By Rich W
October 8 2003

What to say about a particularly poor game of rugby?

A game riddled with errors began inauspiciously It was only four minutes in when Australian Stuart Pinkerton did what all good flankers do and, playing right on the skinny edge of the off-side line, snaffled some careless turn-over ball by Tigers to set up a counter attack from the Sale 10 metre line which saw fellow Aussie Graham Bond break down the left hand side past the previously attack aligned Tigers midfield to wrong-foot the covering Tim Stimpson and score the first try of the match. Sale’s Springbok kicker BVS converted and Tigers were off to the worst possible start. It wasn’t long however before the home team closed the gap as the whistle happy Mr. Pearson began to impose himself on the game and Stimpson landed a 40 metre nudge. “Ah” we thought “nice strike Tim – looks like he’s got his kicking boots on.” We were soon to be disabused of this particular conceit as he moved on to miss three relatively easy pots at goal in the first half. Initially the damage didn’t seem too great as BVS went on to reciprocate by striking the post with his next attempt. It was to be his only miss of the game.

It had become clear by midway through the first half that the young Tigers pack was suffering much as it had the previous week against Newcastle. They started slowly, found themselves bullied by the Sale eight and suffered from some rather peculiar refereeing decisions – particularly around the scrum where both props were penalized for their binding but no questions were asked of the Sale props who failed to scrummage straight or to bind or of the Sale back row whose binding was at best sketchy. That said there was a disappointing unwillingness on the part of the home team forwards to get stuck in. The result was a sequence of penalties against the Leicester forwards who were spending an ever increasing amount of time on the back foot. BVS converted two of the penalties and Tigers were rapidly 10 points down and disappearing at an uncomfortable rate.

The Leicester backs again looked enthusiastic, ran good lines and managed to pass and catch the ball but tended to kick away too much ball. Ball which they failed to recover. This might have been mitigated had the kicking been of sufficient depth to force the Sharks to either return it or counter from deep. Kicked short, however, it allowed them easy ball in the middle of the park which they used to apply ever more pressure to the struggling Tigers pack.

By half-time, Stimmo having missed three shots at posts and the pack looking outmuscled by a frankly ordinary looking opposition, things looked bleak. “However, we’ve been here before.” We thought. “A good half-time team-talk and a new feisty Leicester will emerge for the second half.” We continued. However the expected recovery did not materialise as the penalties flowed and the disappointing timidity of the Tigers pack continued.

It was early in the second half that the head shaking began in earnest among the crowd as the realisation began to sink in that this might be a come-back too far. Stimmo and BVS swapped penalties as the quality of the game deteriorated further and Mr. Pearson entered his most controversial period. Tiger’s captain Josh Kronfeld was dismissed to the sin-bin for what appeared to be contesting the ball in the scrum half’s hands whilst coming from behind back foot at the ruck – an offence for which he appeared strangely unwilling to penalize the Cheshire outfit. “The ball was out.” Said Josh as he trudged his way to the touchline after a incurring the particularly sporting ire of one of the Sale second rows en route. BVS converted the ensuing penalty and the score was 6-19 and looking increasingly desperate.

Finally Leicester began to stir themselves and apply some pressure. In Kronfeld’s absence Will Skinner came on to replace Brett Deacon and provide some much needed pace across the back-row.

So whilst down to 14 and with a sense of grievance evident Tigers began to set down some phases and when a Stimpson line kick gained them 70 metres they were able to create some pressure on the Sale 5 metre line, after one of the all too infrequent lineout successes of the day. Replacement outside-half Sam Vesty ran a switch with the ever impressive Darryl Gibson to burst through the line to score at the posts and with the simple conversion claimed the game finally came alive. The crowd woke up and the introduction of Henry Tuilagi provided the physical threat that had been missing. With Henry bursting holes in the Sale defence Tigers were able to stretch the Sharks. Ollie Smith made a break down the right wing but was unfortunate to concede a lineout to Sale when his reverse pass went out off a defender. Leon Lloyd hit the line at pace to chip neatly behind the cover only to collide with the defensive wing. Step forward Mr. Pearson with his next oddity. That it was a penalty seemed debatable – the contact appeared accidental and Leon seemed to make a meal of it. However, having decided to award a penalty it was hard to understand how the referee failed to make it a penalty try. The full-back was foundering as he tracked back and across and with Leon in full flight it was difficult to see how a try was not the likely outcome. It was an inconsistent decision symptomatic of an erratic and uncertain refereeing performance. The referee cannot however be held responsible for Tigers failure to exploit the penalty opportunity and the score remained disappointing at 13-22 BVS having struck yet another good goal moments earlier.

Galvanised still further by this apparent new injustice the home team swept back as signs of Sale wilting under the pressure began to show. And their discipline began to crack. When Tigers were awarded a penalty after a scuffle between two lock forwards saw them sent to the sin bin (Why is it that referees do that? – What is achieved by it? It serves simply to disrupt the game and spoil the spectacle while punishing neither side effectively.) Stimmo stepped up to the ball 15 metres from touch and 2 inside his own half. It looked to be a big ask considering his ‘moderate’ form on the day, but it is on these pressure kicks on which he thrives – remember Nottingham and my personal favourite Paris – and he struck it perfectly to send it soaring through the posts and into the A&L stand. The bonus point secured the Tigers began one final last ditch attempt to snatch an unlikely victory.

The final passage of play saw Tigers keep the ball alive through multiple phases long into injury time and beyond. That they maintained such continuity was a consequence in part of the brutal power of Tuilagi and in part of Austin Healey’s guileful orchestration. They were aided by a stunning stripping of the ball from the Shark’s midfield by Gibson and a tired looking failure to find touch by the previously impeccable BVS deep into time added on. Finally, encamped on the Sale 22, for those of us who have seen Tigers pull it out of the fire time after time, a score looked almost inevitable but Austin’s concentration failed him and a little knock-on at the base of the nth ruck brought the game to a disappointing if exciting close.

Overall this was a game low on quality and a powerful argument in favour of the French decision to suspend the domestic league for the duration of the RWC. Neither team showed any real consistency, though Sale should be applauded for their defensive effort, nor did they display the qualities that are required to win trophies. Mr. Pearson did not help matters but truth be told the game got the referee it deserved.

Leicester will be disappointed with the way they allowed the reputedly smaller Sale pack to boss them for 60 minutes, but Sale will be alarmed at the fact that, when one considers Stimmo’s nightmare day with the boot and, hardly weakened by the RWC, they struggled past a young, underpowered, naïve Leicester pack. One can’t help but wonder if their celebrations at the end were more in relief than in triumph.

Very briefly my man of the match – well BVS kicked beautifully and both Bond and Gibson played intelligently. Sheriden was a handful in the loose (though I think fortunate not to be penalised heavily at scrum-down) as was Henry T on his introduction but Stu Pinkerton was the pick. Quick and incisive at the breakdown, aggressive and committed around the park he was most impressive.

Make no mistake about it, this is a game which Leicester could have and indeed should have won. That they did not cannot be solely laid at the door of Stimpson’s wayward kicking. Those who have suggested that his mind is in the south of France are not only ungracious but evidently wrong – their voices were quiet after the Newcastle game. Put simply Tigers did not put in enough to earn the breaks in this game. Their opponents did. That they nearly snatched it at the end is cause for optimism and hopefully the lessons of the game can be learned swiftly. It they are then there is hope. If not? It’s going to be a long old season.