Leicester Tigers 18-19

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Fixtures

Pre-Season

Saturday 11th August - Cardiff Blues (a)
Friday 17th August - Benetton Treviso (a)
Friday 24th August - London Irish (h)

Gallagher Premiership

SEPTEMBER
Saturday 1st 16:30 Exeter Chiefs (a)
Saturday 8th 15:00 Newcastle Falcons (h)
Sunday 16th 15:00 Wasps (a)
Sunday 23rd 15:00 Worcester Warriors (h)
Sunday 30th 15:00 Sale Sharks (h)



OCTOBER
Saturday 6th 15:00 Northampton Saints (a - Twickenham)


NOVEMBER
Friday 16th 19:45 Gloucester (a)
Sunday 25th 15:00 Saracens (h)
Friday 30th 19:45 Bristol (a)


DECEMBER
21/22/23 Harlequins (H)
28/29/30 Bath (A)


JANUARY
4/5/6 Gloucester (H)


FEBRUARY
15/16/17 Saracens (A)
22/23/24 Worcester Warriors (A)


MARCH
1/2/3 Wasps (H)
8/9/10 Sale Sharks (A)
22/23/24 Northampton Saints (H)


APRIL
5/6/7 Exeter Chiefs (H)
12/13/14 Newcastle Falcons (A)
26/27/28 Bristol (H)


MAY
3/4/5 Harlequins (A)
18 Bath (H)
24/25 Semi


JUNE
1st Final


European Champions Cup
12/13/14 October - Round 1
19/20/21 October - Round 2
7/8/9 December - Round 3
14/15/16 December - Round 4
11/12/13 January - Round 5
18/19/20 January - Round 6
29/30/31 March - 1/4 Finals
19/20/21 April - Semis
11th May - Final


Premiership Rugby Cup

Saturday October 27th 15:00 Saracens (a)
Saturday November 3rd 15:00 Worcester Warriors(h)
Friday November 19th 19:45 Sale Sharks
January 25/26/27 Northampton (a)
February 9th Semi-finals
March 16th Final




Squad and Coaching Team:

Head Coach: Matt O'Connor
Forwards Coach: Mark Bakewell
Assistant Coach: Geordan Murphy
Scrum Coach: Boris Stankovich
Senior Development coach: Brett Deacon
Team Manager: Teresa Carrington
Head of Rugby Operations: Ged Glyn


First Team Squad:
(as on Tigers website)

Props: Greg Bateman, Dan Cole, Gaston Cortes, Ellis Genge, Facundo Gigena, Owen Hills
Hookers: Jake Kerr, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Jimmmy Stevens, Tom Youngs
Second Row: Mike Fitzgerald, Graham Kitchener, Will Spencer, James Voss, Harry Wells
Back Row: Dave Denton, Will Evans, Sione Kalamafoni, Valention Mapapalangi, Brendon O'Connor, Guy Thompson, Fred Tuilagi, Mike Williams

Half Backs: Joe Ford, George Ford, Sam Harrison, Matt Toomua, Ben Youngs
Outside Backs: Jonah Holmes, Jonny May, Gareth Owen, Matt Smith, Matthew Tait, Charlie Thacker, Adam Thompstone, Manu Tuilagi, Telusa Veainu, George Worth


Development Squad:

Forwards: Taylor Gough, Sam Grahamslaw, Joe Heyes, Cameron Jordan, Henri Lavin, Sam Lewis, Keston Lines, Harry Mahoney, Tommy Reffell, Thom Smith
Backs: Sam Aspland-Robinson, Tom Hardwicke, Jordan Olowefela, Harry Simmons, Ben White

LondonTiger wrote:Evans and Reffell are both fit and, imo, one of them should be on the bench instead of Fitz.

Agreed. Fitzgerald played pretty well off the bench last weekend to be fair but we should be selecting three of four.

Owolofela out with a back issue to Holmes to the wing and Worth to 15. Smith onto the bench.

I think most Tigers fans were hoping it'd be Joe Ford that pulled out.

Pack good today, but irrespective of the quality of the backs there was no visible attacking plan.

Tempo was better but we were painfully predictable. Nice to see the lineout working again.

Gifting Sarries three tries was stupid, from players that should know better. Joe Ford guilty for the first two and Owen the third. Second half come back was good but even then we were in need of a penalty to go for the corner to get the decisive try and Dickson wasn't keen to penalise Sarries. He really gave them big let offs with the penalty tries.

