Leicester leave it late to sink Bath

By Mike Hill
February 2 2003

In a low scoring game full of mistakes and poor kicking it was Tigers who eventually emerged on top to win by 15 points to 8. Leicester outscored their old rivals two tries to one but the tries apart there was very little to get excited about.

Anyone who saw this game will question the belief that Premiership standards have improved. Certainly the games I have witnessed recently have been littered with handling errors and woeful kicking.Once upon a time the result of this fixture would determine the destination of the league title but neither side can currently claim to be a pace-setter. This was a highly significant must-win game for both sides the outcome leaving Bath only two points ahead of a Newcastle side freshly strengthened by a number of quality signings.

Leicester gave away a stream of first half penalties and a soft try and should have been dead and buried by half time. However the normally reliable Olly Barkley missed 5 out of his 6 kicks at goal and then Mike Catt gifted Ben Kay a try with a long pass to the lock who galloped in from fifty metres. Bath's try came when Murphy tried to run the ball from his 22 but Lloyd was not on the same wavelength and the ball went loose. Danielli picked up and waltzed over for the try.

Instead of being 15-18 points behind Tigers went into half time trailing by a single point and feeling as though they had been let off the hook. Surely the second half would be better and it was but not by much. Tigers tightened up their defence and nilled Bath in the second period but handling errors and poor decision making was still hindering their attacks. Bath were continually switching the positions of their three quarters throughout the game but this only seemed to confuse them and countless passes went behind players or into touch whilst overlaps were wasted.

Borthwick and Grewcock are two of the closest rivals to the Johnson - Kay England partnership and they certainly gave the incumbents a hard examination in the lineout. Bath disrupted the Leicester throws and stopped Tigers getting much quick ball. Tigers started with an all star back row of Moody, Back and Corry but they never seemed to click and it was only when Josh came on for the final quarter that Leicester finally took control of the game.

Tigers should be fully aware that it was Bath's incompetence not their own play that decided this game and there is still a lot of work to do. The highlight of the game was Tigers second try when the team finally managed to keep the ball for a few phases of possession. Murphy's kicking was almost as wayward as Barkley's and he handed the ball to Vesty when Leicester finally won a kickable penalty. Vesty slotted the ball home and Tigers led for the first time 10 - 8.

Moments before Geordan had burst through the slack defence and run fifty metres before passing to Booth who was just caught as he tried to jink his way to the line. The Leicester contingent of the crowd found their voice and the Rec began to feel like Welford Road. Neil Back was involved heavily as Tigers attacked Bath's left flank. Back made the initial run before Freddie awoke from his slumber to barge past a couple of players before handing the ball out of the tackle to Back in support. Neil then fed Geordan who spotted the cover was thin and raced to the corner and dived over for the match winning score.

Picking this week's Tigers Man of the Match was very difficult since most players had fairly average games. Ollie Smith was solid in the centre and even made an outside break whilst Johnno was his usual supremely competitive self. I even considered Catt or Barkley for their contributions to a Tigers win. However I decided that despite his earlier blunder Murphy had made the journey worthwhile with his searing break down the centre of the pitch followed by his well taken try minutes later.

With the Six Nations now just a fortnight away Tigers need another win next week at home to Bristol to keep us in contention for the play-off's before all our players go away and injure themselves. Bristol remember have beaten us the last three times we have played them so it's our turn for a change.

See you at Welford Road.