Leicester Tigers - 2013/14 Thread

[LondonTiger]

First topic message reminder :

Senior Squad

Props - Ayerza, Balmain, Bristow, Cole, Mulipola, Schuster, Stankovich
Hookers - Briggs, Chuter, Hawkins, Youngs
Locks - Cain, Deacon. De Chaves, Kitchener, Parling, Price, Slater
Back Row - Crane, Croft, Gibson, Mafi, Salvi, Waldrom

Scrum Halves - Harrison, Mele, Steele, Youngs
Outside Half - Flood, Lamb, Williams
Centres - Allen, Bowden, Smith, Tuilagi
Wings - Benjamin, Camacho, Goneva, Morris, Thompstone
Full Back - Hamilton, Tait

Coaches - Cockerill (DoR & Forwards), Blaze (Asst Forwards), Burke (Backs), Murphy (Asst Backs)


Aviva Premiership Fixtures

Sun 8 Sep 14:00 Leicester Tigers   32         Worcester Warriors 15
Sat 14 Sep 15:15 Bath Rugby  27   Leicester Tigers 20
Sat 21 Sep 15:00 Leicester Tigers  33   Newcastle Falcons 6
Sun 29 Sep 14:00 Exeter Chiefs   9   Leicester Tigers  22
Sat 5 Oct 15:15 Leicester Tigers 19   Northampton Saints  19
Sun 27 Oct 14:00 London Wasps 22   Leicester Tigers 12
Sat 2 Nov 17:30 Leicester Tigers  16   Harlequins 23
Sat 23 Nov 15:00 Leicester Tigers 20   London Irish 11
Sat 30 Nov 15:00 Gloucester Rugby 17   Leicester Tigers 22
Sat 21 Dec 15:00 Saracens  49 v   Leicester Tigers 10
Sat 28 Dec 15:00 Leicester Tigers   v   Sale Sharks
Sat 4 Jan 15:00 Leicester Tigers 27  v   Bath Rugby 27
Fri 7 Feb 19:45 Worcester Warriors  22 v   Leicester Tigers 23
Sat 15 Feb 15:00 Leicester Tigers 11  v   Gloucester Rugby  8
Sun 23 Feb 15:00 London Irish  15 v   Leicester Tigers 20
Sun 2 Mar 15:00 Newcastle Falcons  18 v   Leicester Tigers 41
Sat 22 Mar 15:00 Leicester Tigers   45 v   Exeter Chiefs 15
Sat 29 Mar 15:00 Northampton Saints 16  v   Leicester Tigers 22
Sat 12 Apr 15:00 Leicester Tigers   v   London Wasps Welford Road
Sat 19 Apr 15:00 Harlequins   v   Leicester Tigers Twickenham Stoop
Fri 2 May 20:00 Sale Sharks   v   Leicester Tigers Salford City Stadium
Sat 10 May 15:00 Leicester Tigers   v   Saracens Welford Road



Heineken Cup Fixtures

Friday, October 11 8pm Ulster Rugby 22  Leicester Tigers 16
Friday, October 18 8pm Leicester Tigers 34  Benetton Treviso 3
Sunday, December 8 3pm Leicester Tigers 41 Montpellier Herault Rugby 32
Sunday, December 15 4pm (local time) Montpellier Herault Rugby 14  Leicester Tigers 15
10/11/12 January 2014 Benetton Treviso 19 v Leicester Tigers 34
17/18/19 January 2014 Leicester Tigers 19 v Ulster Rugby 22
Saturday, 5th April ASM Clermont Auvergne v Leicester Tigers

[Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler]

Sun in his eyes   

Sorry, but that is pretty funny.

You'll find the Tigers fans are very protective of their players. More so then most and usually it's for a good reason. But yes, blaming it on the sun in his eyes sounds like something his mom would be coming out with, especially as the game was in England. In December.

Yeah traditionally when the sun is low in the sky.

Of course you may be right. Youngs may have gone from being considered one of the best young hookers in the game and firmly englands best to being utter tripe in the space of few weeks, lets face it all England players do that on a regular basis. At lets also be honest, when was the last hooker England had who went through his whole career without have a couple of dodgy games in the lineout? Is Wilkinson a bad 10 because of his kicker because of his stats in the last world cup?

Are we honestly trying to argue that Tom Youngs isnt a good player suddenly or just trying to blame him single handedly for England failing to do something no team managed this year?

How about hes not had the best run with england recently and Hartley is firmly ahead of him at the moment.
And yes it is generally helpful if you can throw straight but Englands lineout has largely been a mess since Borthwick went regardless of that. The problems go deeper than that, which leads back to the old arguments over whether you pick set piece machines or players who do the rest well and "can work on" their specialist duties ...like umm Marler for example.

[Welly]

Also it is hard when all you have to throw to is the poor man version of tom croft and geoff parling playing at 6 and 4.

[nathan]

A hooker has to be able to throw, it's that's simple.

Youngs throwing was awful during the AI and he's never quite looked comfortable in this department for England. He's steady enough for Leicester, I think his occasional lapses are made up for in his loose play.