It's been a bad news day for Tigers with a loss at WR, Jones rumours circling the drain and unwanted rumours about Hardwick.

At full strength the forwards should have enough power to launch the familiar late season surge which papers over cracks.

I'd happily see: Stevens, McMillan, Gigena, Ma'afu, Fitzgerald and Kitchener shed from the front 5 to facilitate bringing a strong couple of lock signings in.

In the backs, depth is once again the issue. If rumours of Hardwick wanting double his current salary are true then personally I'd give him it, short term we aren't going to find a better 10 for less than that, longer term he could be an ideal squad player given his goal kicking during international windows where we direly need to pick up more points.

Jake Kerr is turning into the good news story of the season. He's really taking his chances.

They better get him contracted down then, as Edinburgh are going to need a new hooker soon

Quite frankly I'd give Hardwick his pay rise. He's gone from a development player to a first team player so he wants wages to match that change in squad position. I'd tell him it's a three year deal though which will take him until he's 23 when we will then review again.

Jake Kerr I'd give a three year deal too as well. Give him tied down. Good at the lineout, seems rock solid in the scrum, carries well in the loose, really the only thing I'd like to see is him attack the breakdown more but at 22 he's looking like the next Tigers hooker for me. I'd start him next game and have TPN on the bench (I suspect Youngs will be out for a while).

Its about time we had some guys step up form the academy and start looking like legitimate England prospects again. the one bright ray of sunshine from this season. I agree it would be terrible to see them go.

Very frustrating game for Tigers. They couldve/shouldve won it but for that period of awful defending. Lets praise them for the amount of pressure they put Saracens under that forced so many defensive penalties and the two cards...and as Sam alluded to some close calls for penalty tries.

Another day this couldve been Tigers game. OK both sides were missing a number of established starters but its good to see Tigers at least competing with one of the top clubs in Europe again. There are some positive signs ...but results wise things have been awful and the playoffs look pretty distant now.

You say the playoffs look distant but we are still 6th. Get some momentum going and there's no reason we can't sneak our way in.

The conveyor belt of talent does seem to have been reconnected after some pretty barren and mismanaged years. To have more than half a pack step up from the development squad and support the first team has been a big help. If we need to reward the financially then so be it, get them on long term contracts and let's build them up. We are carrying squad players on bigger wages who aren't threatening the first team and who won't develop further, sacrifice them.

For this season we simply have to beat Bristol next week. I feel the key will be to be very physical in defence and force errors as Bristol love the offloads but can get flustered.

Possible lineup:

Bateman, TPN, Cole, Kitch, Spencer, Williams, BOC, Kalamafoni, Youngs, Ford, May, Toomua, Manu, Thompstone, Holmes

Bench: Kerr, Feao (possibly Genge), Heyes (probably Cortes but I can hope), Wells, Fitz (unless Thompson fit, but my views on Fitz well known), Harrison, Eastmond, Smith

I'd start Kerr personally. TPN has missed a lot of the season through international duty. Kerr is the form man, giving him the first 50 minutes to lay down a marker.

Agree with your views on the bench.

Annoyed that the game has been moved to a Friday was due a day out in Bristol and it will limit our support in a must win game.

I thought the game was Saturday lunch time.

Yep Saturday at 1. My error. Thought it was Friday night under the lights for some reason.

No excuses we need an away win here. Bristol are great in broken play but limited otherwise, we will need to turn up in defence.

OTY is out for at least 'a few weeks'. He's seen a surgeon but the extent of the knee injury is unknown.

Denton and Thompson still out for Saturday, Genge will play a part.

1.Bateman 2.Kerr 3.Cole 4.Spencer 5.Wells 6.Williams 7.O'Connor 8.Kalamafoni
9.Youngs 10.G Ford 11.May 12.Eastmond 13.Tuilagi 14.Thompstone 15.Holmes

16.TPN 17.Genge 18.Heyes 19.Kitchener 20.Evans 21.Harrison 22.Hardwick 23.Toomua

That's what I'd like to see, not what I'm expecting. The closer Saturday gets the more worried I'm feeling. Bristol have some serious deficiencies but their attack with Piutau added has been potent and Tigers defence isn't, to put things politely.

