Montpellier v Tigers HC Match Preview
By ChrisC
December 9 2013
Light Fantastic Never could dance. Aside from a passable jive and Twist and standing still while waving my arms about that was, and is, about it. I can waltz, well theoretically at least, provided there isn’t any need to turn with any aplomb once the edge of the dance floor has been reached, when my technique is to haul my long suffering partner around like a sack of spuds to commence the return journey. What would Len Goodman say?
Of course the beloved slow dancing of my youth was fine, after all it was more to do with lust than locomotion.
Now though I’m just an embarrassing elderly uncle doing “dad dancing” so at functions and parties I remain seated, other than undertaking the occasional approximation of a waltz once my partner has donned safety boots.
Odd as my dad was a champion at the Foxtrot and my mother, who was a decent dancer (as girls born in the first decades of the twentieth century all seemed to be regardless of social standing), would avoid dancing with him lest he manoeuvre her to the middle of the floor in a smooth but routine style before hitting the after burners and engaging in what my mother called “twiddly-bits”.
“Want a dance Win(ifred)” he’d say. She’d suspiciously squint her eyes at him and after extracting his routine promise that it would be a “twiddle-less” excursion she’d soon find herself once again scrambling to keep in step and time. I was very proud and envious of dad’s prowess on the dance floor. He tried to teach me but in the end thought I was better suited to rugby – says it all really.
Advancing years haven’t helped so while there’s no tripping the “light fantastic” there is one light I do have and that’s the light of experience, so when I first read of PRL’s McCafferty entering into an alliance with the French LNR I shook my head and knew, just knew, they’d renege on the deal just as soon as it suited them.
I had a number of encounters with French businesses and I can honestly say every one ended in tears. The directors were charming, engaging and accommodating people right up to the moment negotiations collapsed or they reneged on the contract. I tried on one occasion to take them to law and it was as expensive as it was pointless. The lawyer confirming that I was 100% in the right and 100% going to lose in a French court. He bade me good luck in getting them into the English judicial system and sent his invoice.
I did business with companies from far and wide; Iceland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg and most every other European country as well as the Gulf States, the USA and China.
The best and most honourable to deal with were from the Scandinavian countries, Germany and the Netherlands but in the end, battered and bruised after decades of trying, I retreated and dealt only in the UK.
Now I’m not saying that UK businessmen are in some way uniquely principled but by and large, aside from the usual skirmishes and a bit of metaphorical hand to hand fighting, in more than forty years I had no really bad experiences. Of course the big advantage is that the home grown rascals are usually known to be rascals and with a little due diligence they can be avoided.
In the light of his own experience I doubt Mr McCafferty would do things the same way again for as Toby Flood succinctly put it in his post match interview last Sunday “never trust the French”.
To which end don’t trust the quote given to Sky by a Montpellier staffer that as Montpellier are, to all intents and purposes, unlikely to exit their Heineken Cup pool they will want to instead concentrate on the Top 14 where they have a tough away fixture against Toulon in a fortnight’s time and will field a very young second or third string team for next Sunday’s return fixture with the Tigers.
Of course with such a massive and talented squad Montpellier can field a team likely to give any Premiership side a work out even if the French club, and their home support, have lost interest in the European competition.
But Galthie can only select from his declared Heineken Cup squad and in some positions he can pick “the kids” if he wishes but in others he has to select from front line troops.
I think it’ll be a selection able to capitalise on home advantage but at the same time ameliorating the risk of fatigue and injury to his key players.
Tigers on the other hand will be seeking a victory to maximise their chances of progressing from the pool stages by making the outcome of the final match of the round, at Welford Road against Ulster, a winner takes affair and so I expect to see a “full tar” selection.
Up front the much vaunted Montpelier scrum got a bit of change early on in last Sunday’s encounter but not for long as the Tigers’ pack soon exerted control over proceedings and once Galthie rang the changes the hosts were more dominant, even when they brought on their own substitutes.
If Montpelier are to rest Leleimalefaga it could be a good opportunity for new signing from Canterbury; Paea Fa’anunu to make his second appearance of the season for his new club. The Kiwi was still playing for Canterbury in the ITM Cup at the end of October so he’s pretty fresh out of the box and now he’s had a bit of a rest this could be an ideal fixture for the twenty-five year old ex Under 23 and Under 19 All Black to continue his French adventure after the fifty-four minutes he played against Castres in the Top 14 at the end of November.
