Leicester Tigers highlights – Tigers return to Aviva Premiership final
In my day job I get the honour of writing a weekly column about the Leicester Tigers, take a look at this week’s effort on the link below.
Gatland names wildcards in his British and Irish Lions 2013 squad
So after months of speculation Warren Gatland has finally laid his cards on the table and there are a couple of jokers in the pack and a few aces missing from the deck.
Of all the names thrown into the hat for a place in the British and Irish Lions 2013 squad, no one had tipped Saracens’ once drug banned, now retired from international rugby, prop Matt Stevens for the tour. Few others expected a squad without Ulster hooker Rory Best but Saints captain Dylan Hartley involved.
He will be joined by another New Zealand-born convert Sean Maitland, who wins a surprise place in the squad after a strong showing in the Six Nations on the wing for Scotland, with Gatland overlooking emerging British-born talents like Simon Zebo and uncapped Christian Wade.
Despite losing his captaincy during the Six Nations and not being a certain starter in the Test side Sam Warburton will lead the 2013 Lions against Australia whereas England skipper Chris Robshaw must really be wondering what he has done wrong not to get s place in the 38-man squad, especially with Dan Lydiate getting a spot despite having not played any international rugby this year because of injury.
The England and Harlequins skipper, who has been inspiration for club and country, would at the very least have made an exceptional mid-week captain. But Gatland is not short of leaders in his squad which includes a pair of former national skippers in the second row in the bulking shape of Munster captain Paul O’Connell and Ospreys leader Alun Wyn Jones with current Ireland captain Jamie Heaslip packing down at number eight.
In the backs he has former Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll and Gatland made the phone call to ask former England captain and leader Toulon, Jonny Wilkinson, to add his experience to the side after a masterclass in big game management on Sunday in the Heineken Cup semi-final. But in an act of humility even surprising for Wilkinson the kicking ace decline a place on the plane citing his commitment to Toulon and uncertainty at being able to meet the physical rigours of a seven week tour after a long season which will likely include two finals yet to come.
However the smart heads think Wilkinson’s Lions story is not over yet. In recent years late additions to touring Lions parties because of injury have made a huge impact to the Test side. The tables are all set for the King of Hearts to swoop in and bring home the biggest prize of all – a Lions series win, which has not been achieved since South Africa 1997. Too long for such a famous brand.
2013 British and Irish Lions squad
Fullbacks: Leigh Halfpenny (Wales, Cardiff Blues), Stuart Hogg (Scotland, Glasgow Warriors), Rob Kearney (Ireland, Leinster)
Wings: Tommy Bowe (Ireland, Ulster), Alex Cuthbert (Wales, Cardiff Blues), Sean Maitland (Scotland, Glasgow Warriors), George North (Wales, Scarlets)
Centres: Jonathan Davies (Wales, Scarlets), Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland, Leinster), Jamie Roberts (Wales, Cardiff Blues), Manusamoa Tuilagi (England, Leicester Tigers)
Fly halves: Owen Farrell (England, Saracens), Jonathan Sexton (Ireland, Leinster)
Scrum halves: Conor Murray (Ireland, Munster), Mike Phillips (Wales, Bayonne), Ben Youngs (England, Leicester Tigers)
Props: Dan Cole (England, Leicester Tigers), Cian Healy (Ireland, Leinster), Gethin Jenkins (Wales, Toulon), Adam Jones (Wales, Ospreys), Matt Stevens (England, Saracens), Mako Vunipola (England, Saracens)
Hookers: Dylan Hartley (England, Northampton Saints), Richard Hibbard (Wales, Ospreys), Tom Youngs (England, Leicester Tigers)
Second rows: Ian Evans (Wales, Ospreys), Richie Gray (Scotland, Sale Sharks), Alun Wyn Jones (Wales, Ospreys), Paul O’Connell (Ireland, Munster), Geoff Parling (England, Leicester Tigers)
Back rows: Tom Croft (England, Leicester Tigers), Toby Faletau (Wales, Newport Gwent Dragons), Jamie Heaslip (Ireland, Leinster), Dan Lydiate (Wales, Newport Gwent Dragons), Sean O’Brien (Ireland, Leinster), Justin Tipuric (Wales, Ospreys), Sam Warburton (Wales, Cardiff Blues)
British and Irish Lions squad predictions
Tis the season for predictions – every one from the rugby community in the northern hemisphere and a lot south of the equator have been making their predictions who British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland will name in his squad tomorrow for the tour of Australia.