I'd expect to see Fitzgerald and Cortes on the bench though I'd prefer your selection. Might be better off starting Toomua as he has played less rugby than Eastmond who might benefit from nit starting this game.

Greg Bateman gets a much needed rest as Ellis Genge returns to face his hometown team.

Still Fitz on the bench covering back row, meh; England internationals straight back in and Aussies on the bench. White favoured ahead of Harrison.

It's infuriating seeing a lock covering the back row when as far as we know Evans and Reffell are fit. Both such talents, we should be investing game time in them to try to keep them at WR. Evans will be 22 next year, it would be crushing if he went elsewhere for game time.

That aside I like the starting XV. Genge starting is a big call but it's great to see him back. I'm glad Kerr and Eastmond have kept their places as well.

Randall is quick but not the best tactical scrum half so we should be looking to apply a lot of pressure there and force Madigan to kick.

Yann Thomas should be targeted in the scrum and if our lineout can function again then Bristol don't have the best discipline.

We have to keep our error count down and keep this game tight, can't afford to let things open up with those Bristol outside backs. I'm not sure the halfbacks are creative to open things up in a tight game so defensive discipline will be key (we're doomed).

Well, Sam, that game plan ruined inside 2 minutes.

So glad I am Christmas shopping rather than watching rugby. And I hate shopping.

Racing next week. Lord help us.

What the hell happened to you lot???

Sgt_Pooly wrote:What the hell happened to you lot???

Pretty standard performance I guess. Zero defence and in adversity no fight. Easy to blame the RC at 10-7, but this keeps happening. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

Jesus that was horrible. Having the big names back and taking such a kicking form an average team is rotten indeed. So much for any morale that came from last weeks fightback

Sgt_Pooly wrote:What the hell happened to you lot???

Years of poor recruitment in players and coaches. Defence has been dire for a few years now.

I'd happily see Smurf stay as head coach but he needs at least an experienced DOR replacing Glynn and an experienced defence coach coming in. Brett is a talented coach but should be learning his trade in the academy coaching alongside AA.

That's before moving onto player recruitment...

2 x locks - One of them marquee, the other stronger than Fitz or Kitch
1 x reserve tight head - I'd sacrifice Feao (or Leatigaga), Cortes and Gigena to get someone like Paul Hill
1 x hooker - Quality required depends on who moves on
1 x number 8 - I'd happily see Mapapalangi (who I like) and Mike Williams go to secure an 8 (Viliame Mata is coming out of contract)

1 x starting inside centre - Who doesn't demand a marquee salary, erm...
1 x outside back - They need to be quick and preferably able to cover the back three, apparently Holmes re-signed prior to his Wales cap though which is a rare glimmer of light currently.

It hurts to admit but I could cope with BOC leaving as well if it allowed a strong 8 to come in. He's a cracking player and a leader but also has concussion problems and with Thompson, Evans and Reffell at openside I can't help thinking the money could be better used elsewhere.

Sgt_Pooly wrote:What the hell happened to you lot???

Personally too much player power mixed with people in charge who know sweet feck all about rugby.

Need to gut
The Board
The off field managers
The Coaches
The Players

Need to say bye to
Off field
Chairman Tom - Bring in Deano or Howard IMO
CEO Cohen - Bring in someone like Lloyd to focus on purely business stuff.
General Manager Glynn - Bring in Ben Ryan. Who has clout in rugby and contacts.

On field
Coaches
Defence Coach Brett Deacon - Knock him back down to development.
Forwards Coach Bakewell

Players
Hookers:
McMillon
Youngs - Unless he wants to do a Farmer White type role

Props:
Gigena
Hills

Locks:
Fitzgerald
Kitchener

Back Row:
Kalamfoni
Williams
Mapapalangi
Tuilagi

Scrum Half

Fly Half
J.Ford
Hardwick (If he wants to dick us about)

Centre
Toomua (Off)
Owen
Smith
Thacker

wing/Fullback
Thompstone
Tait

Watching the highlights back.

Our forwards are so unfit and lazy and prone to defensive brain farts and the number of penalties mainly for not listening to the ref is stupid. Personally I'd have them back at Oval Park tomorrow just running up and down practicing their organisation because none of it was in evidence today.

Eastmond is a moron. He was lucky not to get a yellow card for the first challenge and that should have been all the warning he needed. Another lazy high shoulder tackle and that red card was text book.