Should Geli and Ivaldi be kept back then Thomas Bianchin is the only other hooker in the Heineken Cup squad. Bianchin, who’d previously been with Grenoble, arrived for this season from Racing Metro where he’d played in both the Top 14 and Heineken Cup last season. He came on for the final quarter, replacing Ivaldi, for his new club in their ignominious home defeat by Ulster and again at Welford Road so he’s somebody we could see start this weekend with one of the heavy hitters on the bench.
On the loose-head my guess is that the old warhorse Nicolas Mas will bring the nous and campaigning experience from his time with his national team and of course European cup exploits with USAP.
If Galthie and Ledesma go for such a line up I think that with Ayerza having seen off Bustos and Cole Lelimalefaga and then Nariashvilli the chances are that the visitors will again be in charge come scrum time and with Tom Youngs back to his best they’ll give a good account of themselves in the loose. However they’ll need to be better organised at the breakdown where Tigers’ defence was as porous as a politician’s promises.
At lock for Tigers Graham Kitchener was just splendid ably assisted by Louis Deacon and Ed Slater and I’d like to see the latter once again in harness with the ex Worcester Warrior, for whom my only worry is that Graham “Gutter” Rowntree may be arguing for his inclusion in the senior England set up – perish the thought!
None of the Montpellier locks really got a look in against the Tigers’ pairings but of those available for European action for the hosts only Tchale-Watchou hasn’t tried his luck and my guess is that the Cameroonian will join with Privat next time. Hard to see with either a Slater/Kitchener or Deacon/Kitchener the hosts will have much success especially as Tigers line out effort will be assisted by Gibson who looked very handy at line out time.
Of the back rowers available for Montpellier I suspect that the quite magnificent Gorgodze will be held in the wings and that the twenty-two year old Fred Quercy could be in his stead on the open side to add to his last quarter outing against Ulster, when they came visiting, with ex Castres, Bourgoin and Brive flanker; Alexandre Bias on the blind side, while New Zealand born Alex Tulou could make his debut in European competition for this season.
All three are capable of multi tasking across the back row and it is to be hoped that referee Mr Owens, probably one of the best around, is an improvement over the horribly inconsistent Mr Lacey who permitted the Montpellier forwards to enter from the side, lay on and over the ball and do pretty much as they liked while he called the Tigers to account with the speed of light for thei indiscretions.
That said Tigers’ defence around the tackle area was terrible with the visiting back row running riot at times.
With Steve Mafi still absent down under and presumably remaining so I expect Jamie Gibson to continue and while he was good in attack and at the line out he was very tardy in his defensive work so he will have to improve come next Sunday – plenty of tackle bag practice for you my boy!!
Julian Salvi was – well Julian Salvi! A right royal pain in the butt to the opposition, always first to the ball and the only back row player to earn his defensive corn until Waldrom appeared, who was similarly everywhere during his all too brief appearance.
Waldrom brought a spark to the Tigers’ back row that ignited some great attacking positions after an outbreak of ennui had grabbed Tigers. I would start Waldrom next weekend and get some dynamism around the scrum and break down but I rather suspect that no amount of hortatory will persuade Cockerill to forsake the more stolid and conservative Crane thus reducing the Tigers’ attacking options.
As ever the outcome of the breakdown will depend on the competence of the match officials. I’m hoping this weekend in France sees an improvement with Nigel Owens in charge.
It could equally be Paillaugue or Pelissie at scrum half for Montpellier, there’s little to choose between them in my view but I think that the France Under 20 international; twenty year old Eric Escande will be in the mix somewhere as Galthie keeps one of his front line scrum halves tucked away from danger.
One of the first choice scrum halves may well start and we saw enough of them last Sunday to see what a threat they represent but with Ben Youngs looking to be gaining some form, with his kicking much better these days, and with the Tigers’ pack likely to get a bit of an edge there’s probably little to fear, especially if Waldrom started and gave Youngs some more options.
