Saints v Tigers Match Preview

In case you hadn’t worked it out by now, or have been
too busy building snowmen in the back garden (I saw a
very funny cartoon relating to this, but I won’t go
into it now), tomorrow sees the visit to Franklin’s
Gardens of our old friends, the Tigers of Welford
Road.

I won’t dwell on the differences in each club’s season
to date, but suffice to say that after a two-year
blip, Leicester have been back with a vengeance.
Whether it’s because it’s Martin Johnson’s last
season, or the cutting edge instilled in the backline
by Pat Howard, who returned to the club this season as
assistant coach, but the Tigers have stormed their way
to the top of the table and a likely place in May’s
Grand Final. Last week, as we all know, they used
their headlining of Rugby Special to run 11 tries past
Newcastle Falcons, eventually winning 83-10.

Yet, and I know that this may sound bizarre, this
Saturday could be the ideal time to be facing them.
Not only are they missing a host of front-line
players, but sides who scored a hatful of points one
week rarely repeat the feat the next. There won’t be
any drop of intensity, there never is in encounters
between these clubs – as witnessed by those who went
to the Wanderers win at Welford Road in October, but
this is the opportunity for Saints to begin the long
crawl to safety.

So who will be wearing the stripes tomorrow?

15 Seru Rabeni
14 John Holtby
13 Leon Lloyd
12 Daryl Gibson
11 Austin Healey
10 Sam Vesty
9 Scott Bemand
1 Michael Holford
2 George Chuter
3 Darren Morris
4 Martin Johnson (captain)
5 James Hamilton
6 Henry Tuilagi
7 Neil Back
8 Will Johnson

Replacements (from):
James Buckland
John Rawson
Luke Abraham
Louis/Brett Deacon
Roger Warren
Dan Hipkiss
Alesana Tuilagi

The big news in this line-up relates to the fly-half
shirt. Without Andy Goode – on England duty – and Ross
Broadfoot – injured, 23 year-old Sam Vesty has been
given the task of sparking the talented backline.
Vesty started last weekend at fullback ahead of
Geordan Murphy, and has turned in some good
performances this term. But while he has played
fly-half before, he is a relative novice in the
position, and Darren Fox and Corne Krige will be eager
to exert some pressure.

Elsewhere John Holtby comes in for Ollie Smith, with
Leon Lloyd moving to centre, Will Johnson covers at
number eight and Michael Holford plays prop with the
absence of Graham Rowntree. Also, we welcome James
Buckland back to the Gardens, albeit on the bench.

They might be missing a few players, but this is still
an impressive Tigers side with a lot of experience.
For example, Will Johnson made his 100th appearance
last week, and Darren Morris is one of the best
tighthead props around.

So it will be a big task for the Saints to come out on
top. Here are the twenty-two men called upon by Budge
and Grays to do so.

15 BRUCE REIHANA
14 John Rudd
13 Neil Starling
12 Marc Stcherbina
11 BEN COHEN
10 Shane Drahm
9 Johnny Howard
1 Simon Emms
2 Dan Richmond
3 ROBBIE MORRIS
4 Matt Lord
5 Damien Browne
6 Darren Fox
7 CORNE KRIGE (capt)
8 ANDREW BLOWERS

Replacements 
16 Chris Budgen
17 Brett Sturgess
18 Grant Seely
19 Mark Soden
20 Billy Fulton
21 Luke Myring
22 Wylie Human

As with Leicester, the selections that catch the eye
are in the half-back positions. Shane Drahm and Johnny
Howard have been given the chance to redeem their Wasp
wobbles. And Drahm’s position as the club’s number one
pivot has been reinforced by Grays’ leaving himself
off the bench for Luke Myring.

Whether this is designed as a boost to Drahm’s
confidence, or was simply in anticipation of a
possible touchline ban for Budge (the wording of the
ruling mystifies me somewhat), the inclusion of
Leicester-born Myring is a gamble. Although his recent
performances for the Wanderers have been impressive,
he is untried at this level and has been injured for
the majority of the season. Consequently, in the light
of Thursday’s ruling allowing Budge to take his usual
place in the stand with his walkie-talkie, it wouldn’t
surprise me if Grays appeared on the bench.*

Ben Cohen’s release from England duty means that he
takes his place on the wing, and Paul Diggin’s
unfortunate hamstring injury gives John Rudd the
chance to impress. Robbie Morris and Dan Richmond come
in for Tom Smith and Steve Thompson respectively. Mark
Soden replaces the injured Ross Beattie on the bench.

- - -

When the Northampton board appointed Budge Pountney as
head coach, I’m sure that it was the example of John
Wells that they had in mind. Like Budge, Wells took
over a struggling side. Unlike Budge, however,
Leicester turned their season around after Dean
Richards’ departure to qualify for the Heineken Cup.
Of course Wells had the considerable qualities of
Martin Johnson returning from leading England to the
World Cup.

Whilst we haven’t reached the last-chance saloon just
yet, we are pulling into the car park and joining the
back of the queue to get in. Whether the bouncer lets
us in or not depends largely on tomorrow’s result. Has
the confidence lacking in the last hour of the Wasps
match been found under the sofa somewhere? More to the
point, will we have the composure to get our noses in
front at the right time and stay there?

It is time for the boys to step up; for Cohen to show
Saints supporters and the England management his true
class; and for Howard and Drahm to rediscover the form
they’ve demonstrated to us already this season. These,
and many other factors will decide Saturday’s result.

But the Saintsmen won’t have a better chance.

P.S. I couldn’t write a preview of a Saints/Tigers
preview without mentioning Martin Johnson. I’m sure
that everyone who reads this will agree with me that
we have been privileged to have witnessed one of the
game’s greatest players grace our pitch. Unfortunately
we have, more often than not, been on the receiving
end of a defeat inflicted by Johnson’s leadership,
such as the 1998/99 clash when he inspired Leicester
to recover from a sinbinning to score a try and knock
the stuffing out of us.

Lets hope that tomorrow has a different ending, and
Johnson’s last East Midlands derby ends in
disappointment for the Leicester Tigers.

P.P.S. There is another derby next Friday (March 4th),
when the Wanderers host Leicester Extras in the Zurich
‘A’ League, kick-off 7:30pm. With no other rugby to
watch that weekend, lets see you all there.

*This is my personal opinion, and does not in any way
reflect any club policy.

Chris Wearmouth