When he pulls on that England jersey though he seems out of his comfort zone and really struggled. Perhaps it's the pressure/unfamiliarity or just the step up in quality.

Whatever it is, as an England fan I don't want us to be in the situation where every line out is a gamble. He has to improve.

I think SL will start looking at other hooking options sooner rather than later. Line out ball is key to keeping the teams momentum and Youngs is a liability in this department.

The backline is also a shambles but that doesn't mean our set piece has to be as well.

Really? Where are you getting this from?

Everyone knows he needs to improve in that area but a couple of poor throws against the All Blacks means he had an awful AI's? Never had you as the bandwagon type. When Ashton scores his next try I suppose you'll be saying he's brilliant and unplayable.

[Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler]

Tom Youngs is just redefining lineout throwing   

[Portnoy's Complaint]

Dylan Hartley had a few bad games (throws included) when he started as well.

I can't see any reason for panic. The touch/form comes in and out like golfers do. Give him time.

[Sgt_Pooly]

Nobody has stated Youngs is tripe, I think he's a fantastic player, I'm a really big fan.

If a hooker cannot throw though he shouldn't be in the team imo. It's such a key part of the game to nail your line outs.

Youngs just seems to have a major issue with this.

[Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler]

Based on one game and two throws?

A major issue he didnt previously have?

[Sgt_Pooly]

Peter, are you suggesting Youngs has never had an issue with his throwing?

[Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler]

Are you suggesting hes always had a major issue?
Are you suggesting theres a hooker in world rugby whos never had a bad run with it?

[Welly]

to be fair to Youngs on the lions tour had one of the best percentage throwing wise, if not the best. and was very solid.

[Geordie]

I see Brett Deacon has been diagnosed with Lupus.

Sympathies go out to him as a young man. My mother has it...she was about two weeks away from dying untill they identified what it was.

Its a life long thing with no cure, and cant be an easy thing for an active athlete like Brett to cope with.

[Sgt_Pooly]

Are you suggesting hes always had a major issue?
Are you suggesting theres a hooker in world rugby whos never had a bad run with it?

I'm saying he's had an issue more often than he hasn't, certainly in an England jersey.

All hookers throw the odd bad arrow, Youngs has a tendency to back one bad arrow up with a few more.

I don't think this is a revelation, it's been pretty plain to see since he burst onto the hooking scene.

He did have a great Lions tour though, I did think he'd turned a corner.

[formerly known as Sam]

Cockerill has announced we've already contacted the agents of Priestland and asked Glaws for permission to start speaking to Burns as well as some overseas targets. Discussions with Flood are allegedly still ongoing whilst he evaluates all the options open to him. Sounds like the club won't mess about again like when we missed out on both of JMH and Evans a few years back.

[B91212]

Think either would be a good fit at Tigers. Guess that means that Ryan Lamb is not expected to step up then .

[Welly]

Flood signing for Toulose according to RMC.

[yappysnap]

Priestland probably suits you more than Burns in that he has more experience and may struggle to get into the Welsh side ahead of some of the younger 10s there. On the down side he seems the definition of inconsistent.

Burns could be great but he isn't very experienced, will be away with England a lot and also seems fairly flaky. It could be the making of him though.

[formerly known as Sam]

To be fair I'd prefer a third option as neither of those two really inspire the same faith I have in Flood. Toby may not be the perfect 10 but he is still an exceptional one who is very consistent.

[Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler]

Sam,

Id love to have the Flood of 3 years ago on those wages. The problem is we now have a player who spends 50% of every season injured and 30% of whats left on the bench for England.
And for that he expects to get twice as much out of the salary cap.

Lamb, Priestland and Burns are all good players, and if losing Flood means we can have two then so be it. We know this is modern club rugby, and to be fair Tigers only got him in the first place by being able to out pay Newcastle.

One things for sure if theres big French clubs who want him he will be going unless he shares agents with Halfpenny.

[Manu's Boxing Coach]

The Beeb are reporting that its looking like Flood is heading to Toulouse.

But Flood has been a class act for Tigers, and I think has actually improved in past 2 seasons and matured into a top class seasoned club fly half. Kicks his goals, stands flat and has undoubtedly got our backline firing.

He will be a definite loss.

[Welly]

flood tweeted he has made any decisions yet.

[Artful_Dodger]

Good news for Tigers and Ulster fans - Nigel Owens is reffing the round 6 HC clash.

[damage_13]

what about Greenwoods suggestion of signing Sexton away from Racing? Could it be done?

[damage_13]

Toby Flood ‏@tobyflood 19m
Just seen all these rumours flying around. To confirm I've not agreed to anything and as I've said before I will decide in January. Thanks

[Manu's Boxing Coach]

what about Greenwoods suggestion of signing Sexton away from Racing? Could it be done?

It's a nice one but is never gonna happen. Sexton would have to really push for it even more than Castro last season and we would have to pay Sexton and Racing mega money to get him.

[formerly known as Sam]

" Good news for Ulster fans -Nigel Owens is reffing the round 6 HC clash."

