The Leicester Tigers thread

[Portnoy]

First topic message reminder :

2012/3 may well prove to be a memorable one.

For once, there seems to be (albeit not unplumbable) strength in depth, a fairly healthy squad and a straightforward, uncomplicated international season.

[beshocked]

I really hope Leicester get a return on their investment in Tait. So much time and effort has been put into him.

[Geordie]

Still can't get used to the name Noone... Half of me thinks they mean no-one and the scarier half is worried we have Jamie Noon turning out for us!

To be fair...if he hits Jamie's level he will be doing very well.

He may not have hit the heights whilst with England...but he was an excellent club player.

[formerly known as Sam]

Good to see Noone getting gametime with the A's.

With the injuries/retirements we have few options.

[yappysnap]

Would be great to see Tait in the 23 shirt this weekend, a fast paced match against the Ospreys with their pretty average defence could be the perfect game for him to have a run out in.

Sam do you think Cockers will shelve the Waldrom experiment now? With Tipuric in there for the O's you've got to play a proper 7 surely.

[LondonTiger]

Sam do you think Cockers will shelve the Waldrom experiment now? With Tipuric in there for the O's you've got to play a proper 7 surely.

If we had one we would

As it is Crane needs a rest, so Thorpe may well play at openside.

[formerly known as Sam]

Sam do you think Cockers will shelve the Waldrom experiment now? With Tipuric in there for the O's you've got to play a proper 7 surely.

Thorpe is the only senior openside left standing, he doesn't offer much on the floor so will make little difference other than he'll be less knackered than Crane.

This weekend might be too soon for Tait. I'm hoping he'll be back during the AIs so he'll be fully fit for the busy Xmas period. Would like to see Lewington make the 23 though, hattrick for him in the A league last night.

[hugh.st]

Sam do you think Cockers will shelve the Waldrom experiment now? With Tipuric in there for the O's you've got to play a proper 7 surely.

Thorpe is the only senior openside left standing, he doesn't offer much on the floor so will make little difference other than he'll be less knackered than Crane.

Except Thorpe isn't an openside. He's a blindside who before he came to Leicester last played openside about three years ago and was well down the pecking order at Irish.

At the moment Tigers are just trying to get their three best available back rows on the pitch as there's not going to be any balance whoever they pick.

[LondonTiger]

Sam,

Lewington is not in the 38 man HEC squad.

[yappysnap]

Just been chatting on the Quins forum, there's some speculation that Will Skinner may leave at the end of the season. He's behind Robshaw and Wallace now and wasn't even in the A team, so perhaps a return to Tigers could be on the cards? He'd be a handy squad 7 for you guys.

[HongKongCherry]

Just been chatting on the Quins forum, there's some speculation that Will Skinner may leave at the end of the season. He's behind Robshaw and Wallace now and wasn't even in the A team, so perhaps a return to Tigers could be on the cards? He'd be a handy squad 7 for you guys.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Skinner go to Falcons to give Welch a bit of competition/experience.

[LondonTiger]

Just been chatting on the Quins forum, there's some speculation that Will Skinner may leave at the end of the season. He's behind Robshaw and Wallace now and wasn't even in the A team, so perhaps a return to Tigers could be on the cards? He'd be a handy squad 7 for you guys.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Skinner go to Falcons to give Welch the chance to join Leicester.

Fixed that for you

[HongKongCherry]

That's very kind of you LT, but I hear the Glaws old boys are having a word in his ear to come and be Hazell's long term replacement...

[Geordie]

You can pack that c&$p in for a starter!!

Our captains going nowhere...and we have plenty of excellent back row options at the moment to rest Welch...with some top class guys coming through our academy...so you can keep skinner aswell.

And i dont think anyone'll be having our players so easily now the big guys in charge up here

[yappysnap]

Geordie if you're going to keep teasing us with those players then it's only fair that some of the more...>cough<competetive>cough< clubs take you boys up on the offer.

As mentioned you can have Skinner in return

[formerly known as Sam]

Lewington is not in the 38 man HEC squad

Damn forgot that.

Personally I'd like to see us go after Burgess from Pirates or Kvesic from Wuss as a replacement 7 in the summer. Possibly Burgess before the summer.