England lose their nerve to falter against South Africa
By John Evely
England and captain Chris Robshaw lost their bottle when it mattered to finish 15-16 losers to South Africa at Twickenham.
With two minutes left to play, trailing 16-12, England had a chance to kick for the corner to set up what could have been a game winning try but instead rather unbelievably Robshaw opted for the posts. Owen Farrell, on as a replacement for Flood who had kicked six points earlier, made sure with his third kick of the game but England never got their hands back on the ball again and South Africa came away with a lucky win having looked second best for most of the encounter.
The Spring Boks scored their points through fly half Pat Lambie who notched 11 and a strange try for openside Willem Alberts.
While England were better than in previous weeks they still made critical errors and poor decisions at key moments of the match and until they improve those areas will fail to concern the top nations in world rugby.
England started the game with real intent, charging down Ruan Pienaar’s clearance kick from the first break-down of the game and then committing number to the subsequent ruck to win a penalty for Flood to kick at goal however the Leicester fly half just pushed his effort narrowly wide.
Despite the miss England were on the front foot, pushing the visitors back into their own 22 and when they did kick clear Mike Brown, playing out of position on the wing, took the ball safely and broke deep into the heart of South Africa’s territory, earning Flood a chance to rectify his earlier miss in the 5th minute.
Flood was then taken off the field for concussion assessment after he was knocked out trying to run the ball from his own 22. The force of the tackle saw the ball fly forwards and left the Tiger groggy however he manfully stumbled back into the defensive line.
Despite South Africa being out of the game for much of the opening spell Pat Lambie levelled the score at 3-3 in the 9th minute when England conceded a penalty for being off their feet.
Flood returned to the pitch in the 11th minute to kick his second successful penalty of the match, which was earned by his pack in the first scrum of the game.
However just moments later captain Chris Robshaw was pinged for breaking his bind too early at the scrum, giving Lambie the opportunity to bring it level once again.
Ben Youngs had come to play smart rugby and was managing to find the gaps with his sometimes criticised kicking game. On 16 minutes one such kick forced Zane Kirchner to knock on giving England a great platform to attack from just 20 metres out. In the difficult conditions the ball never came out of the scrum but the England pack had an edge and were intent on exploiting it. Putting on the power to win Flood a shot at goal, however England’s most senior player missed again.
And once again, as has been seen on more than one occasion this autumn England’s attack went from side to side with no real penetration. South Africa on the other hand came away with points on their every visit into the England 22 and went ahead through a Lambie penalty when the home side strayed offside in defence, which up until that point had been solid.
England almost cut through South Africa before the break after a typically industrious scramble from Tom Youngs set them moving with Goode twisting his way into the heart of the Spring Bok 22. The move come to an end with a grubber through from Flood just squirmed into touch in the dead ball area leaving the score at 9-6 to South Africa at half time.
Joe Launchbury making his first senior start had a magnificent game like many of the forwards around him who more than fronted up to the massive physical challenge from the powerful Spring Boks.
Just as they did against Australia last weekend England came out the blocks slowly at half time and concede a penalty in range with just two minutes gone but Pienaar was told to stick the ball in the corner and the South Africans drove for the line. Good defence saw them thwarted initially but the bounce of the ball literally was not with England. Good tackling saw the ball wriggle free and Flood hacked it on only for the ball to pin ball about taking numerous deflections before falling to the arms of Alberts to score from a metre out. Lambie’s conversion made it 16-6.