Back three defence lacked organisation and Holmes did not help that with the school boy overrun for the first try.

Second Thacker try was after two poor decisions by Barnes missing a knock on and a completed tackle. Unfortunately the rest were well deserved and seemed to stem from our slow thinking and lack of physicality at the breakdown.

We need an experienced defence coach first and foremost. This can't be overlooked and passed off until the summer anymore. We need a proper DOR to help Murphy, the most obvious choice is to bring in the now very available Pat Howard at least in the short term.

There does seem be a real lack of cohesion for sure, especially when it comes to defence. This has been a theme all season. the talent is there in the squad, but consistently they've been leaking soft tries.
Sure the laws now dont make it so easy to shut games down but theyve let in more points than any team in the premiership and have the worst points difference. Theres been seasons where theyve been in similar positions in the table at this stage in the season and gone on to lift trophies, but i cant ever remember a Tigers side being this easy to score tries against.

The way things are going they could even miss out on the European Cup next year which would be huge.

Recruiting new players isn't the priority to me, its organisation and leadership. Player for player they are far superior to Bristol, but got hammered.

So, what is our biggest defeat in Europe? There have been a few big ones in recent seasons, but Sunday coudl surpass that if Racing can be arsed to try for long enough.

LondonTiger wrote:So, what is our biggest defeat in Europe? There have been a few big ones in recent seasons, but Sunday coudl surpass that if Racing can be arsed to try for long enough.

0-43 v Glasgow at Welford road.

Thought it might be. Having been to Scotstoun for the first game of that campaign, I went indoor climbing with my daughter instead of going to the return fixture. Having used the clubs ticket resale I always felt I owed the buyer a refund.

Manu nominated for Try of the Week - is that taking the piss or what?

Not even a glimmer of comfort.

Biggest loss was Vs Glasgow 43-0? My memory isn't the best. Could easily go past that. Particularly because we're unlikely to dominate the scrum like usual.

Not exactly a positive rallying call from Murphy!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/46424923

Patching the boat up

Honesty is nice, but it doesn't sound like he's anymore optimistic about the next couple of weeks than us.

How can he be.

It's tough on him, he's expected to fix a ship that needed replacing in the off season not start of the season.

I think the games v Falcons and Wasps made supporters get a bit too excited.

Initial hope has been shat on. Geordan sounds increasingly annoyed by the complete lack of structure he inherited and by the moronic individual errors that are occurring in a weekly basis.

I hope he backs some of the younger lads to come in a get a chance over the next two weeks some of the senior players deserve to be dropped.

Lots of rumours that Mike Ford is in talks with the club about joining the coaching staff.

No-one seems to know what capacity he might join in, but his previous jobs would suggest he will somehow be DOR by the end of the season even if he starts as kit man.

king_carlos wrote:Lots of rumours that Mike Ford is in talks with the club about joining the coaching staff.

No-one seems to know what capacity he might join in, but his previous jobs would suggest he will somehow be DOR by the end of the season even if he starts as kit man.

As a short term consultant he might be a good addition. Hopefully he's keen to take Germany to the next RWC so won't want anything too big to distract him.

Will Spencer, George Worth and... Joe Ford on the shortlist for player of the month.

I expect we will see some interesting responses to that last one.

I'm unsure who picked that list. Possibly the work experience kid went down the list of names from the Sarries game and just picked three at random.

Feel sorry for Worth he looked really solid at the back at the start of the Sarries game and then ended up concussed and might not get another look in for a while. I felt we were better defensively with him there as opposed to Holmes though Holmes offers a lot more on the counter.

Leicester Tigers (v Racing 92, away, Sunday 4.15pm local / 3.15pm UK)

15 Jonah Holmes

14 Adam Thompstone

13 Manu Tuilagi

12 Matt Toomua

11 Jonny May

10 George Ford (c)

9 Ben White

1 Ellis Genge

2 Tatafu Polota-Nau

3 Dan Cole

4 Will Spencer

5 Harry Wells

6 Mike Fitzgerald

7 Brendon O’Connor

8 Sione Kalamafoni

Replacements

16 Jake Kerr

17 Campese Ma’afu

18 Gaston Cortes

19 Mike Williams

20 Will Evans

21 Guy Thompson

22 Ben Youngs

23 Matt Smith

Lock at 6 but two flankers on the bench in . We certainly won't dominate physically but it might help with the tackling.

