Exeter v Tigers Match Report
By Rich W
February 13 2012
It was a beautiful chilly winter’s evening; the sun-set rosy, turning the blue sky orange and pink.We smiled at the amusing sponsorship of webuyanydigger.com, tried to listen to Ian Robertson’s execrable radio commentary from Rome and drank Otter Ale to, ahem, warm us up. All in all a busy, noisy Sandy Park was a happy setting as it welcomed Leicester Tigers and those of us who had ventured South. Looking at the two sides we expected a close fought game – but were not unhopeful for the result.
And the opening exchanges of the game gave those of us who had travelled ground to think our hopes weren’t unfounded, Tigers kept the ball and moved it well with Flood pulling the strings and, glory be, movement onto the ball in the back line. Manu carried, Tony Allen probed and Tigers made swift progress up the field. They even seemed to have the measure of the typically inconsistent Mr Davey – he of the flappy arms and incomprehensible signals. I am sure he would do himself much good if he decided to communicate his decisions more clearly. Even so Tigers made good early progress. Aggression and accuracy at the breakdown allowedHarrisonand Flood to play on the front foot and gave Tigers opportunity. Inside the Exeter 22 first Flood and then Murphy moved the ball wide left for yet another back-three defender to learn the danger of being last man standing ten meters out between Alex and the goal-line. Oh how much we will miss that inimitable power next year!
An early score – just what we wanted and though the conversion was missed from the touchline the start promised much. And when further progress was made up-field once again - this time resulting in three points for a penalty in front as the Chiefs infringed, Tigers looked to be comprehensively on top.
Penalties conceded by the hosts at the breakdown (where Mr Davey was particularly strict on holding on) became a feature of the first half. Leicester seemed to have the measure of the Exeter lineout too, stealing ball and disrupting what they could not purloin; and, despite some odd refereeing of the scrum (stable Mr Davey – the scrum should be stable before the ball goes in – it’s hardly a wonder scrum-halves put the ball into the second row if the whole thing is swaying and rocking like one of those dances that the estimable Mr C used to attend in his youth) an anticipated advantage to Exeter in that department failed to materialise. In fact for the first half Leicester were on top with only two penalties to the hosts blotting their copy book. The second of which was especially galling. Having survived a missed goal attempt only moments before they infringed again after, perhaps with half a mind on the imminent half-time hiatus, they failed to clear their lines effectively and then neglected to defend with sufficient energy as Exeter ran it back. Conceding a score on the stroke of the break took the gloss of a good first half in which they were noticeably the superior team and critically gave Exeter a lift.
More than that there were other clouds on the horizon. Despite their endeavours Tigers had failed to advance the score board further and critically they ended the first half with Alex Tuilagi in the blood bin and Sam Harrison, ankle strapped heavily, limping badly. When James Grindal came out in the second half our worst fears were realised. Where Harrison had been all spark and snap, his service fizzing into Flood’s hands giving him time and space in which to operate Grindal’s slower, loopier, shorter pass dragged the outside-half closer to the defence putting him under pressure.
Making matters worse Tuilagi senior also played no further part after returning to field with his team-mates only to, bizarrely, jog straight back off again before the restart.
Still Tigers started brightly again with a further penalty getting the scoreboard ticking and at 6-11 confidence should have been high. Instead they went back into their shells as Grindal’s service and Flood’s inability to adjust began to hurt them. Instead of the movement we saw in the opening period things ground to a halt becoming static in the back-line. They were not helped by a bewildering change in interpretation at the break-down by Mr D and to be honest theExeterback-row were immense with the exceptional Tom Johnson leading the way. On a side issue as regardsEngland– I cannot for the life of me work out what it is that Robshaw contributes that Johnson does not do better. He’s more powerful, better over the ball; his work rate is phenomenal and he has deceptive pace. He also has a Deanoesque sense for the flow of the game. Still, despite officials and opposition Leicester were the architects of their own travails.
