The Wonderful Thing about Tiggers....

By Wildwillie
February 8 2011

...Is not so much that Tiggers are wonderful rugby players but that they are visiting Headingley Carnegie during the Six Nations. One of the many wonderful things about them is that they provide plenty of players for the 6N teams which means that the team to visit HC on Sunday will not be the usual set of mean looking monster-forwards and fleet-footed backs who have dominated the English game for so long. Err...perhaps that is wishful thinking on my part.

As we all know there is never a really good time to play against Leicester and doctoring the pitch (with sand) does not seem to work. The Leeds management have to instill in the players an desire to win. They in turn must convert that into a positve points variance during the 80 minutes when the result is down to them.

To this end it will be necessary to put out the roughest, toughest pack that we have available combined with some quick thinking, nimble-footed backs (if we can recruit them in time) and take the game to the Tiggers from the off. The problem which we have had all season (OK well one of them) is that Fulton, Winegums and BigMac cannot all be on the pitch at the same time. For this reason we are going to have to sacrifice Gomez. Despite his scrummaging prowess I would start with MacDonald and Swainston on either side of Plug in the front row. The second row picks itself - Wentzel and Denton. The next big decision is who to play in the backrow. If you think perm any 3 from Myall, Browne, Rowan and Oakley then the first decision is easy. Myall at 6. Does Rowan, the only specialist 7 get the nod over the experienced and reliable Oakley for Shrek's shirt? If so then Oakley must play at 8. If not then Browne gets the last place in the pack.

In the absence of a mass influx of backs in the next 2 days the choice is very limited. Slow box-kicking scrum half or slow box-kicking scrumhalf. Sources close to the club outside Morrisons say that Jarvis will not feature in this weekend's squad as he did not train Monday and has yet to master the intricate moves synonymous with Tykes back-play which means either a non-kicking 10, poor passing 10 or inexperienced 10. For me it is too late for any more changes/experiments so would stick with Fulton. Barrow and Fa'afili in the centres please with Thomas at fullback.

Right that is the easy bit. Now how do they go about beating a Tigers' team which will be peppered with players who have something to prove? Sorry I do not have the answer but I think it will involve getting in their faces, securing enough possession by the pack and then the backs getting lucky ( or not making the usual errors.)

Whatever happens if the Tykes lose then the screw will tighten just a little bit more, making relegation a little bit more likely. We are heading for the "Last Chance Saloon" so a win on Sunday will be gratefully received. Tykes by 3 points. You heard it here first.

The Wonderful Thing about Tiggers....

Posted by: TykesRugby.co.uk (IP Logged)

Date: 10/02/2011 17:56

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