England finally got Manu Tuilagi involved in the game in the 49th minute and the powerful centre made a 50 metre break up the middle, only to be felled by a desperate tap tackle. However the side lost its shape and eventually knocked on at the ruck giving South Africa a chance to kick them back into their own half again.
And the home side would have been in trouble had Tuilagi not intercepted the ball ten metres from his own line. The centre put his head down and sped down-field linking with Ashton, who in turn found Brown but the Spring Boks just scrambled to end the scoring chance.
England continued to have more of the possession but for the best part looked devoid of ideas of how to break down the visitors defence, but the Boks did buckle at least in part and conceded a penalty for Farrell to knock over to make it 9-16.
Both teams then decided to enter into a game of at times aimless kicking, hoping to be the side not to make the vital mistake rather than attempting to win the match outright.
But England were by far having the better of the exchanges and earned Farrell another penalty shot in front of the posts which he converted to reduce the deficit to 12-16.
With six minutes left to play Robshaw made a big decision, his pack were awarded a penalty in the scrum on half way and he opted for the corner and a score that would potentially give his side the win, but just as before England failed to convert, this time knocking on through Ashton.
Shaken by his earlier decision Robshaw told Farrell to go for the posts with just minutes remaining, His dutiful fly half obliged and converted the penalty but in doing so all but ended his sides chances of winning. England never got the ball back and so ended up losing 15-14.
England: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Mike Brown, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Ben Youngs, 1 Alex Corbisiero, 2 Tom Youngs, 3 Dan Cole, 4 Joe Launchbury, 5 Geoff Parling, 6 Tom Wood, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 8 Ben Morgan.
Replacements: 16 David Paice, 17 David Wilson, 18 Mako Vunipola, 19 Mouritz Botha, 20 James Haskell, 21 Danny Care, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Jonathan Joseph.
South Africa: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 3 Jannie du Pless, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 5 Juandre Kruger, 6 Francois Louw, 7 Willem Alberts, 8 Duane Vermeulen.
Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 Pat Cilliers, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 Elton Jantjies, 22 Jaco Taute, 23 Lwazi Mvovo.
Four changes for England ahead of the Spring Boks
England head coach Stuart Lancaster has ruthlessly cut three men from his autumn international squad in search of the winnimg formula against South Africa on Saturday.
Lancaster has dropped Exeter flanker Tom Johnson, Leicester No.8 Thomas Waldrom and Gloucester wing Charlie Sharples from his 23-man match day squad for the Spring Boks after a disappointing 20-14 loss to Australia.
Harlequins prop Joe Marlar also drops out with a knee injury for London Irish’s Alex Corbisiero
Fresh from LV= Cup action with their clubs are Wasps flanker James Haskell and Gloucester No.8 Ben Morgan who both enter the fry, the latter off the back of a barn-storming hat trick scoring performance for his club.
London Irish centre Jonathan Joseph replaces winger Sharples who picked up a pair of tries against Fiji two weeks ago having recovered from an ankle injury after initally being included in Lancaster’s plans.
The England boss will confirm his starting XV on Thursday.
Lancaster said: “We have made some changes this week to freshen up the squad before the challenge of South Africa.
“Unfortunately that means one or two players miss out who were in the match day squad against Australia.
“But they have all added value with their contributions in training and the games and I am sure they will be looking to play well for their clubs and force their way back in.
“The changes however give opportunities to those who have been pushing hard and we feel will add energy and balance to the team ahead of the significant South African challenge.”
Saracens lock Mouritz Botha will also stay with the national side as provisional injury cover for Geoff Parling, who is nursing a knee problem but the England medics expect him to be fit.
