Tigers v Sale Match Report
By JK
January 2 2012
New Year’s Day Sale. It was all action right from the start of yesterday’s game when Sale opted to run Tigers’ kick-off back from behind their own try line and nearly got themselves into terrible trouble – fortunately for the visitors, the ref and touch judges set the tone for their afternoon’s performances by missing a clear forward pass out of defence and Sale earned a brief respite.
Very brief as it turned out when the ensuing pressure meant that the visitors could scarcely get out of their own 22 and a clash of heads between two of their own players left flanker Dave Seymour off with possible concussion and prop Henry Thomas in the blood-bin with a Tigers scrum to face. A sporting mention to Ben Youngs who alerted the ref to the situation when he saw Seymour’s injury.
Leicester, who had already turned down kickable shots at goal to get into this position, brought full pressure to bear in a series of scrums and, with so many repeat infringements, Sale could have had no complaints about the award of a penalty try.
It wasn’t too long before the home side were attacking again and a half break by Toby Flood put Billy Twelvetrees into space with Geordan Murphy on his shoulder to go over for a try allowing Flood to claim his second conversion. Added to his penalty score, Tigers were 17-0 up after the first quarter and a few things should apply in that situation:
1. Tigers should be getting a bonus point
2. Sale shouldn’t be getting a bonus point
3. Tigers should be winning convincingly.
I’m not sure what psychological factor kicks in here... complacency, over-confidence, sympathy for the opposition? Whatever it is, Tigers took their foot off the gas and, like the much improved club they are since last season, back came Sharks with a vengeance.
A try for McKenzie following a series of great hands and support from Sale with a little bit of loose tackling from Leicester and a hint of a missed forward pass started the renaissance - a conversion plus a subsequent penalty from Nicky Macleod put the visitors within one score at 17-10.
Leicester seemed to go backwards from their last couple of games and there was suddenly a lot more kicking the ball away, even if kick-chasing was much stronger than it had been earlier this season.
Another Macleod penalty after half-time brought the scores closer still and the rainstorm that had begun just before the break continued to make conditions less than ideal for fast running rugby.
This made Alesana Tuilagi’s subsequent try all the more impressive – great hands along the backline putting him into a little bit of space near the left touchline – a little bit was all he needed for a classic backs’ try although Flood couldn’t make the conversion from very wide out left.
New Year’s Resolution: We have to work harder at putting those Tuilagis into a little bit of space. And Twelvetrees. And Agulla. And everyone really!
At 25-13, going into the last quarter, surely a bonus point was on the cards but back came Sale and they worked their own impressive backs move to put Rob Miller away in the right hand corner. Macleod, significantly, added the conversion bringing Sharks to within one score. They had also looked dangerous on a couple of occasions with a period camped on the Tigers’ try-line and a high ball or two aimed largely it seemed at Tuilgi although he dealt with them well.
This meant that, when awarded a penalty in the Sale 22 a few minutes later, Toby Flood rightly opted to take the three points and establish a lead of eight with ten minutes to go rather than a kick to the corner.
Still, at 28-20, Welford Road wanted the bonus, mindful of Horacio Agulla’s last gasp heroics at Worcester earlier in the week.
Sadly, it was not to be. A series of inexpertly executed manoeuvres with some questionable refereeing decisions meant that the fourth try eluded Leicester’s grasp. The only bonus point we saw was the one we didn’t want when that man Macleod knocked over a drop goal from 30 metres or so to put Sale within seven at 28-23 on the final whistle.
So what have we learned?
Sadly:
1. Tigers didn’t get a bonus point.
2. Sharks did.
3. It wasn’t completely convincing.
Still, a win is a win and four points puts us equal with Saints who are in third as they have won one more game. There can be few who wouldn’t have taken that two months ago but how that bonus point would have made things sweeter by putting us above our East Midlands neighbours!
Closing out the game represents a big improvement on the London Irish home match not so long ago this season when Tigers looked destined to chuck it away. How those two points would have been useful to put us above Saints today. You get the feeling that these odd points could prove significant later in the season. Great that we’re in play-off position now but we have to hold onto that through the six-nations period and there’s talk that Rob Hawkins was having the rule run over him yesterday by Mr Lancaster.
Let’s also hope that injuries sustained are not too serious – Salvi and Castro being cases in point to add to Manu and Deacon.
We still need to tighten up and yet again, there was too much kicking away. Tigers look most dangerous with ball in hand, especially when everyone is fit and firing. Horacio Agulla is surely up for most improved player. The forwards were immense and Thomas Waldrom seems 100% reliable and was most people’s man-of-the-match on Twitter. Nicky Macleod had to be close though. Micky Young looked sharp and aggressive during his brief opportunity and Geordan Murphy had his best game for a while.
What seemed to be missing was that killer instinct to finish the game and score the bonus in the process – the stuff of Sixways a few days ago. Where has it gone and ho do we get it back? Not sure I have the answers but I’m sure less kicking is part of the mix.
A consistent ref would help of course and lying around the ruck or going over the top which would have been penalised quickly last Tuesday seemed to go unpunished yesterday.
Thanks to Bath for handing out a drubbing to London Irish and also to Gloucester who took a draw away from a sparsely populated Vicarage Road (7,000 to see the champions on New Year’s Day and that includes absent STHs!).
Let’s hope we can build on this ready for our home appointment six days hence with the London ‘nilled at home’ Wasps which surely needs to be a comprehensive win.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:01:08:21:42:53 by Tiggs.
Pleased with the result and given all the doom mongers 4th (equal 3rd) isn't such a bad position, particularly when we have yet to play well for a whole game.
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Well done JK.
I agree - unlike this posting on the Sale board about their reporter's view on things:
"Good report whaley, if you want a guide on how not to do it, read the Cheaters version:
[www.rugbynetwork.net]
Apparently our first try had a hint of a forward pass about it, unlike Tuillagis, which actually had two forward passes in it, but no mention of that surprisingly. Also we could have had no complaint about the penalty try, well thats true so long as you are happy with Castro not binding and driving in at a 45 degree angle. For a team who has been so successfull, they are the worst winners going."
Oh well
Quote:Tigersfan1
"That is a superb match report. Well paced and opinionated without being over bearing. "
I agree - unlike this posting on the Sale board about their reporter's view on things:
"Good report whaley, if you want a guide on how not to do it, read the Cheaters version:
[www.rugbynetwork.net]
Apparently our first try had a hint of a forward pass about it, unlike Tuillagis, which actually had two forward passes in it, but no mention of that surprisingly. Also we could have had no complaint about the penalty try, well thats true so long as you are happy with Castro not binding and driving in at a 45 degree angle. For a team who has been so successfull, they are the worst winners going."
Oh well
And that would, in a nutshell, be the reason I don't visit their board.
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I can only write about what I saw from Upper CAT Stand towards the Goldsmith End.
Tuilagi's try was towards the opposite corner.
I'm not sure how anyone can see faulty binding from the stand. Maybe others were watching on TV and got a close up?
I'm not sorry the report had a Leicester perspective. I'm a Leicester fan, it's a Leicester board.
I have thought about it a fair bit and decided that it is better to write a report from a Leicester viewpoint than to have a sterile, factual account a la BBC.
That said, I'm sure we all welcome constructive debate - I am constantly surprised by how little disagreement there tends to be on match reports, even mine which are obviously perfect in every way!! ;-)