Johnson’s charge down of Flood’s clearance kick as Tigers laboured just as we were saying don’t concede a stupid score after restart was typical. That the Exeter man strove mightily is not in doubt but Grindal’s pass was again turgid and under-pressure Flood, hesitating, looked somewhat less than an international outside-half and still, even after the charge-down the ball should have been covered but Richard Baxter somehow won the chase for the ball against a sluggish defence. The score might have been fortuitous but it said as much about Leicester’s sloppiness as it did about Exeter’s persistence and spirit and athleticism. Why do teams so often concede like that – it’s not as if it comes as a surprise! The conversion for the lead was splendid by former Tiger Ignacio Mieres and from there it was all uphill for Leicester.
The fact that they also managed to locate the quick-sand as they slogged did nothing to help their cause. Ever more cumbersome in the back-line they put themselves under pressure. Aimless kicking returned in spades with the defensive line jogging up-field, ball was spilled and they found themselves on the wrong side of Mr Davey’s inconsistencies. They had ample right to feel aggrieved by his shocking inability to distinguish between a grey and a black arm on one occasion as he pingedLeicesterfor a knock-on after one of their dwindlingly few good kick-chases. It was clear to everyone else in the ground that a black arm had tapped it back and with Waldrom seizing the loose ball 25 meters out and with a solitary man to beat it was a tough turn-around. But truth be told it wasn’t Mr Davey who stood still at fist receiver as the ball wobbled from the base. Nor was it Mr Davey who fell short with a penalty kick from no more than 40 metres or who hit the post with one from right in front.
Flood’s game disintegrated before our very eyes andExetergained strength. They added a further two penalties to stretch the lead beyond 7 and finished strongly as their break-aways tackled everything that moved.
Still Leicester had chances. They had enough possession and territory but with 10 minutes to go they took to forcing the game in panic as the Chief’s defence raged. It was a turnaround from the first half that was in large part self-inflicted. To be honest Exeter rarely looked like scoring but they kept the ball when they had to, chased their kicks and tackled Tigers to a stand-still. Sadly the visitors seemed unable to offer any counter.
It was a truly depressing second half. The inability of Flood to adjust to the change in his half-back partner was striking. Whilst Manu continued to cross the gainline there was little shape to their endeavours as Allen also faded, and though Waldrom, Mafi, Slater, Ayerza and Logovii when he was introduced all carried willingly too often they took the ball standing still; too often they cluttered the back-line; too often they took man and ball and as panic set in it rendered their efforts fruitless.
In the end Exeter ran out deserving winners and were good value as they denied Tigers the losing bonus point.
In the bars afterwards the hosts were hospitable and delighted with what they seemed to see as a surprising victory. And, truth be told, it may have seemed so at the end of the first period but given the poverty of Tigers’ second half display led, primarily, by Grindal and Flood there was a sort of awful inevitability that was very far from surprising.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:02:19:18:14:07 by Tiggs.
Oh and mention of swaying and rocking gives me an idea for a preview. Did I ever mention the Ilford Palais and Jeff Rowena's Big Five? No? Oh right!! it was a foggy Saturday and a dinosaur was walking down Ilford High Street when.............................
It's funny that none of the reports seem to mention that Exe had a try disallowed in the first half that probably should have been a penalty try when Manu took out the Exe winger (Camacho I think) in the air.
Another one of Mr. Davey's poor decisions
...
The incident is covered in the Chiefs match report here with a photo if anyone is interested.
Quote:Tiggs
Or he jumped after being tackled ? Photos prove very little in an action sport, except what the poster wants to prove.
It's all water under the bridge now and ultimately made no difference. There is no doubt in my mind that Manu tackled him mid air. It was probably the only way to prevent the try.
Agree that still photos can be misleading
'Profit Motive' .. the Vaseline of genocides.
'Reality' .. the new cynicism