England Squad
Backs (10): Chris Ashton (Saracens), Brad Barritt (Saracens), Mike Brown (Harlequins), Danny Care (Harlequins), Owen Farrell (Saracens), Toby Flood (Leicester), Alex Goode (Saracens), Jonathan Joseph (London Irish), Manu Tuilagi (Leicester), Ben Youngs (Leicester)
Forwards (14): Mouritz Botha (Saracens), Alex Corbisiero (London Irish), Dan Cole (Leicester), James Haskell (Wasps), Joe Launchbury (Wasps), Ben Morgan (Gloucester), David Paice (London Irish), Tom Palmer (Wasps), Geoff Parling (Leicester), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, capt), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), David Wilson (Bath), Tom Wood (Northampton), Tom Youngs (Leicester)
Daring England lose out to Australia
By John Evely
England could of and probably should have beaten Australia today at Twickenham but they squandered a host of opportunities to cross the line in the second half allowing the Wallabies to win 20-14.
A first half try from Manu Tuilagi and nine points from Toby Flood gave England a 14-11 lead at half time. Australia had scored the game’s opening try through winger Nick Cummins. But after the break Berrick Barnes scored three early penalties to leave the home nation hunting for a seven point score. More than once it looked like this young bunch of players would get their fairy tale ending but a stubborn Australian side held out for the victory.
England opened the scoring in just the second minute when Toby Flood stepped up and stroked over a long range penalty. But the Australians reacted like the classy side they are, putting the home defence under real pressure for much of the first quarter.
England defended manfully, using double hits to repel the powerful Wallabie forwards but David Pocock’s replacement at openside Hooper was proving elusive, evading the first tackler with nice footwork on more than one occasion. One such run got the visitors deep into the England 22 and with the attack going nowhere Barnes snatched a drop goal to level the scores.
Flood was trying to get England moving by attacking the line from a flat starting position and he was having some success but when he was out of the first receiver position his replacements appeared to be lacking in ideas when they got the ball. However it was England who took the lead again. Despite Australia finding width out wide for Nick Cummins to exploit, a quick tap scrum penalty from Thomas Waldrom caught the southern hemisphere side on he back foot and in an attempt to find their footing the Wallabies conceded a penalty on 46 metres which was just in Floods kicking range.
Australia came close on 28 minutes, pounding away at the line only to be held up in a scramble of bodies. A penalty from Joe Marler in the resulting scrum did mean the Wallabies came away with three points from Barnes boot. England hit back with a penalty from Flood on the 33rd minute to retake the lead but just moments later the visitors crossed the line with far to greater ease. A poor kick from Danny Care, with no real chase from his team mates, allowed australia to field the ball and spread it wide, catching the disorganised England out. The ball was worked to Cummins who had enough pace to score in the corner. Barnes was unable to add the extras from out wide.
But England had the final say of the half thanks to their superstar centre Tuilagi, who used all his power and every inch of his frame to stretch out and touch down on 38 minutes for England’s first try of the match. The score came about thanks to the risk taking of England scrum half Care who passed up a kickable penalty to go quickly. Thanks to great handling from his team mates, Tom Palmer most notably, it proved to be the right decision. Flood was unable to convert the try but Tuilagi’s effort made it 14-11 at half time.
Australia came out with real intent after the break, putting phase after phase together to stretch the England defence all over the pitch and inevitably the homeside buckled, conceding three quick penalties, all put over by Barnes, to leave England chasing the game.
After a terrible ten minute opening to the second period England came alive and created chance after chance to take the lead, the best coming through Waldrom who broke off the back of a driving maul close to the line and just knocked on as he reached for the scoring zone.
England will possibly look back with some regret having passed up at least five opportunities to kick for the sticks towards the end of the game but captain Robshaw and Flood appeared to be trying to ride a wave of momentum to take their side over the line and score what would have been the defining score of the match. As it is, England must go back to the drawing board and Australia go home with the Cook Cup.