It’s somehow difficult to imagine Trinh-Duc not starting although he had a very patchy afternoon at Welford Road. There are two other fly halves in Galthie’s European squad: Enzo Selponi and Ilian Perraux and if either Paillaugue or Pelissie are rested Selponi or Perraux will probably have to be in the match day squad.
Perraux is only twenty-one and has yet to make his season’s debut while the even younger, at nineteen, Selponi made his senior debut this year with starts away from home against Bordeaux and Bayonne, while coming on from the bench against Oyonnax at home and at Treviso in this year’s Heineken Cup. He’s already an Under 23 international so I expect to see him involved and maybe even start.
Toby Flood was at his best playing flat up to the gain line but somehow there seemed a lack of fizz about his game. Hard to quantify so maybe unfair to comment thus and his kicking from the tee was again patchy. He did manage to get Bowden into some promising positions though and of course once he gave way to Lamb the wheels very nearly came off for Tigers.
It was a daft idea from Lamb to try and run the ball out of this own twenty-two but of course if he’d got free and shot downfield for a try, as has Ben Youngs in the past, he’d be given an indulgent shake of the head and a smile as a bit of an imp. He did take his compensatory drop goal with some aplomb though and whether his indiscretion sees him on the naughty step in favour of Williams remains to be seen – I hope it doesn’t as I think Williams would be out of his depth were he required.
Dan Bowden played well going forward and mainly made his tackles but I do wonder if anybody – anybody at all, is organising Tigers’ defence in Tony Allen’s continued absence. I had thought maybe skipper Flood had taken on the mantle but seemingly not or if he has he made a bad job of it last weekend.
Tigers’ defence was a disgraceful shambles; not so much drift as disastrous. Thank goodness their early purple patch gave them breathing space. They’d better get this sorted before next Sunday as Galthie will have watched as Tigers’ defence opened like the Red Sea and will be poised to exploit it.
Goneva had a curate’s egg of an afternoon. Another brilliantly taken try and superb running lines.
He must though look around him and not go hell for leather on his own when the defence has closed. I know he can perform alchemy but it’s judging the base metal that’s important in producing the goods and he was all over the place in defence.
Montpellier have Combezou, who we saw at inside centre last Sunday, All Black Anthony Tuitavake, South African Wynand Olivier, and Audrin can also play in the centre as did Rene Ranger last time, to choose from in the centres.
I suspect that here we may see the same pairing of Combezou and Ranger next weekend as Audrin is the default selection on the wing for Top 14 as is Olivier at inside centre and Tuitavake may also be held in reserve for Top 14.
Having already found the combination to the lock of Tigers’ defence (mind you it doesn’t take a Bill Sykes to work it out) they could well feel they can do it again and unless somebody gets a grip of the Tigers’ defensive organisation I wouldn’t bet against it.
Out wide Miles Benjamin fulfilled his attacking promise and looked dangerous whenever he got the ball going forward as well as making most of his tackles, when he was in the right place to make them of course as he spent too much time drifting in toward the ball and leaving wide open spaces for Montpellier to exploit. He needs to hold his position and use the touchline as another defender.
He should start again as should Thompstone on the other wing who I thought had a bit of a quiet game last time out.
I have a feeling that after his showing last week young Pierre Berard may get another Heineken Cup start having done so on five occasions last term. He also plays at full back so is safe under the high ball and has a decent kicking game. He’s another age group international and, I thought, looked very useful.
With Nagusa, who was very powerful last Sunday, and Audrin being Galthie’s preferred pairing he may want to hold them back and let young Lucas Dupont have a run out. He’s new to Montpellier this season having signed from Grenoble but picked up an injury in September away to USAP and if he’s still crocked Galthie will have to stick with one of his “crown jewels” in which case Tigers will have to keep their shape much better.
Galthie has the option of resting Floch for the Toulon match and bringing in Benoit Sicart who’s made four Top 14 starts in his seven appearances which have provided a brace of tries as well as playing the whole second half when Montpellier entertained Ulster.
I was surprised that Morris wasn’t in last Sunday’s Tigers’ squad and can only assume he’s an unreported injury as otherwise surely he’d be preferred to Hamilton.
If Tigers sort out their defence, Owens controls the breakdown in the same manner for both teams and Flood has his kicking boots well and truly on Tigers could just edge it which would be fantastic as it’s many years since they got some success over there.
