Tigers v Wasps Match Report
By JK
January 8 2012
Dull Wasps Not Really Swatted Hard Enough Tigers 29-11 London Wasps Right from the kick-off, on a grey, grey, Welford Road evening, you sensed it was going to be a frustrating match for a much re-shuffled Leicester side and nothing really happened in the first few minutes to allay those fears.
Kick-off was straight to touch with the ensuing scrum and subsequent pressure resulting in a straightforward penalty to Wasps and Tigers kicking off again, this time three points down. We seem to be wanting to give the oppo a head-start recently which is puzzling!
As has been mentioned elsewhere, I don’t understand the rationale behind kick offs being sent deep into the opposing 22 where they can be comfortably dealt with and returned with interest. Perhaps someone can enlighten me via the message board?
Tigers steadied the ship a little with some good driving but the handling combination along the backs just didn’t seem to be creating any gaps and, but for a three-pointer head-on to the posts, the home side didn’t really look like scoring.
Further kick-off practice was provided when the entire Leicester team seemed to stop at a fairly innocuous looking ruck midway into the Leicester half. Maybe they were expecting a referee’s whistle but Nic Berry was off like a startled rabbit down an undefended blind-side to score a practically undefended try in a sequence reminiscent of the Sale game last week. This kind of stopping happened again a little later in the half but Leicester got away with it... play to the whistle lads... schoolboy stuff!
The unconverted try acted as a kid of rallying point for the home team and they started to force their way back and created a period of quite sustained pressure. Tigers’ first try, when it came, seemed to result from a failed attack near the Wasps line as the ball went loose. Somewhat fortuitously, Billy Twelvetrees was first to pounce as the ball bobbled over the Wasps try-line. Although it had looked like a Tigers knock-on, the referee signalled that the ball had been knocked backwards by Wasps and tweeters viewing Sky from the comfort of their armchairs confirmed that this was the case.
Two more Twelvetrees penalties (to one from Wasps), along with the straightforward conversion meant that Leicester went into the half time break looking unconvincing but being ahead. I’m fairly sure the team talk wouldn’t have been for the faint-hearted.
The second half really turned out to be little better, plenty of solid build up but no real final penetration against a frankly weak Wasps team who didn’t look like troubling the scorers themselves and, in the final analysis didn’t add to their half-time points tally. Wasps ought to be extremely grateful that they met Tigers at Adams Park during the World Cup and that Tigers sneaked a win in Newcastle during the same period, otherwise (even more) serious relegation panic might have been setting in around now.
The nemesis of being unable to score a well-worked try of their own seemed to weigh heavy on Leicester and opportunity after opportunity went begging. Wasps tried to help the Leicester cause by having Tim Payne sin-binned midway through the half but not even a numerical advantage or a cameo from Farmer White (presumably on a break from lambing?) could get Tigers across the whitewash.
Finally in the last ten minutes, Ben Youngs provided a scoring pass to Billy Twelvetrees who dived under the posts and added a simple conversion to two penalties early in the half. Game over with Leicester out of sight and a bonus point beyond their grasp leaving us all to debate what might have/should have been.
In a lot of ways, the two January games have been very similar and Tigers will probably reflect on two bonus points dropped at least as much as twelve points gained. But for Agulla’s moment of brilliance in a Worcester game where Leicester should have been out of sight, we might be talking about three points lost over the festive period.
I know that a win is a win and it may seem churlish after an eighteen point victory to ask, but... what exactly went wrong?
It would be easy to point the finger at the injury list, especially in midfield where first Anthony Allen, then Manu, then Toby Flood have forced changes over the last three games. Paul Ackford’s claim in the Telgraph and Richard Cockerill’s to the BBC that the fly-half/centre combinations were rusty stand scrutiny but surely these guys train together and familiarity comes not just from game time. Surely Cockers has known all week what his team would be and they should be running like a well-oiled machine by now. The modern game suffers so many injuries that a settled line-up is very unlikely and if familiarity can’t be engendered in training, we have a problem.
