Tigers v Ospreys - the wait is over

By Tigerbud
April 19 2007

The wait is over. 5 years after the Neil Back heroics (yes, I’m biased) against Munster Martin Corry finally got his hands on his first trophy as the Tigers captain.

After being messed around consistently by England and any critic or opposition fan looking to put the boot in, the smile on Cozza’s face when holding up the oddly shaped cup on the winner’s podium said it all. The cynic will say that this is a Mickey Mouse competition and something that should just be brushed aside in comparison to the more prestigious Guinness Premiership or Heineken Cup, but for Leicester this could be the step the team needed for the final push of the season. As a team that prides themselves on the trophies they win, this is a definite step in the right direction.

This was our third visit to the concrete bowl that is Twickenham in three seasons and the first time the players and fans have been able to walk away from the stadium without feeling like the team had underperformed again in a major final. They do seem to enjoy making the fans sweat it out though. Before the game the Ospreys seemed to attempting to make the game into a grudge match by bringing up last years HEC pool games which saw two players getting lengthy bans and Lyn Jones claiming they played the better rugby even though they had lost. If that wasn’t enough, Justin Marshall kicked in with the Ronan O’Gara inspired “Magners League is better than The Premiership” and the even better “I don’t know how Harry Ellis plays. I’ve never even seen a video of him,” rants which every Guinness Premiership fan would have something to say about.

The match started well for the Ospreys, which was something of a ruse. Two debateable James Hook penalties put the score at 6-0 without Leicester even having much of a say in it. That was soon about to change though when Tom Croft, who stepped up to the plate in the biggest match of his career thus far, took good line-out ball and fast ball was shipped to Paul Burke. All Ospreys eyes were trained on Alex Tuilagi who has been taking the ball on the crash from the flyhalf regularly with devastating effects but instead Burke chipped the ball over the rushing defence for Justin Marshall to make his first impression of the game. Marshall went up to compete the ball but Tom Varndell was faster and was able to rip the ball from the former Kiwi international scrum half, which made the try all the sweeter. A successful Burke conversion made up for an early penalty miss and Tigers took a 7-6 lead that they never relinquished.

Tigers fans didn’t have to wait long for the second try either, with the very next attack on the Ospreys line. After good kick off retention Tom Croft moved over to the left wing where his height dwarfed the elusive Shane Williams. In an excellently planned move Burke chipped the ball brilliantly over towards the left wing where Croft towered over Williams to tap the ball back to Dan Hipkiss. A good step and pass put Croft away with no one in front of him. The second fastest player in the squad didn’t need a second invitation to charge towards the line and had obviously been paying close attention to close friend Varndell with an excellent dive over the line. One thing that was obvious from both the tries was that neither of them have been typical Tigers moves from this season, which could be looking forward to Llanelli on Saturday. Back to the EDF though and with Burke’s conversion Leicester increased the lead over the Ospreys to 14-6.

At this point the Ospreys fans must have been wondering where their side had disappeared to, holes were appearing everywhere with regularity. Not a side to pass up on these offerings Tigers scored their third, and possibly most satisfying try when Ben Kay dummied the great Welsh hope James Hook and ran 40 metres to the line and with the empty south stand in his sights touched down next to the posts.
It didn’t stop there for Tigers either and when Alex Tuilagi crashed through Justin Marshall’s feeble attempt to stop him for the sides fourth try and Leicester went into the break 28-9 up, which should have been an insurmountable lead and I for one was worried that the concentration might slip with the HEC final against Llanelli looming large in the mind. During half time Burke, who had played probably his best game in a Tigers shirt, had to retire hurt due to a knee injury and Andy Goode replaced him and it was a Goode miss-touch error that started the Ospreys momentum. After a lineout near the Tigers line Goode sliced his clearance and the Ospreys mounted good phase possession, something they hadn’t been able to in the first half, and sent Lee Byrne who was anonymous for the first half over the try line. This galvanised the Ospreys and when Castrogiovanni lost the ball in contact Leicester were split open again with Shane Williams crossing in the right hand corner. At this point nerves were started to get a little frayed in the Tigers supports section of the North stand and you knew the impetus of the game was starting to change. A coolly taken Goode penalty when Tuilagi was taken without the ball clamed the nerves some, but a second Williams try only two minutes afterwards made you wonder if this was going to be Ospreys day and one of the greatest comebacks seen in a final. Leicester, and Dan Hipkiss in particular had something to say about that.

Hipkiss, who had just brilliantly cut the Osprey line with a run from deep in the Tigers half, took a great flat pass from Andy Goode and after a step and show he was away. After leaving the defender for dead he drew Byrne brilliantly and gave Tom Varndell a clear run for the line which ended up being the difference between the sides. A try near the death by the Ospreys raised the heart rate for the final few minutes but Leicester had done enough to end the trophy drought. The most pleasing thing from a Tigers perspective was the ability to close the game out at the end and not get sucked into too many stupid mistakes. The team will have to play a lot better on Saturday though if they want to overcome Llanelli, but the feeling of walking away from Twickenham with a win and a trophy was priceless.