I Can See Table Mountain From Here?

By Chris Chaplin
November 20 2002

At least I feel I should be able to with the Tigers' upcoming visit to the Reading Transvaal on Sunday. This week your previewer dons his bush hat and safari jacket and considers whether Tigers can survive in the ersatz South African outpost that is the MadStad.

A strange turnaround in fortunes for our favourite competitors this season which sees them propping up the table with the half way point of the season upon us and just Bristol above them on the same points but with a game in hand.

With the prospect of a trip to Castle Grim the following weekend, (little chance of any succour there), the game this week is a real must win for both sides. If Irish lose then there's a significant risk of their beginning to lose touch at the bottom and if Tigers lose the same could be said of their keeping Glaws in sight at the top, who themselves will probably prevail over the Tykes at Kingsholm this weekend.

I've only seen Irish play once this term and that was against Glaws, also at the MadStad. Glaws were well below their best that day as well as being deprived of a number of their players on international duty, but they still gave Irish a pasting in the second half.

The Exiles had just prevailed over Falcons at Kingston Park but again all their points had come from Everitt's boot.

The Irish pack played pretty well in the first half and provided an obdurate defence but aside from the passage of play leading to the most dubious of penalty tries, they never really looked like scoring.

It was painful to watch really as the pack won ball ,out it went to Everitt, who promptly kicked it back to the opposition, either directly or via a throw in - it was as confusing as it was tedious. Irish have talent behind the scrum in the likes of Sackey, Appleford, Rossouw and Horak yet they seem reluctant to use it. To be fair Burrows played against Glaws and I wasn't overly impressed so assuming Appleford is available I'd expect to see him start and bring much needed creativity to the Irish midfield.

If I were to be critical of their wingers it's that Sackey seems to want to run the length of the field to score and rather like our Leon seems reluctant to involve his team mates. As far as Pieter Rossouw is concerned, I didn't see much of him in attack mode although I thought he looked a bit hesitant in the execution of his defensive duties.

Horak is an exciting player and for me the biggest danger, fast, well balanced, a real tricky customer.

Dr Venter got a lot of media attention last year when he was credited with transforming most people's tip for relegation (other the London Irish supporters of course) to cup winners and serious contenders. Perhaps a year on the competition has worked out his method of play.
Both last year and the time I've seen him this term he does seem overly enthusiastic to "introduce" himself to the opposition and at the moment his demeanour seems to be producing some very sterile play from his charges outside of the pack.

Everitt is of course their "Goldenboot" and usually obliges, he can make some nice breaks (I've seen him!) but seems to be under instruction to wantonly kick possession away at every opportunity. Tactical kicking? Really?

Edwards has lately been at #9 rather than Martens so I assume the South African is injured and he may well add some incisiveness and adventure around the fringes upon his return.

In the pack there's tons of experience with the usual roundabout of the front row, with Worsely/Halford/Drotske/Kirke/Durant/Hardwicke et al rotating between matches and during the match itself. Plenty of grunt there and I have always liked Drotske in particular who is a real grafter.

At lock one of my other favourites, Ryan Strudwick, who hasn't had a bad game on the occasions that I've seen him play and from the reports that I read it doesn't seem that my experience is unique. The other lock will presumably be either Kennedy or more likely the German (?) international Fahrenson if he's available.

In the back row we find our very own Gussie who as usual is full of endeavour and commitment and he's certainly getting the first team experience that he craved while at Tigers. Though being at the bottom of the pile is probably not quite what he envisaged when he set off south last year. With Dawson back from the diversions of the Emerald Isle I expect he will get the nod over Danaher. These with Sheasby make up a good back line. As much as I like Chris Sheasby I do wonder at his need to run from deep so often rather than release his backs, he looks great on the hoof with his great loping stride but I question, given the predictable nature of his gallops, what it actually achieves in terms of continuity of attack.

So! A good pack without any current stars but none the worse for that as they've been relatively untroubled by the Autumn internationals but with a seeming lack of purpose behind the scrum. What will Tigers make of them?

Well the last time Tigers lost was when I saw them back in September at Bristol and what an unhappy day that was! Since then and in spite of latterly being decimated by Mr Woodward's need to have Tigers both playing and polishing the bench at Twickers they have prevailed in the league despatching Bath, Wasps and Glaws at home while getting some momentum away from Welford Road with wins over the Sorries and Piglets.

They do seem to be hitting a vein of decent form and I think that our front row, where surely Rowntree will get an airing at some point, will be able to take whatever the Exiles' band of brothers throw at them and return it with interest both in the loose and at the set pieces.
At lock Strudwick in particular will represent a real threat but Corry and Deacon having dealt very well with the tap dancing Glaws duo of Eustace and Cornwall (rugby's new Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire) I cannot see them being overly troubled in winning their own ball and perhaps even stealing some of the oppositions', just in case Mr Kay thinks he's the only one capable of such deeds.

In the backrow it must surely be no change with Balding bursting back to form after injury and that stalwart, Will Johnson, performing very well at 8 in Corry's absence elsewhere a row in front. Josh is hopefully going to carry on where he left off last Friday and keep his purple patch going and if so I see them prevailing over the Irish trio, although they should not underestimate them in any circumstances as all three can cause mayhem in broken play.

At scrum half I expect to see Tierney back to keep Edwards (or Martens) on their toes and presumably Sam Vesty will continue his development at 10. Dr Venter will have the opportunity of meeting up with Rod Kafer which should be an interesting confrontation provided Rod retains his head atop his shoulders after Venter's first tackle. Venter, if he's so minded, can be a very effective play maker as we saw last year so Rod will need to be at his defensive best if the good Doctor concentrates on playmaking rather than haymaking.

If Appleford plays it will be interesting to compare him to our aspiring international centre, Ollie Smith. If Burrows plays Ollie should come out on top with his classy combination of strength and pace. Appleford will be more of a test as he has real talent and is as bright as a button.

Fred., opposing Rossouw, will test his defensive qualities and this could be an area where we gain an edge. With Bishop on duty against the Pumas Leon against Sackey should be pretty even as they are, to my mind, very similar players in style and attitude.

By all accounts Boothy acquitted himself well last Friday at #15, even if he wasn't wearing the right shirt, so if Stimmo at last gets a substantive run out against the Springboks, (I'm sure he can otherwise get a lift down to Reading from Twickenham in time for kick-off), or Geordan cannot wing his way back from the Irish international bench I guess the formula will be repeated. Last week of course Mercier's premature departure restricted Glaws most searching kicking but we can be sure that Everitt will test Boothy if he again draws the short straw.

In the absence of Geordan or Stimmo Vesty will assume kicking duties again and if he limits his penalty attempts at goal to the strictly achievable and otherwise kicks for field position he'll be fine and so will we.

The result? Well from what I've seen and heard I can't really see Tigers' winning run being ended just yet, although Irish don't need to be written off as they've got the talent if they get it together into a coherent attacking strategy. It could be a close first half, but if they repeat their collapse in the second half against Glaws, which was of the kind usually associated with the England cricket team, it could be a five pointer for the Tigers and second in the table come Sunday night.