The Luke's steal Quins thunder

By Tigerstart
April 23 2003

Having come back from behind to beat Newcastle two weeks ago, Tigers U21s were in the same position as they gave themselves a one point half-time lead against a strong Harlequins side.

Suffering from injuries, Leicester grafted hard in the second half to edge victory by 24-18 points thanks to the Luke’s – Abraham’s two tries and Myring’s boot.

With the main team putting in such a woeful display of rugby, losing 17-9 at The Stoop, it was left to the U21s to provide some comfort over Easter weekend. In a hard fought game, which included 4 sinbins and some dire handling skills, the Tigers pack gave the Quins pack a taste of their own medicine by driving them down field in the second half. Abraham’s two touchdowns and Myring’s accuracy with the boot gave Tigers the breathing space despite a late onslaught from Harlequins.

The U21s contained some unfamiliar faces as injuries curtailed selection as well as Cook being drafted into the first team. Having not played that many games recently; it was nice to see Clarke in the back row. If there was ever an award for look-a-likes, then it would have to be hooker Stuart Friswell, as he is a spitting image of a young Eric Miller. Rolt dictated at scrum-half in his usual fashion. Interesting to see that Sayer played wing, having previously played at No.15 and NO.10 (obviously a utility player) and came into play well with Tim Taylor and Luke Myring in their preferred positions of NO.15 and NO.10, respectively.

Tigers kicked off and after a few minutes of play the referee played advantage, which was not forth coming, so Sayer kicked over the penalty. Quins were infringing in play a few minutes later but Myring missed the penalty. It was certainly a trade of penalties in the first half, as Quins fly-half Jarvis equalled the score to 3-3 in the 16th minute. Quins were yet again infringing, so Sayer kicked the penalty in the 18th minute. In the 20th minute, Jarvis missed out on equalling the score.

At a ruck, there was some fighting and the referee showed Tigers hooker Friswell the yellow card and he spent 10 minutes in the bin. Quins lock Creed came off for a blood injury, a cut above the right eye and then returned to the field. Down to 14-men, Tigers held up against a hard physical Quins pack. Harlequins chose to take the penalty and their forwards’ drove to Leicester’s line. The ball was spun out but a too over-eager pass meant that a scoring opportunity was missed by Quins. Yet again, the Harlequins pack drove Tigers down field, gained a penalty as Tigers came in from the wrong side. After the lineout and catch by Quins, they drove to the line but Tigers trademark strong defence held them up. Harlequins territory and pressure paid off in the 33rd minute, as from a 5-metre scrum, Horstmann powered his way over the line. Just before half-time, Quins went down to 13-men, as lock Parker was sinbinned and after consultation with his touch-judge, centre Bell was off for fighting. Myring slotted over the penalty, which crucially gave Tigers a vital one-point lead going into the second half.

Within the first 12-minutes of the second half, the Luke’s had done their damage for Tigers and established a lead over Quins. Abraham was on hand in the 44th minute to score with Myring adding the conversion. Jarvis then missed a penalty to narrow the score. Buckland added his dynamism in the pack, as he replaced Friswell in the pack and Holford had already come on at half-time. The Tigers pack taught Quins what they can do; Leicester can do it better, as the forwards put together a magnificent drive up field. The ball was spun wide and from a scrum, Abraham chose his favourite move of peel off and drive and he was over the line. Myring missed the conversion but in the 52nd minute, Tigers led 21-8.

Jarvis kicked over a penalty for Quins in the 56th minute, making the score 21-11. Quins put some pressure on the Tigers 22 but Tigers defence held tight. After another piece of hand-bags at dawn, Quins lock Creed was sinbinned. Myring steadied any nerves by slotting over a penalty in the 73rd minute, making the score 21-11. Quins finished the game fighting, as Tigers were down to 14-men with Abraham in the bin and Quins replacement Reay strolled over under the posts. Tigers defence was caught out.

The team effort, in particularly the pack’s grafting in the second half, earnt Tigers the valuable victory in the run into the end of the season – a home game against Gloucester would clearly give Tigers the well-deserved Championship. Harlequins had Tigers on the back foot for much of the first half, mastering in the art of forward driving. After a stern half-time talk, it was a case of the Tigers pack showing their strength, as the pack combined as a unit and rolled Quins down field. The Tigers pack grafted hard and made their work count in the second half. Both sides were guilty of poor handling and retention of possession. Rolt shifted the ball wide but often sought the blind side, whereas if the ball had gone down the line to Coles there was less of a defensive cover line and managed the forwards well. Basically, it was a case of Coles hardly ever seeing the ball, a disease that should be eradicated. Myring controlled the game well from NO.10. The ball does need to be shifted further out to Coles as he’s ready for a good run down field. Glitherow and Hipkiss, combine well in centre, with Hipkiss putting big hits in. Tigers concentration needs to stay for the whole 80 minutes and possession needs to be tighter.

If Tigers can carry on in this frame of mind – a strong pack aided by a demanding NO.9, a game controller at NO.10 and some backs that want to engage in play – then the U21 Championship looks like its coming home to Welford Road. Without a doubt, U21 rugby is a pleasure to watch.

Scoring sequence:
3 mins Tigers pen Sayer 3-0
16 mins Quins pen Jarvis 3-3
18 mins Tigers pen Sayer 6-3
33 mins Quins try Hortsmann 6-8
47 mins Tigers pen Myring 9-8 (INJURY TIME)

44 mins Tigers try Abraham and con Myring 16-8
52 mins Tigers try Abraham 21-8
56 mins Quins pen Jarvis 21-11
73 mins Tigers pen Myring 24-11
82 mins Quins try and con Jarvis 24-18 (INJURY TIME)

Date: Saturday 19th April 2003
Time: 2.30pm k/o
Weather: dark skies and freezing cold
Crowd: 250 people who nearly froze to the stands, as the referee insisted on playing football time
Ref: didn’t catch his name
Man-of-the-match: Luke Abraham (as he was busy all over the field, especially peeling off from the pack and tackling)
Sin-bin: 26 mins 2 Stuart Friswell, 43 mins 5 Tom Parker, 68 mins 4 Ben Creed and 80 mins 8 Luke Abraham
Match reporting team: TT, Pinky, Pinky’s dad and bro from the executive seats

Tigers team:
15 Tim Taylor
14 Tom Coles
13 Steve Glitherow
12 Danny “posh kid” Hipkiss
11 Luke Sayer
10 Luke Myring
9 Will Rolt
1 Richard Webster
2 Stuart Friswell
3 Alex Loney
4 Rob Cooke
5 Lee “hello girls” Morley (CAPTAIN)
6 Sam Raven
7 Peter Clarke
8 Luke Abraham
Reps: 16 James Buckland (33-37 mins on for 2 Friswell as SINBINNED and 52 mins on for 2 Friswell), 18 David Jackson(26-30 mins on for 4 Cooke BLOOD), 19 Ian Barrett (73 mins on for 11 Sayer), 21 Ben Chamberlin (75 mins on for 7 Clarke), 22 Michael Holford (HALFTIME on for 1 Webster).

Bath team:
15 Max Willcocks
14 Ugo Monye
13 Tom Allen
12 Chris Bell
11 Henry Barrett
10 Adrian Jarvis
9 Rob Outen
1 Ben Hopklins
2 Sam Walton
3 Ryan Storer
4 Ben Creed
5 Tom APrker
6 Tom McCormick
7 Tom Guest
8 Kai Horstmann
Reps: 16 Rob Chapman, 17 O Martini, 18 Chris Gordell, 20 Ian Martin, 21 Andy Reay, 22 Tom Williams, 24 Dipo Osho