[Geordie]

Whats the crack with Kvesic...has he been playing?

[formerly known as Sam]

I think from 8 and the bench. He's a good utility option short term and would be a great 7 long term at Tigers.

[LondonTiger]

Line-ups for LV game at goldington Rd:

Leicester Tigers (vs Saracens, Goldington Road, Friday 7.45pm)
15 Niall Morris
14 Henry Purdy
13 Andy Forsyth
12 Andrew Symons
11 Alex Lewington
10 Matt Cornwell (c)
9 Micky Young
1 Jonny Harris
2 Jimmy Stevens
3 Kieran Brookes
4 Rob Andrew
5 Joe Cain
6 Lucas Guillaume
7 Richard Thorpe
8 Michael Noone

Replacements
16 Harry Thacker
17 Fraser Balmain
18 Ryan Bower
19 George Oliver
20 Tom Price
21 Sam Harrison
22 George Ford
23 Mathew Tait

Saracens
15 Ben Ransom
14 Joe Maddock
13 Duncan Taylor
12 Sam Stanley
11 James Short
10 Nils Mordt (c)
9 Ben Spencer
1 Nick Auterac
2 Jamie George
3 Petrus du Plessis
4 George Kruis
5 Alistair Hargreaves
6 Nick Fenton-Wells
7 Andy Saull
8 Jono Ross

Replacements
16 Max Crumpton
17 John Smit
18 Lorenzo Romano
19 Eoin Sheriff
20 Matt Hankin
21 Luke Baldwin
22 Nick Tompkins
23 Nathan Earle

The sarries pack shoul dhave way too much for an inexperienced Tigers 8

[formerly known as Sam]

An awful lot of pace on the tigers wings, those boys have scoring for fun in the A league. The pack need to front up as some of them have first team aspirations but are down the pecking order. Tigers should not be winning this so any sort of a result would be a massive bonus.

[yappysnap]

Tigers actually look pretty good there, the biggest problem will be that even if they keep close to Sarries for most of the game the bench is just going to weaken them even more (bar Ford and hopefully Tait).

John Smit must be loving his high profile bench slot there!

[Cumbrian]

An awful lot of pace on the tigers wings, those boys have scoring for fun in the A league. The pack need to front up as some of them have first team aspirations but are down the pecking order. Tigers should not be winning this so any sort of a result would be a massive bonus.

Do you think they'll get any first team league action soon Sam? One of the things I think Leicester have lacked recently at the very highest level is out and out pace, it would be good to seem them develop this from within.

[yappysnap]

Thinking about it the two top teams in the league both have fairly non lethal wings. Odd that.

[Sgt_Pooly]

Benjamin could be that lethal wing if he ever returns from injury

[formerly known as Sam]

Do you think they'll get any first team league action soon Sam? One of the things I think Leicester have lacked recently at the very highest level is out and out pace, it would be good to seem them develop this from within.

It's Purdy's first season coming into the A team and it might be a tad early for him, I think he's only 18 still. Lewington I'd much prefer to both Morris and probably Hamilton (when Murphy is fit). I think Cockers needs to utilise Lewington more and soon otherwise he could be off soon and that would be a big loss with Murphy set to retire. We certainly need to inject some creativity onto the flanks.

If Tigers are still in the game come sub time then there's a lot of mobility in the Tigers bench, if the game opens up it could suit them. Sarries will be looking to use their bench to close out the game.

[maverickmak]

Like the look of the Tigers backline. Plenty of potential in there with Young and Cornwell providing the experience. They are a tad outmatched up front though. If they can live with the Sarries pack, they can do some damage.

[beshocked]

Why is Ford not starting?

Yappysnap are you saying the top 2 sides in the league are Saints and Tigers?

[broadlandboy]

Ford being kept for Maori game

[beshocked]

Oh right. When's that?

[broadlandboy]

Next Tuesday

[beshocked]

http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/Leicester-Tigers-hit-hard-20-key-men-miss-Cup/story-17275379-detail/story.html

Wow Leicester 3 games in 9 days. Thought you might want to give some of the guys a break.

