No Mercy for Endangered Tigers

It's not often we get back to back home games at Headingley Carnegie, but we are treated this week with the second encounter, this time with Sedgley Tigers, the snappy moniker given to the first XV of Sedgley Park RUFC.

As we come storming into the business-end of the season, Sedgley find themselves at the wrong end of the table, and with the juggernaut of the RFU's radical plans to shake up the second tier of English rugby rapidly approaching, they find themselves in real danger of being pushed out of that second tier.

That being said, Sedgley have put in some creditable performances, not least among them last weeks narrow defeat at home to Exeter by 12-35. OK, not that narrow perhaps, but when you consider that they lost to the same opponents earlier in the season by 71-5, you can see that either a) they've improved significantly, or b) home advantage means a great deal to them.

Of course, it's a) but even so coach and former Leeds player Tim Fourie must be allowing himself a small sigh of relief when he reads of his namesake, Hendre, being ruled out for at least six weeks due to a knee ligament injury. Whatever the debate about the premiership class of Leeds' players, everyone is in agreement that Hendre Fourie is very much of that class, and will be sorely missed on Sunday.

Leeds however are currently blessed with a crop of really useful backrowers, and the England selectors (headed by our own Stuart Lancaster) have recognised this by calling most of them up to various representative teams; who we have left for Sunday's game, is, as always, a matter for conjecture, but whoever plays should be tough prospects for the opposition.

Last week, by common consent, Leeds did not play well, but they DID show terrific mental toughness to pull the bonus point win out of the bag against London Welsh, when to the onlookers that vital extra point looked out of reach. This week, there can be no heart-attack inducing moments like these. Without wishing any disrespect to our Manchester-domiciled opponents,  they are not the same class at London Welsh were last week and Leeds should expect to give them a good pasting.

We are just about entering the silly-season for recruitment, and in order to ensure the potential new boys are excited about the prospect of a season or two with Leeds Carnegie, they need to put teams like Sedgley to the sword on days like these. The reverse fixture saw Leeds win by 59-5, and at home they should expect to do better than this.

As fans, I think we would like to see it too…