England: Alex Goode; Chris Ashton, Manusamoa Tuilagi, Brad Barritt, Charlie Sharples; Toby Flood, Danny Care; Joe Marler, Tom Youngs, Dan Cole, Tom Palmer, Geoff Parling, Tom Johnson, Chris Robshaw, Thomas Waldrom
Replacements: David Paice, David Wilson, Mako Vunipola, Joe Launchbury, Tom Wood, Ben Youngs, Owen Farrell, Mike Brown
Australia: Berrick Barnes; Digby Ioane, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Ben Tapuai, Nick Cummins; Kurtley Beale, Nick Phipps, Benn Robinson, Tatafu Polota Nau, Ben Alexander, Sitaleki Timani, Nathan Sharpe (capt), Dave Dennis, Michael Hooper, Wycliff Palu.
Replacements: Stephen Moore, James Slipper, Sekope Kepu, Radike Samo, Liam Gill, Brett Sheehan, Mike Harris, Drew Mitchell
Preview – England v Australia
Chris Ashton comes back for England as their autumn international campaign steps up a notch with the visit of Australia.
The Northampton Saints winger, who has terrorized the Wallabies in the past, replaces last week’s double try scorer Ugo Monye.
Despite England recording their biggest ever win over Fiji at Twickenham, 54-12, seven days ago they come into this match with a lot of questions still to answer. An injury-savaged Australia, who are currently ranked two places above England at third in the world, come into the match after a poor showing in Paris on Saturday which saw them finish 33-6 losers to an albeit impressive French side.
The match could prove to be the pivotal game in England’s autumn series, with a win giving the side the two wins which would at least appease an expecting public, and potentially launch them on to bigger and greater things when South Africa and New Zealand visit on successive weekends.
Acknowledging to beat Australia will require a big step up for his England side, head coach Stuart Lancaster said: “We will need to step up and our training this week has reflected that. The Aussies will have done a lot of work on their own performance this week after losing against the French. But the game before that they pushed the All Blacks to 18-18 and they are a very experienced side who have played some very good rugby over the last six months.”
As for his targets for this weekend and beyond, he added: ”We want to win them all,” he said, “but wanting to win is one thing and getting the nuts and bolts in place to get the win is another. We want to work on the areas that didn’t go so well (against Fiji).”
England: Alex Goode; Chris Ashton, Manusamoa Tuilagi, Brad Barritt, Charlie Sharples; Toby Flood, Danny Care; Joe Marler, Tom Youngs, Dan Cole, Tom Palmer, Geoff Parling, Tom Johnson, Chris Robshaw, Thomas Waldrom
Replacements: David Paice, David Wilson, Mako Vunipola, Joe Launchbury, Tom Wood, Ben Youngs, Owen Farrell, Mike Brown
Australia: Berrick Barnes; Digby Ioane, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Ben Tapuai, Nick Cummins; Kurtley Beale, Nick Phipps, Benn Robinson, Tatafu Polota Nau, Ben Alexander, Sitaleki Timani, Nathan Sharpe (capt), Dave Dennis, Michael Hooper, Wycliff Palu.
Replacements: Stephen Moore, James Slipper, Sekope Kepu, Radike Samo, Liam Gill, Brett Sheehan, Mike Harris, Drew Mitchell
Impressive Leicester Tigers record famous win over NZ Maori
By John Evely
A try each for Leicester’s wingers and 22 points from the boot of George Ford was enough to secure the Tigers a famous 32-24 win over the New Zealand Maori at Welford Road.
Niall Morris and Adam Thompstone crossed for the homeside who came out on top despite New Zealand crossing three times through Frae Wilson, Tim Bateman, and Charlie Ngatai and nine points from fly half Willie Ripia.
Tigers started brightly with Mathew Tait, returning for his first start since suffering an injury hell, darting up the middle of the pitch after some strong defence had caused the Maori to kick. Ford, having had a nervy game on the weekend, stepped up and scored the opening points of the game with ease.
But New Zealand showed their intent to play an expansive game and class in just the third minute, taking a quick tap penalty and beautifully off-loading to put Wilson over the line. The effort was converted by Ripia.
