A Tale of two Tigers
By TJS10
December 28 2006
Christmas has really been a Tale of two Tigers this year. After Friday’s comfortable bonus point victory against league leaders Bristol, Pat Howard decided to keep exactly the same side for the Boxing Day match against London Irish.
Unfortunately, due to a sneaky trick by the LI management, the first choice Tigers side were forced to miss the match as they got lost somewhere inside the M25 trying to find a group of Irish rugby players.
Luckily though Pat & Cockers had a fall-back plan, made a few phonecalls, and were able to convince enough of the remaining, un-selected Tigers players on the morning after Christmas to drive to Reading to play the game there against a group of Samoans & Englishmen masquerading as “London Irish”.
Not the ideal preparation for a Premiership fixture it must be said, but it seems that we weren’t the first side to fall for this trick and Cockers is currently checking his sat-nav to see if “Newcastle” Falcons have opted to use a stadium in Sunderland or somewhere similarly non-Geordie!
Confusion continued when the teams were announced & it was clear that Leicester had more Irishmen than their “London” opposition. However, the recent injury to London Irish’s South African born England International My Cat did mean that neither side were able to name any members of the Big Cat families in their matchday 22s.
Anyway, back to the game itself…
In the true spirit of Christmas, Tigers decided it was better to give than to receive & gave London Irish the chance of a try inside the opening 90 seconds, which Geraghty gratefully received to put “London” “Irish” 5-0 ahead.
Tigers looked for a quick response and Goode gambled on a cross field kick to Moody a few minutes later but Lewis couldn’t gather it under pressure and knocked it forward.
After Casey took Kay out early in the lineout, Goode had a chance to close the gap to two points with a penalty but it drifted wide of the uprights and the score stayed at 5-0.
A short burst through the Reading defence by Cuban International Fidel Castrogiovanni on 10 minutes and passes to Brett Deacon, Moody & then on to Ellis saw pressure continue but Ellis was wrapped up better than the Christmas presents Santa had brought him the morning before and Tigers had to make do with only a 5m scrum.
Geraghty’s boot made it 8-0 after 14 minutes with a penalty & Tom Youngs was forced off with a broken leg, to be replaced by Sam Vesty. Since Healey’s retirement, Vesty is rapidly becoming the club’s new utility back, having ended up in more positions than the Karma Sutra recently!
Tigers finally got the chance to respond after a scrum (which hadn’t looked as strong as usual incidentally) found the ball working its way out from one Murphy to another & Johne dived over the whitewash for a five-pointer. Vesty’s pass to Geordan in the build-up may have been released with the cry of “It’s behind you” but TV replays showed that “Oh no I wasn’t!” Either way, Goode’s wayward boot ensured that 5 didn’t become 7.
By the end of the 1st quarter, Geraghty’s kicking had increased Irish’s lead to 6 points with another simple penalty taking the score to 11-5.
A gift of a penalty, idiotically conceded by Cabbage on their 22 allowed LI to break through the sleeping Tigers side and Bishop gave Ojo a clear run under the posts for 1n 18-5 margin inside 25 minutes.
Goode’s poor kicking & the 13 point margin led Corry to pas up a kickable penalty and opt for the corner soon after & for the first time in the match, the gamble paid off when a catch & drive allowed him to trundle over for a try in the corner just before the half-hour.
Unfortunately though, Goode’s boot remained like a Boxing Day postman & wouldn’t deliver. 18-10 to the Not Nots.
Another Tigers penalty was foregone just before half-time when Tigers opted for another lineout rather than miss another 3-pointer but this time 8 phases of play were brought to an End when Castro couldn’t hold on to the ball & knocked on just short of the line & Rose blew for half-time.
The half-time interval saw a hamstrung Vesty forced off. He was replaced by Paul Burke, with the unwell flay half Andy Goode moving to centre to cover for the injured full-back.
Therefore, of our 4 “centres” used in the match, one was making his return from injury, one should have been at 10 or 15, one should have been at 10 or on his sickbed & one should have been at 12…but in Bedford, playing against London Welsh (Imagine that; an Exiles side who actually play IN London? Whatever next?!?)
Well, it had to happen eventually when, on 45 minutes, Goode’s kicking radar finally realised that the posts were in Reading & not in London & closed the gap to 5 points. 18-13
This seemed to inspire Leicester as Moody gathered the restart but 17 phases of play came to nothing. The first 10 minutes of the 2nd half saw Tigers enjoy 87% of the possession but little reward for their efforts.
The next 10 was pretty even but neither side troubled the little man inside the scoreboard until, like most families at Christmas, a fight broke out in the Madjeski household. After Hodgson skittled Johne, Murphy jnr responded with a push, Delon Armitage joined in & Fidel, sensing the chance for some action, pushed in like a family of chavs at the Bluewater Sales & gave away a penalty right in front of the Touch Judge. No harm was done & there was no need for Rosey to show anyone any special yellow Christmas cards but the resulting 3 pointer for Irish kept them ahead going in to the final quarter.
As the starting players began to tire, Steffon Armitage’s fresh new legs (a Christmas present from his brother Delon) got him over the line to end a good Irish move and extend their margin to 10 points (23-12).
The next key decision of the game belonged to the Video Ref, Ed Morrison. After pausing Eastenders for a minute, he flicked the channel over to Sky Sports & ruled that James McHamilton didn’t ground the ball. Eager to find out how Pauline Fowler died, he didn’t bother to mention to Rosey that Bishop had only been able to hold him up by coming in from the side & so ignored the possible penalty try option & flicked back to the Eastenders omnibus on the BBC.
The penalty awarded instead was kicked to the corner where Cullen’s catch & Moody’s drive ON TO the line added 5 points but Goode missed the conversion to make it 23-18. Had Morrison been given a DVD recorder for Christmas rather than a basic free-view box, he would have been able to pause the TV, make a proper decision & not had to miss some of Eastenders. As it was, the 2 points from a conversion under the post were lost & would come back to haunt Leicester at no-side.
On 72 minutes, Irish managed to do what Goode couldn’t 3 minutes later when they slotted over a penalty, leaving Tigers 8 points adrift & looking like going home with less to show for their Christmas efforts than a Central Trains employee.
However, at the death, an Alex Tuilagi break saw him escape from a tackle & pummel his way over the line for a bonus point try. It’s rare that the losing side manages two bonus points but in one single move, Tigers managed it. The full 5 points would have been better but it just wasn’t to be.
Meatloaf once sang that 2 out of 3 aint bad. Well, if Goodey had managed an average of 2 out of 3 we would have got maximum points but 2 out of 7 doesn’t scan as well musically & also cost us the game.
And so the Christmas season ended with a game that, while not quite a turkey, certainly wasn’t the cracker we had hoped for after the Bristol stuffing.