Are The Tigers Extracting the Urine?


By apb
September 23 2005

I was struggling to think of something new to write as a preview for this game against Leicester. I was very tempted to take the copy I wrote for the Wasps preview, add a few noughts to the "tries against" column, change the names, and reheat the rest of the article.

However, while I was contemplating this, I took notice of a posting on the messageboard giving an early insight into the Leicester team selected for the weekend. Interesting is not the word. 13 - count them, thirteen, that's a one followed by a three - changes to the Leicester team that beat Bath last week. Players rested (those that haven't received meaty bans for striking opponents) and young bloods given a chance to shine.

Are they taking the piss?

Yes we know that Leeds have played (lets be euphemistic here, shall we) "badly" in their three previous outings. We know that Leeds have shipped more tries, conceded more bonus points and are nearer the bottom of the Guinness Premiership than any other team so far. We know, in contrast that Leicester have done precisely the opposite; they've played well, beaten teams well and score bonus points twice while winning all their matches, and heading the table.

But surely, the Premiership is the closest top-class club sport there is isn't it? And yet they think they can come up here, throwing out their second team and expect to trounce us? What is going on?

As Harry Enfield's scouse creations memorably said: "Calm down! Calm down!"

You could look at it another way. You could suggest that, rather than showing a discourtesy, it is in fact, an acknowledgement of the (by now well-trotted out) fact that Leicester have never won at Headingley - even during the glory years (only recently gone) of Johnson and Back. It could be viewed as an admission that they don't stand a chance, and they may as well give the boys a chance to see what Premiership rugby is all about. Rub off a few of those green edges, and give them a full Premiership baptism. Pat Howard might be saying "this is what it's like every week. Losing is horrible. Don't do it again".

Wrong again.

They're not taking the piss, and neither have they thrown the towel in. They are quite simply an awesome club that has been at the top of English Rugby for the last hundred or so years for a reason: they nurture young talent. They encourage it, and they give them chances to prove what they can do. They have strength - real strength - in depth. They can afford (both metaphorically and in hard cash terms) to rest players, because they know they have two, three, sometimes four equally good players vying for the position. They have vision, purpose, and a real drive to stay at the top of the game.

Funnily enough, this is Phil Davies, Gary Hetherington and Paul Caddick's vision for Leeds Tykes as well. We are clearly nowhere near it yet, but imagine how much worse it could have been without the likes of Biggs, Doherty, Crane, Cusack, Care and Vickermann coming through the academy. It's a long haul, and this is about more than just one game - more than just one season in fact. It's about getting Leeds Rugby to where the Tigers are now.

Starting at 14:30 on Sunday....

Teams

Leeds TykesLeicester Tigers
Mike Shelley 1 Graham Rowntree
Gordon Bulloch2 Ephraim Taukafa
Gavin Kerr3 Michael Holford
Chris Murphy4 Louis Deacon
Tom Palmer5 James Hamilton
Jon Dunbar6 Brett Deacon
Richard Parks7 Will Skinner
Jordan Crane8 Will Johnson
Justin Marshall9 Austin Healey
Roland De Marigny10 Ross Broadfoot
David Rees11 Leon Lloyd
Andre Snyman12Matt Cornwell
Chris Jones13Ollie Smith
Tom Biggs14 Alesana Tuilagi
Iain Balshaw (c)15 Geordan Murphy
Rayno Gerber16 G Chuter
Rob Rawlinson17 D Young
Stuart Hooper 18 L Cullen
Nathan Thomas19S Jennings
Danny Care20 H Ellis
Tim Stimpson21 D Hipkiss
Gordon Ross 22 T Varndell