Match Preview: Leicester Tigers v Leeds Tykes
By markc on 24/12/2003
December 26 2003
Tykes travel to a sold-out Welford Road on Saturday sitting just above Leicester in the ZP’s nether-regions. This is truly an eight pointer of a match, a win for the Tykes will open a large gap between the sides, and a heavy defeat will glue them together.
Tigers or Pussy-Cats?
So which Leicester will face the Tykes on Saturday? Will it be the sorry lot of under-achievers who are languishing near the foot of the table? Or will it be star-laden former champions of Europe? Whatever happens, it makes for a fascinating match, a match that Tykes must view with a great deal of confidence as being there for the taking, with Leicester smarting from a 0-14 reverse at their deadly rivals Northampton last week. Tigers supremo Dean Richards has been a major critic of the ZPL decision to carry on with the domestic fixtures for the duration of the World Cup, Leicester suffering more than most with the enforced absence of their renowned pack, yet they have stuttered since their stars return and seem still to be suffering from a World Cup hangover. Leeds must be hoping that they still catch them in this mood, for there is no doubting that the Tigers are a crop of household names - Johnson, Back, ‘Teflon’ Kay, West, White, the injured Moody - plus a further crop of internationals in the shape of Healey, Van der Westhuyzen, Pez. There’s also the undoubted talents of Leon Lloyd, Freddie Tuilagi, and looking at the squad now it’s difficult to understand their lowly placing. Unfortunately for them this was a result mainly of trying to blend in too much youth with too little experience; there would appear to be a gap between the current aging Tiger dynasty and the next litter of kittens.
Tykes on the up?
The Tykes take to the game with their danders up, following a thrilling 22-18 home win over Gloucester last Sunday. Hopefully, the only injury scare will be that facing David Rees, who limped off with a knee injury early in that match, and that should mean that coach Phil Davies should be able to pick from a near full-strength side for the first time this season. Leeds must be hoping that Tom Palmer came through his second-half return with no reaction, as whichever partner from Hooper or Phil Murphy will need all his experience to deal with the mighty Tigers England second row pairing of Johnson and Kay, these two providing terrible threat in the lineouts. The return of talismanic Mark Regan will spur on the rest of the pack to overcome their more illustrious counterparts. With hard-grafting Mike Shelley, and ever-improving Gary Powell in the front row, and a back row chosen from Persico, Salter, Hyde, Ponton, Popham there is no reason why the Tykes should not be able to face up to the Tigers forwards. The halfback pairing of Stuart-Smith and Ross should be self-picking, CSS is impressing in every game he plays in, and when Ross’s confidence is up he can play some sublime rugby. In the centre I would expect faith to be kept with Tristan Davies and Andre Snyman, who are proving to be a tough pair of cookies to break down defensively. Snyman performed a couple of bullocking runs against Gloucester on Sunday and this could be most effective against the Tigers, who I feel are a little week in this area. As for the back three, I expect Diego Albanese to replace the injured Rees if he is still unfit, and he will likely start on one wing with Mr Christophers on the other. Dan Scarborough will probably retain his place at fullback, his confidence slowly returning after a steady game on Sunday. The bench will probably feature the likes of Cardey, Walker, Walsh, Holt, and whichever of the above-mentioned back five not in the starting line-up.
I think it will be a cracker of a match; it’s a difficult one to call. I’d like to think that Leeds may just shade it by a couple of points, but I’m only too aware that a wounded Tiger is a dangerous beast…. and are those Tigers wounded!
I wish I was going!!