Especially with the HC starting up again relatively soon.

Who do you think will line up vs the Maori?

[broadlandboy]

The best that they have available.Only by playing their best team will they continue to get the touring sides to play them.
Sorry but others better to give more informed opinion on actual team

[beshocked]

I can understand that I just worry that it could hit Leicester's HC chances if players get injured.

Leicester Tigers are down to the bare bones as it is.

Treviso will certainly fancy their chances at home if Leicester go there with a understrength side.

[broadlandboy]

Internationals will be back (13 players I believe)+ some injurys should be as well,so should be ok.Only real concern is at 7 with only Salvi top notch with Newby & Woods having to retire.

[LondonTiger]

We will play a strong side against the maoris - weaker sides in the two LV games either side. Makes sense really as that gives any likely to be involved in the AP game away to wasps decent rest but also some game time.

With two AP matches and 4 internationals before we face Treviso (at home first up) injuries from the Maori game is the least of our worries.

[beshocked]

True but it wouldn't surprise me if players on internationals come back battered/worse for wear.

I said on another thread you should look at Steffon Armitage at 7. I think he would be great for you guys. It would also give him a much higher chance of being chosen by England.

As already mentioned by Sam and Geordiefalcon Kvesic is also out of contract at the end of the season I believe. He is another potential signing.

[maverickmak]

I would like to think the club has something in hand for a new 7. Though one of high quality is hard to come by. Too many 6/6.5/8's. Armitage if he is willing to take a pay cut to get England caps is an option, and Kvesic if he is willing to fight for his place.

[yappysnap]

Andy Saull maybe? Has he fallen down the pecking order at Sarries Beshocked? Otherwise i'd love to see Armitage take a pay cut to come back to England, he'd do really well at Tigers too.

Beshocked, I meant Quins and Leicester, neither have strike runners on the wings really, Quins have a very good kick chaser and defender on one side and a utility back on the other while Tigers have a utility player and center. Sarries def have the best wingers of all the top prem clubs.

[Portnoy's Complaint]

Is there a decent independent match report out there?

I don't trust clubs to report fairly on their websites. Similarly local press.

[LondonTiger]

The tigers report covers the facts reasonably well, without giving the impression of just how dominant Sarries were in the first half.

Sarries dominated most phases and frankly 27-0 flattered us.

Second half we were much better - probably a mix of us improving and Sarries switching off.

No-one really stood out for tigers - Saull shone for Sarries (as he should against bit part players and kids)

[maverickmak]

Leicester Tigers (v Maori All Blacks, Welford Road, Tuesday 7.30pm)
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 Geordan Murphy

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'Donnell

[LondonTiger]

Interesting to see Balmain at TH.
good to see Tait getting a run-out.

[formerly known as Sam]

Geordan on the bench is an odd call. As is Balmain at TH. Should be a good game with Tait vs Taylor an interesting battle.

[LondonTiger]

I really hope that last night's game can give our season a boost - and that some of those players who have been "bit part" players can really make strides towards the first team.

Even so great result without featuring the likes of:

Ayerza, Mulipola, Youngs, Cole, Castro, Parling, Croft, Mafi, Waldrom, Youngs, Young, Flood, Manu, Goneva, Hamilton & Murphy

[gregortree]

Blyydy letters on shirts !
So how did Tait get on ?

[nathan]

Blyydy letters on shirts !
So how did Tait get on ?

nothing wrong with the letters!! They'd still be wearing them if allowed.

[gregortree]

.. and Tait ? I'm interested - great potentilal, lot of bad luck - but still young.
How did he do ?

[maverickmak]

He did well! Played the whole 80 minutes. Rock solid, ran some nice lines and some good passes. Sliced a couple of kicks and was slightly out of position a couple of times, but that will just be ring rust. Very encouraging.

[gregortree]

thanks Maverick, I am a Tait fan, hope he continues to shape up.
And what is position 'O' ? back here on planet normal rugby ?

[maverickmak]

He played fullback

Think Cockers wants him to take over from Murphy.

[LondonTiger]

He played fullback

Think Cockers wants him to take over from Murphy.

That seems to be the plan

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