Fixed that for you Artful. A Rabo ref taking charge of a Rabo team vs a non-Rabo team is never a good thing for the non-Rabo team as the three leagues that make up have very different interpretations meaning teams need to adapt. In this instance the Rabo team don't need to adapt, should have been a French ref. Owens also looked unfit last Sunday and was noticeably behind play which doesn't bode well

[munkian]

Rubbish, hes probably the best ref in the world and has very capably reffed NH AND SH games with no complaints.

Why the hell would he stuggle 'adapting' to the Jeff ?

[geoff998rugby]

So you want French referees for all Rabo-Aviva games.

Sorry that is silly

Also on the Tigers site some pretty idiotic things being said about Owens and his impartiality (or lack of)

Does not show Leicester up in a good light

[munkian]

Yeah, because Ulster and Wales are pretty much the same place....

[Manu's Boxing Coach]

No it's the fact that Ulster play with Owens on a more regular basis and therefore will have better understanding to the way he refs the game than the tigers.

Personally, I don't think it makes a difference and think that Owens is a good ref. But the point is just and worthy of discussion instead of contemptual remarks.

[munkian]

OK, Owens realy doesn't ref THAT many Rabbo games for it to be an advantage for Ulster.

And the Rabbo is made up of four different countries and the refs do their thing differently - i.e the Itallians and the Scots are shoite and the Irish ones are homers   

[geoff998rugby]

No it's the fact that Ulster play with Owens on a more regular basis and therefore will have better understanding to the way he refs the game than the tigers.

Personally, I don't think it makes a difference and think that Owens is a good ref. But the point is just and worthy of discussion instead of contemptual remarks.

Always good to check facts firrst

Ulster have played 4 HC and 9 Rabo games this year - Owens has not referred one of those games.

As for comtemptual remarks I would refer you to the Tigers forum where the remarks are down right insulting

[formerly known as Sam]

Yes but we aren't making those remarks are we.

[munkian]

Just had a look at the tiger's forum - Jesus there are some tools on there - apparently they are 'being stitched up again' and would prefere Poite   

[formerly known as Sam]

The offy board attracts some very one eyed fans. Rabo refs, the RFU and Lancaster are not favoured on the board.

[Big]

The offy board attracts some very one eyed fans. Rabo refs, the RFU and Lancaster are not favoured on the board.

Agree. There's a reason I haven't bothered posting there in years.

[geoff998rugby]

The offy board attracts some very one eyed fans. Rabo refs, the RFU and Lancaster are not favoured on the board.

Good point we all have 'fans' we would rather not have.

[Welly]

TBF the Ulster board is just as bad at times.


official forums are always a hot bed for moaners and pricks for any team generally.

[Manu's Boxing Coach]

Cockers confirmed with BT Sport that Toby's leaving at the end of the season.

Not surprised with that but didn't expect it to come out today as Toby denied he made a decision on twitter. Just hopes it doesn't cause any friction between the two.

[formerly known as Sam]

We all knew it was coming. No point putting off the bad news.

[Artful_Dodger]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/25478970

Don't worry boys.  You've still got Ryan Lamb.  

 

[nathan]

Bah humbug!

[formerly known as Sam]

After today I'd rather not have Ryan Lamb. Surely the academy 10s would do a better job than that!

[king_carlos]

His kick straight into the dead ball area on 65min mark was probably the low point for me Sam!

Has to be said that the situation in the centres, with more injuries not even allowing consistency throughout the game, made it difficult for him to do much. The speed and physicality of Sarries in defence also prevented him getting any real ball to work with.

It does highlight just what we'll be losing with Flood heading abroad though.

One bright note (for the Tigers at least) from the announcement could be his availability during the 6N if Lancaster decides his decision rules him out of selection for the national side.

[king_carlos]

Does anyone have any news on Anthony Allen's recovery?

Could desperately do with him back at 12 to offer some more shape to the backline!

[Hood83]

Flood going is as big a loss for England imo. I still think he's our best all-round 10.

[formerly known as Sam]

Lancaster will go into a.world.cup with.no experienced 10. Tigers are now stuck trying to relace a 60 cap international 10 who the backline is.based around and is currently club captain.

[nathan]

Lancaster will go into a.world.cup with.no experienced 10. Tigers are now stuck trying to relace a 60 cap international 10 who the backline is.based around and is currently club captain.

hope we get burns.

[formerly known as Sam]

Burns over Priestland.

However I'd take:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Wisniewski

or

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Slade

over either of them. Shame Francois Steyn is signed up until 2015 I'd love to see him at Tigers he's such a massive talent and on the small Welford Rd pitch he could kick goals from well in our half, shame we won't see that.

[Rugby Fan]

Leicester should now be regretting the way they handled George Ford.

Cockerill made all the right noises about wanting to see the younger player earn his place but, ultimately, didn't give him enough chances.

Certainly, it would have been difficult to keep two players competing for the same England spot at the same club, but Leicester could probably have held on to both for another year if they'd been a bit more flexible. Now they have neither.

[Sgt_Pooly]

I'm pretty sure Ford had around 20 or so starts (in a season) prior to him leaving.

I thought Cockerill did all he could do bar saying you'll be my 1st choice 10. I think Ford had expectations out weighing his actual performances as I don't think he actually deserved the starting spot over Flood.

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