Tiger cubs demolish Saracens U21s
By TigersTart
October 27 2002
A unanimous squad performance demolished Saracens U21s in a convincing 52-7 victory that further cemented Tigers U21s stars at the top of the league. Nine straight wins on the trot has put Leicester in a commanding position as League leaders.
Tigers leapt into an early lead after a pack drive and scrum-half Jackson sprang out from behind the pack to drag the defence over the line and score. Myring dually converted, putting Leicester into a 7-0 lead. However, Jackson’s heroics were short-lived, as he was taken off injured and replaced by Will Rolt.
The U21s pack was in a powerful mood, consistently driving the Saracens pack all over the pitch. Tigers employed a simple ethos: pack graft and drive, whilst the backs spun the ball wide. Early on, Tigers drove back the Saracens forwards, where Myring opened up the defence, recycled the ball but Tigers were penalised for holding onto possession.
In the 12th minute, from a pack drive, Billig took on the ball and passed wide, where Taylor could not latch onto the pass, but won the ball through reycling. Later Myring was prised again to open up Saracens defence, and popped a short pass to Buckland, with Taylor taking the ball on but was tackled into touch.
That was the closet that the game was, as Tigers U21s then put their foot on the accelerator. An off-the-ball incident occurred during the conversion from a Tigers player, so Saracens were awarded a penalty, on the half-way line, but Colborne missed.
The re-start saw Glitherow running the ball and passed wide to Taylor, who was tackled into touch. In the 19th minute, Saracens had the lineout but Tigers sneaked possession, and shipped the ball out wide but Myring dropped the ball. Again in the 21st minute, Tigers grabbed Saracens lineout ball and spun it wide, with Myring kicking over the defensive line.
Another manoeuvre saw Tigers take their own lineout possession and drive, with ball going wide through Myring, Glitherow and Taylor but Coles couldn’t latch onto the pass. A few minutes later Tigers possession was rewarded when Heresy stormed over the line and Myring converted.
Tigers had a lot of possession and worked the ball well, especially spinning the ball wide, as Myring passed wide, missing out 3 men, to flanker Cooke who was roaming out on the wing, who touched down. In the 38th minute, Coles chased down the re-start and tackled the Saracens full-back and later Cook turned over a man, which all identified the pressure that Tigers were putting on Saracens. After a blind side dart, Coles ran in an injury time try and Myring converted, which made the score 26-7.
Tigers came out roaring in the second-half, as within 2 minutes a gap out wide had been exploited with Hersey going over for his second try of the game. Myring had come with his magic boots, as he was popping passes to open the defence and kicking over conversions. Adding to the early try, flanker Abraham scored from a pack manourve and peel off.
The second half saw a lot of substitutions from both sides. However, that didn’t detract from the game. In the 67th minute, Okoye was sin-binned and two minutes later Ruddick was also binned after a massive brawl. Tigers took advantage of Saracens being down to 13-men, as after a lineout, catch and drive, the pack were over the line with Gerry underneath.
In the 72nd minute, Coles took on highball and passed along the line through Myring and Taylor, but nothing came from the manoeuvre. Loney tried a hop pass but lost the ball. Significantly, Tigers put a lot of pressure on Saracens, as they encamped on their line but poor handling let down many scoring opportunities. In injury time, it was left to Gerry to add his second try of the game, after a lineout had been driven with Myring converting.
Maintaining their position as league leaders, the Tigers U21s are demonstrating an all-round team game. The forwards work hard as a pack unit, who continually highlight their strength by pushing over the opposition, and an agile and engaging back line, who have quick hands and a growing intellect; all provide a solid basis of a team that are refining their skills and playing dynamic rugby.
A key pivotal man is fly-half Luke Myring, as he is the man who opens up defences and injects that bit of magic into the back line. Noticeably, the U21s skill level is incredibly high, as they win opposition lineout ball but also turn over possession, maintaining discipline and support play.
Match reporting team
Scoring sequence:
2 mins Tigers try Jackson and con Myring 7-0
16 mins Saracens try Geldenhuys and con Cadwallader 7-7
26 mins Tigers try Hersey and con Myring 14-7
36 mins Tigers try Cooke 19-7
41 mins Tigers try Coles and con Myring 26-7
42 mins Tigers try Heresy and con Myring 33-7
45 mins Tigers try Abraham 38-7
67 mins Tigers try Gerry and con Myring 45-7
82 mins Tigers try by Gerry and con Myring 52-7
Date: Friday 25th October 2002
Time: 7.30pm k/o
Weather: Crisp and cold, with slight drizzle
Crowd: 750 (biggest crowd ever)
Referee: Andrew Gardner (very good)
Man-of-the-match: Michael Holford (so powerful, always ready at the lineout and so up for the game) followed by TT’s preference of Luke Myring
Sinbin: 67 mins Saracens Edwin Okoye
69 mins Saracens Steve Ruddick
Tigers Team:
15 Tim Taylor
14 Tom Coles
13 Adam Billing
12 Steve Glitherow
11 James Hersey
10 Tim Taylor
9 David Jackson
1 Peter Cook
2 James Buckland
3 Michael Holford
4 Rob Cooke
5 Lee Morley
6 Brett Deacon (capt)
7 Ben Gerry
8 Luke Abraham
Replacements: Roman Piotrowski (52 mins on for Steve Glitherow), Will Rolt (12 mins on for David Jackson), Alex Loney (68 mins on for Adam Billig), James Henry (60 mins on for Michael Holford), Sam Raven (25 mins on for Brett Deacon), Peter Clarke (60 mins on for James Buckland), Ben Chamberlin (72 mins on for Rob Cooke).
15 Ashley Cadwallader
14 Matt Fenton
13 Jacques Geldenhuys
12 Steve Ruddick
11 Pete Waldron
10 Rob Colborne
9 John McDonough (capt)
1 Aston Croall
2 Jon Sharpe
3 Steve Croall
4 Edwin Okoye
5 Chris Waring
6 Daniel Beard
7 Ryan Peacey
8 Daniel Legge
Replacements: Tom Spencer (21 mins on for Aston Croall), Bruce Lockie, John Burnage, James Lewis (56 mins on for Daniel Beard), James Meadows, Sonil Jagesaar, Adrain Haggett (two others were used but didn’t get who they replaced, as nor did the PA system).