Hey Big Spender!!

Tigers v Sarries
By Chris Chaplin
April 14 2004

As the season enters its final phase our Fez bedecked pals take a bit of time off from wielding their chequebook (again) to visit Welford Road this coming Friday.

Even with big names like Ibanez, Randell and Codling absent the Sarries pack took it to the full strength Gloucester eight and not only held the reputedly fearsome West Countrymen but often bested them particularly the starting front row trio of Sparks, Parkes and especially the very impressive Cobus Visagie who made a real mess of the World Cup winner whom he opposed. The 29 time Springbok looks to have been a good signing and clearly not just here for the money – a real threat.

True Kris Chesney picked up from the back of the scrum so often that it became tiresomely predictable and quite why Richard Hill was out on the wing reading the paper when his colleagues were struggling to hold on to ruck ball I don’t know but these quirks aside it was a good performance from the Sarries pack that saw them have the vast majority of the possession in the second half of the match.

Richard Hill and Simon Raiwalui were the most eyecatching players outside of the front row with the experienced Fijian lock, like Hill, being inspirational. As for one to watch though I liked what I saw of young Ben Skirving who was very athletic about the park and though lacking some of Chesney’s bulk he was none the worse for that.

The half back pairing of Morgan Williams and Nicky Little didn’t really work for me in so far as they didn’t really look like they were going to break through the obdurate Gloucester defence which is a pity as the Sarries’ centres looked very lively with Sorrell my man of the match by some distance. He constantly threatened Henry Paul and Terry Fanaloua and single handedly made Williams first half try when the Canadian capitalised on his great follow up support work to dive over.

To be entirely fair to the ex Stade Francais scrum half though so much did Chesney hog the ball at the scrum he didn’t get enough chances to display his wares other than when engaged in clearing from the rucks when he was efficient enough.

With Richard Haughton away on Sevens duty and O’Mahoney still injured Sarries had Adrian Wynan on one wing and Paul Bailey on the other and they just didn’t have the gas to get away although Wynan had his chances and it was painful to see all the hardwork of the Watford outfits’ pack and centres come to naught for the want of a cutting edge to their final thrust.

In spite of all this though had Nicky Little managed to put in anything like a decent performance with his boot then Sarries would have triumphed but unfortunately the usually reliable 53 time capped Fijian had an absolute nightmare – had I still been a Sarries supporter, as I was way back in olden times when dinosaurs roamed the frozen wastes of Cockfosters, then I’d have been wistfully squinting at the bench to see if Andy Goode was still there after all, as for some reason useful young Kiwi utility back Robbie Kydd was not to be trusted to take over the kicking duties.

All in all it was surprising afternoon and I turned off the TV more than a little perplexed at how well the Sarries had played and how they must have bemoaned their lack of that cutting edge which was all that stood between them and four points.

With Codling and Randell making progress back from their respective injuries I wonder if “Dave” Kafer will change the pack for the visit to Welford Road. If he does then it will surely only be on the basis of reputation and not as a reflection of the incumbent’s performance against Gloucester.

Behind the pack is another matter though and the Sarries faithful must surely be hoping for the return of Haughton and O’Mahony or even the much heralded League convert Nathan McAvoy who appeared just half a dozen times before also being laid low.

The joker in the pack remains Thomas Castaignede who seems to raise equal passion for and against amongst the Fezheads. Currently on the injured list it’s amazing to consider that since he joined in 2000 he has managed just 59 appearances but has still bagged ten tries as well as a useful haul of points with his boot and some inspiration at #10 is needed.

As may be gathered Sarries impressed me and were very unfortunate to come away empty handed and Tigers need to treat them with caution.

Now had I been writing this preview without seeing the Gloucester game I would without doubt have been writing off the chances of the Sarries front row when confronted by Messrs White, Rowntree and West and given the well known scrummaging frailties of Phil Vickery this should really still be the case when the Sarries are facing such a destructive player as can be Julian White not to mention the aggression that all three of the Tigers’ front row combatants bring to their tight play.

As far as the line out is concerned I think the outcome will hinge on whether Craig Yandell continues to partner Raiwalui or whether Codling is recovered. While the starting pair against Gloucester looked sound enough on their own ball I think they’ll need somebody as expert in larceny as is Codling to turnover Johnno and Deacon while Martin Corry against Richard Hill should be a delight!

The rest of the back row contest should be equally interesting and even with Taine Randell back in training and Tigers likely to stick with the Back, Corry, Tuilagi triumvirate I don’t expect Tigers to cede the advantage to Sarries at the breakdown as did Gloucester in their strange disjointed display.

Morgan Williams, like Harry Ellis, is a veritable beaver behind his pack and both players have similar styles of play. Experience against precocious youth. Hard to call this and it may well be that with honours even personally it will just depend which pack is in the ascendant.

At Fly-half however, and even were Anne Robinson’s favourite rugby player on parade, it would be hard to go against the form #10 and Jaco could once again be the catalyst for Tigers, as he has been since his arrival.

Johnson and Sorrell did very well against Henry Paul and Fanaloua but I wonder how Johnson will cope with the more robust talents of Daryl Gibson? I can see our All Black having the edge here although Johnson will have him for pace if Gibson should miss a tackle.

Similarly Sorrell’s fine display was helped by his intelligent reading of Paul’s reluctance to unreservedly make his tackles count and Fanaloua’s penchant to crab across field and crowd the right wing.

If Ollie Smith is fit, as he should be, and if by some miracle he is selected to play in position at outside centre then Sorrell may find his space to operate seriously curtailed while having to cope with the pace and directness of Ollie. All in all another close contest but one in which the direct and aggressive play of the Tigers duo should prevail even were, for some reason, the recovering Denis Cech to be preferred to the duo who did so well against Gloucester.

I must say that Tigers’ back three remains a concern and I hope that our international full back, Mr Murphy will play there at last. Andy Goode looks very vulnerable to any ball put behind him as he naturally lays up short and has to turn. Frankly his kicking has not been of the highest order lately and if he is able Geordan should be able to take on these duties. If this is not possible then other than returning Goode to #10 and Jaco to 15, which to my mind would not be quite the disaster that many think it would, then the status quo will have to be maintained.

As for the wings Healey gets my vote on the right but on the left it rather depends who’s around. Holtby is big and robust but if the Sarries’ speedsters are back he may be found wanting for pace so if available Baxter could be the answer. If Freddie starts and then misses one of the Sarries wide men he’ll be found wanting for straight line speed as well. Booth is apparently not yet quite right so it could be that Ollie Smith will have to once more take up duties on the wing being replaced by (hopefully) Gelderbloom in the centre but (if he’s fit) more likely Leon Lloyd in which case watch out for Sorrell!

Sarries season is of course essentially over, no danger or relegation and only a very outside chance of Wildcard qualification. Yet if they are only playing for pride and the chance of avoiding their P45s their performance against failed European Cup Quarter finalists and possible ZP playoff participants Gloucester rather suggests that Mr Wray should have started the ball rolling earlier.

If the Men in Black can get another similar performance out of their pack then it’ll be hard going for Tigers. However at Welford Road and against the Tigers eight I can’t really see it as most of the visitors will surely know their respective fates by now and unless that candle of pride is burning fiercely it’s hard to see where their motivation will come from.

So I’m going for Tigers to starve the Sarries of enough possession and for a home win, but I don’t think it’ll be quite the cakewalk that some pundits reckon and that it will a victory only by the odd score with the four points being gratefully received by us lot at Welford Road.