I'm no fan of Fitz in the back row but I like that side.

The 6-2 split in particular could be an effective option going forward when BOC, Evans and Thompson are all fit.

That's our strongest tight 5 all fit in my opinion.

Racing 92: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Simon Zebo, 13 Virimi Vakatawa, 12 Olivier Klemenczak, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Teddy Iribaren; 1 Eddy Ben Arous, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski (c), 3 Cedate Gomes Sa, 4 Bernard Le Roux, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 7 Baptiste Chouzenoux, 8 Antonie Claassen
Replacements: 16 Ole Avei, 17 Guram Gogichashvili, 18 Ben Tameifuna, 19 Dominic Bird, 20 Boris Palu, 21 Antoine Gibert, 22 Louis Dupichot, 23 Ben Volavola

Those outside backs are quite something. That's without Teddy Thomas or Rokocoko as well!

No Machenaud or Camille Chat but still a very strong side.

The issue is TPN throws the ball into the lineout like I throw darts after 15 pints. Might be a tough day for our lineout even with three locks.

I like the possibility for us to inject some tempo in the second half with Thompson, Evans and Youngs from the bench. Shame Fe'ao appears to be injured could have done with him and/or Bateman coming off the bench.

king_carlos wrote:Racing 92: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Simon Zebo, 13 Virimi Vakatawa, 12 Olivier Klemenczak, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Teddy Iribaren; 1 Eddy Ben Arous, 2 Dimitri Szarzewski (c), 3 Cedate Gomes Sa, 4 Bernard Le Roux, 5 Leone Nakarawa, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 7 Baptiste Chouzenoux, 8 Antonie Claassen
Replacements: 16 Ole Avei, 17 Guram Gogichashvili, 18 Ben Tameifuna, 19 Dominic Bird, 20 Boris Palu, 21 Antoine Gibert, 22 Louis Dupichot, 23 Ben Volavola

Those outside backs are quite something. That's without Teddy Thomas or Rokocoko as well!

No Machenaud or Camille Chat but still a very strong side.

Russell and Imhoff have scored something like 11 tries between them already in Top 14 games this season.

It's a pretty solid Racing side all round.

Jonny May interview in the mail.

"I 100 per cent think Geordie's the man for the job,' said May. 'This is new for him. He's come in and probably inherited a team that wasn't good enough last year. The coaches provide us with brilliant messages and everything we need. Maybe some players don't agree. Some players might think they need help."

From the Simon Cohen article in the mail.

"However, there is growing tension within the squad. A faction of senior players believe that Murphy needs a highly-experienced coach to work alongside him, while he gets to grips with his demanding new role.

It is thought that Cohen has sounded out several players individually this week and they have asked the club hierarchy to delay any appointment until after the weekend, with a view to a delegation from the squad seeking further talks with leading officials about the recruitment plans.

Poor results and coaching upheaval have added to a long-standing sense of turmoil, which may impact on contract negotiations with players."

As much as I detest the publication those are two interesting excerpts that stick out like a sore thumb. The 'some players' barb from May in particular sticks out. He comes across as the clown does May but his interviews in his time here suggest a player who is more switched on than most. In a time when many players can hide behind lack of coaching for their poor play I believe he has actually improved as an individual player since arriving at Tigers as well.

The battle of player power vs the BOD has not helped the club at all in recent times, whilst I am desperate for change at the very top, those senior players have not backed up their influence with performances in Tigers shirts.

I'd be interested to know which senior players because very few are playing anywhere near the level we expect of them. Really only Cole and George Ford can hold their heads high amongst the senior players.

formerly known as Sam wrote:I'd be interested to know which senior players because very few are playing anywhere near the level we expect of them. Really only Cole and George Ford can hold their heads high amongst the senior players.

I am amazed at that comment. Cole is a penalty machine and Ford has been poor.

formerly known as Sam wrote:I'd be interested to know which senior players because very few are playing anywhere near the level we expect of them. Really only Cole and George Ford can hold their heads high amongst the senior players.

I suspect the players may be the same ones that Burgess was talking about at the RWC. One of them went into a sulk for a season when he was at Bath.

Poor old May must be regretting leaving Gloucester. In am not sure Gloucester do with Thorley as a replacement who does not get called away for internationals - yet.