However sometimes the side were too flamboyant and from the next phase a wild pass, which missing the intended recipient, was knocked on behind New Zealand’s try line giving the fearsome Leicester pack a five metre scrum. After initially winning a penalty at the first set piece, the Tigers pack were rattle at the recent and forced to use the ball rather than apply more pressure, however strong running earned them a second kick for Ford to knock over in the 9th minute to make it 6-7.
But the visitors were not the only ones who can play expansive rugby especially when Ford is on the pitch, and the ever vigilant fly half spread the ball wide with a cross kick when most thought he would conservatively go for touch. Niall Morris gather the ball, handed-off the kiwi tackler and chipped ahead but the winger was hit late of the ball by opposition full back Andre Taylor who was shown a yellow card for his cynical play. Ford slotted the penalty to give Tigers a 9-7 lead.
With a one man advantage Leicester scored their first try of the game through Morris in the 18th minute. After their pack was repelled when they tried to catch and drive from a maul, the ball was given to the backs who sparked to life with Ford at the heart of things, darting through a hole to draw in the black’s defence, before going through the hands to Tait who released an isolated Morris. Ford then added the difficult wide conversion.
With Diwali fireworks going off all around the stadium Leicester were lighting up the playing field with some electric play. Anthony Allen, just returned from training with the England squad weaved his way through a gap and set off down field before finding Matt Smith who was just cut down short of the line. Ed Slater drove the ball on but the scrambling Maori gave away a life-saving penalty in front of their posts which Ford put over to make it 19-7.
Leicester showed no respect to the reputation of their visitors, turning at times desperate defence into attack in a split second. With the Maori bearing down a loose ball was hacked on for Thompstone to out-pace the opposition and touch-down with a splash down dive. Ford added injury to insult with the conversion.
But teams representing New Zealand at rugby are not accustomed to going home losers so when the Tigers transgressed in their own half this time the visitors went for the posts to make it 26-10. With the clock gone dead for half time the visitors then went over for a try through inside centre Bateman on a nice inside cut line. The conversion from Ripia suddenly made the game competitive once again.
In almost identical fashion to the first half the second began with a composed kick at the sticks by Ford to give some breathing room to the home side at 29-17.
Leicester had to defend hard after the break and did for much of the half but on 59 minutes the sumptuous handling of the Maori was just too good with Jason Eaton offloading in the build up to Nagatai crossing in the corner. Ripia guided his conversion between the uprights to make it 29-24.
In 62nd minute referee Andrew Small tired of New Zealand’s persistent offending in the red zone and All Black Jarrad Hoeata was given ten minutes in the sin bin. Ford widened the gap with the penalty to make it 32-24.
Despite some brilliant off-loading from the visitors the Tigers shut up shop for the rest of the match and some fierce defending kept the Maori at bay to record another famous win against international standard opposition.
Man of the Match: Julian Salvi
Leicester Tigers: 0 Mathew Tait, N Niall Morris, M Matt Smith, L Anthony Allen, K Adam Thompstone, J George Ford, I Patrick Phibbs; A Boris, Stankovich, B George Chuter, C Fraser Balmain, D Louis Deacon (c), E Graham Kitchener, F Ed Slater, H Julian Salvi, G Jordan Crane
Replacements: P Jonny Harris, Q Jimmy Stevens, R Kieran Brookes, S Michael Noone, T Richard Thorpe, U Sam Harrison, V Dan Bowden, W Andy Forsyth
Maori All Blacks: 15 Andre Taylor, 14 Kurt Baker, 13 Charlie Ngatai, 12 Tim Bateman, 11 Kade Poki, 10 Willy Ripia, 9 Frae Wilson; 1 Ben May, 2 Hika Elliot, 3 Ben Afeaki, 4 Jarrad Hoeata, 5 Jason Eaton, 6 Shane Christie, 7 Tanerau Latimer (c), 8 Elliot Dixon
Replacements: 16 Quentin MacDonald, 17 Jacob Ellison, 18 Bronson Murray, 19 Romana Graham, 20 Nick Crosswell, 21 Jamieson Gibson-Park, 22 Jackson Willison, 23 Declan O’Donnel