The bright spot of course has been Billy Twelvetrees who has heroically stepped up to the mark wherever and whenever he has been asked. Whilst he might lack the delicate finesse of Allen or Flood and the raw power of Manu, he always seems to be going forward and, along with Manu, the opposition always have to be wary of him which creates gaps for others. That’s to say nothing of his faultless place kicking display yesterday. Without him, I guess it would have been down to Youngs or Murphy. Surely his name has to be on every squad list from now on. Someone described him on Twitter as having an off-day yesterday (with his 29 points!)... Gawd help the Premiership and us all if he runs into form!!
If I had to single out one area of deficiency, it seems almost heretical to say it but Ben Youngs is not having a good season to say the least. His passing has not been accurate nor have his breaks been penetrative. Box-kicking has been frankly awful with one comedy effort landing quite a few rows back in the Crumbie Stand yesterday, seemingly ninety degrees in the wrong direction.
Breaks are all too predictable now and no longer come as any surprise to the oppo, making them easier to deal with. His service seems to have slowed since the halcyon Australia games to the extent that the midfield is constantly receiving man and ball (although I’m sure that attacking too flat is partially responsible for that a well). He needs to work hard on getting the ball more quickly and more of the time to the fly-half so that the midfield can do their job.
With artillery like the Tuilagis, Twelvetrees and Hamilton, and the wizardry of Smith, Murphy and Agulla, we should we banging in tries for fun. All too often yesterday, service was slow and Youngs needed a step before passing if not more with a couple of occasions of full-blown running sideways. I’ve never been a fan of Danny Care but surely, any starts Ben makes for England in this 6N must be seen as a bonus from the Metropolitan Police and the DVLA.
Harrison and, last week, Young, both seem sharper although I know that’s easy to say if you haven’t played sixty or seventy minutes first but it will be interesting to see how they get on during the 6N when Youngs is away.
I understand via Twitter that Ben received some personal abuse yesterday in front of his family for which there is no excuse. That said, we are all criticised at work sometimes and not always constructively. The measure of the man is in how he deals with it and living on reputation is unlikely to help.
I do hope he is not carrying an injury and should not really be playing. Surely no need for this with Harrison and Young available?
A big step up is needed from everyone if next Friday’s trip to Ulster is to prove anything other than disappointing and similar for the rest of the season.
I’m delighted that Tigers have got to fourth – should have been third - since the World Cup although it does worry me that this has come on the back of a relatively easy run of games – Sale, Gloucester, Saints (OK, I know, not so easy but it was at home), Worcester, Sale, Wasps. We still have to visit The Stoop, Vicarage Road (Ye Gods!), Sandy Park and Franklins Gardens this season in addition to having to contend with 6N player absences. I do hope we’ve done enough to hold on to a top four spot and I do so wish we’d been third now.
The Ref? Not too bad although I did seem to pay for a lot of scrum setting at one point. Smart enough to spot Wasps knock-back for Tigers’ first try and not afraid to dismiss Tim Payne when required.
Man-of-the-Match: No real stand-outs but the lineout functioned well with Croft and Parling looking good. Hawkins throwing well and looking up for it!
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:01:13:14:47:25 by Tiggs.
Great comprehensive report and out so quickly too - cheers JK - Tigersfan1
Good accurate report - thanks JK.
I thought Croft was superb and agree that it was good to see Parling and Hawkins performing well. - Flash_Geordan_2
Great read again.
...
I suspect it will sound almost heretical to criticise the Man of the Hour, but I was not overly convinced at Billy T's positioning on several occasions in the match, he really looked as if he was unsure where to place himself in the line! :-)
I noticed Allen ( I think) gesturing to him during one scrum to move on over into place!!
As the Boss said, possibly a bit rusty at the position, but somehow I still don't see him as a natural 10..... It looks as if he may have the chance to have another go!
Discuss!
