their glasses of Federation. Of course the Kiwi and erstwhile points machine for the north-easterners is now plying his trade for Leinster. However with admirable fortitude Godman, who had a previous spell with the Falcons back in the 2003/04 season before going off to Edinburgh and then for a season at London Scottish before returning to Kingston Park, got himself back on track. He’s a decent player having been capped ten times for Scotland but has looked solid rather than inspirational thus far. I still expect to see him preferred to another returning fly-half; Rory Clegg, the Prince Harry lookalike having become bored with lack of game time at Quins and being shuffled off to Leeds on loan.
Toby Flood should be back in harness in place of Ryan Lamb and it’ll be interesting to see if Lamb is on the bench or whether Owen Williams is back up, the latter being my preference as we have little to learn about the mercurial Lamb.
My guess is that the Tigers’ half backs will have the easier ride and be better able to get their high paced backs into play to slice at the visitors’ defence.
With Samoan and ex Auckland centre Jamie Helleur getting a nasty knock after just eight minutes of the Bath match new signing Adam Powell got a start at inside centre against Sale. I rather liked what I saw of Powell during his Saracens’ years which began before the South African invasion, after which his game time became more limited. Personally I prefer him at outside centre but in any event I don’t think he’ll have too much joy against the redoubtable defence of Tony Allen who has been dynamic in attack this term. I’ve even spied an embryonic kicking game from the Tigers’ star defensive guru.
Kiwi Tane Tu’ipolotu has been forced into early retirement so Irishman Danny Barnes, signed from Munster, seems to have the Falcons’ thirteen shirt at the moment although he and Powell are getting little decent ball to play and may be fully occupied with stopping Goneva who’s having a barnstorming start to the season, seeming at times to be utilising theurgy in Tigers’ cause.
The big Fijian also looked a little lame at the end of the Bath match so if Manu Tuilagi is still, along with Ben Youngs, suffering with “Gatlanditis” the shelf of centres at Oval Park is looking a little thinly stocked so it could be we’ll get a chance to see new signing Hepetema. There’ll be plenty of fingers crossed by all Tigers’ connections that Goneva is fit for Saturday and if he is then I can see trouble for the sometimes statuesque, albeit stubborn, Falcons midfield.
Out wide for Falcons Tom Catterick, who seems to have been around for eons although in reality he’s still just twenty-two, is an enthusiastic chaser of the kicks that Falcons seem to see as their main attacking strategy. He has a good boot and is sound under the high ball which I guess is only to be expected given that his representative honours were obtained at full back.
Noah Cato has been on the other wing thus far who, having moved to Northampton from Saracens where he too struggled to get a starting spot after the new regime took control, found himself little better off and was loaned to Newcastle where he’s now taken up residence and is sporting a new shorn bonce. After playing for England at Under 19 and Under 23 levels he’s seemed to me to be a player with unrealised potential, , which will continue if he doesn’t get more ball than he has so far although his defensive work against Sale was spectacular.
Alex Tait, younger brother of Tigers’ own Matt, is similarly able to play in any of the back three positions as well as outside centre but has his name firmly on the full back shirt these days and for good reason as he has pace as well as being safe under the high ball and his good kicking game is in line with Falcons’ Saracenesque strategy.
It’ll be a shame if Matt can’t join his brother on the Welford Road pitch but it looks unlikely as even if he were fit he’d have to get past Niall Morris who’s had an outstanding start to the season so I hope that the knock he took last Saturday doesn’t rule him out as the Tigers’ back three is also looking badly resourced with Hamilton rejoining the ranks of the injured. Thompstone has had a similarly strong start to the new campaign with some good interplay on Saturday leading to Goneva’s try but unless injuries have miraculously resolved it could be time for the well regarded Henry Purdy to step up if Goneva isn’t or can’t be moved to the wing with Hepetema at centre.
I don’t think, even against a weakened Tigers, that the Falcons will have enough attacking weapons to beat their hosts. They’ll defend as if at Rorke’s Drift hoping that Tigers will concede penalties which Godman can slot but, other than when Mr Garner is the arbiter, Tigers’ discipline has been good in recent times.
I reckon it’ll be a Tigers’ win but if Falcons do manage an upset I’d bet there’ll be some “Whiskey in the Jar” waiting for them in some Tyneside nightspot.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:09:23:22:11:19 by Tiggs.
Sadly I'm greedy, and I worry the bonus point of which I would be confident without the bumps and bruises might, but only might, go astray
* proportionately
'Lions led by donkeys' .. Lest we forget
No really!
Heady days!
Thanks Chris - good stuff - great work on the Newcastle squad.
Quote:Scrum halves are still feeding the scrum, sometimes they get sanctioned but most often they don’t. Loose-heads now routinely walk round the scrum, sometimes they get penalised but most often they don’t. Flankers release their bind – sometimes they get penalised but most often they don’t. Props are still binding illegally but sanction is rare. It’s a chaotic shambles. Progress is holding us back.
Quite possibly the most cogent, elegant and damning observation I have thus far hear or read on the problems we are seeing with these half-baked, revisions of the scrummage.
In the centres I wonder if we may see a reprise of the Bowden-Allen centre combination from the Worcester game this weekend allowing Niki to return to the wing, rather than a start for 'the boy from Ipanema'. But like you, if Flood returns my preference would be to see Williams on the bench where there is more to be gained in developmental terms.
May I just ask - "whos'"?
And lastly - I can hardly believe that you didn't, given the precise identity and circumstances of at least one of those boys who will return to WR this weekend, go further with your lyrical metaphor:
Friday night they'll be dressed to kill
Down at Dino's [sic] bar and grill
The drink will flow and blood will spill
And if the boys want to fight, you'd better let them
As always Chris - thanks!
...
'Lions led by donkeys' .. Lest we forget
Quote:OSV
The paucity of dictionary visits is a bit disappointing this time
You know I wondered whether there'd be enough to satisfy you! Did you have to make any visits?
Quote:RichW
May I just ask - "whos'"?
Grammatical Faux pas - apologies!
Quote:RichW
In the centres I wonder if we may see a reprise of the Bowden-Allen centre combination from the Worcester game this weekend allowing Niki to return to the wing, rather than a start for 'the boy from Ipanema'
In some ways it could well work as well as Niki being at 13 although I tend to prefer a player currently as dangerous as he is to be nearer to the action and he is causing mayhem in the 12/13 channel.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:09:17:11:57:03 by ChrisC.
Not truly heartbroken, though
'Lions led by donkeys' .. Lest we forget
I've been reading a lot lately and I stumbled across it, found it and liked it.
the·ur·gy/ˈθiɜrdʒi[thee-ur-jee]
noun, pl: the·ur·gies.
1. a system of beneficent magic practiced by the Egyptian Platonists and others.
2. the working of a divine or supernatural agency in human affairs.
Commonly, I think, used to describe powerful, inexplicable magics.
...
Quote:ChrisC
Ah!! Au contraire theurgy isn't an anagram (well not in this case) it's a word in its own right. Not that easy to find but it's there if you look.
I've been reading a lot lately and I stumbled across it, found it and liked it.
of course, I should have known
[en.wikipedia.org]
'Lions led by donkeys' .. Lest we forget
And it brought back memories of a trip to Old Deer Park for Tigers v London Welsh - about 1984 or so I reckon - when we spotted Phil Lynott walking along Kew Road. He was wearing an afghan too, Rich. I didn't get close enough to tell if it was patchouli-drenched or not, though....
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