It’s an odd match to preview without having the benefit of knowing whether Galthie has written off the Heineken Cup for this season. I suspect he’ll hedge his bets along the lines I’ve pondered but you never know with the French!
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2013:12:17:22:06:07 by Tiggs.
Quote:Tigers’ defence was as porous as a politician’s promises.
Tigers defence was not good but think you are being a little harsh.
The nearest politicians should get to Welford Road is the building next door to the rec.
But I really can't agree on Crane/Waldrom - not because Thomas did not play well when introduced but you argue that we need him to give us more attacking options. The one thing we were not short of on Sunday it seemed to me was attacking options - defensive organisation, communication, common sense, the patience and clarity of thought and the skill in execution to finish of the chances those options created maybe but more options? Surely not.
I felt if anything the introduction of Tank simply poured petrol on a raging inferno when control was required and where Crane, in his more prosaic style, had had a good game and was at least partly involved in trying to hold things in shape around the break-down - something to which the man fomr the city of Lower Hutt is hardly given to, with his more 'roaming' style.
If our intent is simply to give it a lash in the 'we're going to score one more than you' style then I might agree but your contention appears to be that control, defensive organisation and committment are at a premium after Sunday.
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And like others, I just hope we can assert ourselves early on and push them into a damage-limitation mode, with one eye on the following bout with Toulon. Time to play sensible rugby - no mavericks required. And I hope somebody is making that point very forcefully to Lamby, should he make an appearance.....
Of the four tries Tigers conceded two were conceded when Crane was at #8 and the other two after Waldrom came on.
The first by Gorgodze came from the poor (to say the very least) defence around the breakdown where Crane should have been in control and Gorgodze should never have been able to canter off as he did. So the consequences of the poor defence of the tackle area could be argued to have been worse with Crane in post than when Waldrom took over.
As for attacking options I think that Waldrom's lack of predictability is very valuable and brings in more players rather better than does Crane's style.
But as I say we have never really agreed on the merits and demerits of these two and that's unlikely to change much now I'd have thought.
So as we have before over the past dozen or so years we'll have to agree to disagree!
I am inclined to think Montpellier will give this game a good crack as it is at home. With the Toulon fixture being an away one and the current lamentable away track records for most Top 14 sides, Montpellier might seek to be party poopers on our attempts to progress to the QF's!
Either way, it should be a great weekend and fixture!
In this case I feel that despite the truth of your point that there was a failure by Crane - and others - around the finges for Gorgodze's try that was only one incident in a game where the break-down was insufficiently policed by several individuals throughout. For me a good part of that was that Gibson, Tom Yonngs and Kitchener were all too often elsewhere leaving Salvi, Deacon and Crane with too much to do. That in one case it lead to a try by virtue of further failings to cover back by all but Bowden does not reveal the whole of the issue.
I still rather feelif we wish to play with the additional control that upi espouse that Crane is the more likely to assist in that. If we are willing to compromise attempting to exercise that control in pursuit of all out attack then I would certainly select Thomas.
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Quote:That in one case it lead to a try by virtue of further failings to cover back by all but Bowden does not reveal the whole of the issue.
Which brings me to the other burning topic for me - defensive organisation.
With Allen (worryingly) looking to be absent for a good while yet who IS defensive captain? We badly need somebody. Who has the brain power to do the job do you think?
The problem is we have no-one in the midfield with that intellectual rigour - Floody excluded but he's surely to busy for yet another role - in Niki and Dan we have two creative souls, goverened by instinct and verve and they certainly added to our attack last week but against the attacking intent and ability of our oponents I am not sure that such is not altogether too risky an approach.
A little cement is required but from where?
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I think we may need to revisit our approach to management of teh defensive syatem and have a number involved - I'd like to see the blind-side flanker (whoever that may be) taking a role among others.
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Finally people beginning to realise how good AA is, you do not realise how much he brings to the side (especially defensively) until he is not there.
DB, VG & MB are a great threat in attack but have weaknesses in defence. Matt Smith if fit would be my choice at 13 to bolster the defence with VG & MB on the wings with AT on bench as cover.
Thanks again, Chris, especially for reminding me of Strictly
'Lions led by donkeys' .. Lest we forget