We Meet Again

ZP01-05
By Chris Chaplin
September 2 2004

Not only do English rugby union supporters meet up for the new season next weekend but Tigers meet Sale yet again in a re run of the last throws of the 2003/4 season when Tigers at last prevailed over the team that had been such a thorn in their side during the three earlier meetings that season.

As the great man said “no points for pre-season” and aside from being pipe openers I’m not convinced that much can be drawn from the fixtures played over the last few weeks. Sale managing wins against Glasgow on two occasions and over Beziers with a loss to USAP. Tigers in the meantime posting convincing successes against Edinburgh and Cardiff.

There have been substantial changes at Sale with the departures more than balanced by new arrivals although one, Lobbe, who joined from Castres is already a non starter through injury. Perhaps of more significance is the arrival of Phillipe St Andre from Bourgoin and the departure of the excellent, and Sale man to his very core, Jim Mallinder.

Of course I saw this all happen before at Kingsholm when the arrival of St Andre presaged the departure of the long serving John Brain to Worcester, whom he has now guided to the premiership, with St Andre eventually departing Kingsholm for his native France citing personal reasons.

Also familiar are the nature of some of the signings initiated by St Andre with Woodman and Todd, whom he signed for Gloucester, following him to Edgely Park as have French International flanker Sebastian Chabal from Bourgoin and international Hooker Sebastien Bruno from Beziers as well as the ill starred Lobbe.

Certainly Bruno will give the Sale side some extra bulk in its front row with the Frenchman weighing in at two stones more than the highly rated Andy Titterell who must continue to justifiably harbour ambitions for the England shirt if Steve Thompson’s form doesn’t improve anytime soon.

Andrew Sheridan also brings significant bulk to the front row but the converted lock did not have great scrummaging technique when I saw him at Bristol and the same has to be said of new signing, World Cup winner, Trevor Woodman.

I saw plenty of Woodman at Kingsholm where he was certainly a superior scrummager to his erstwhile colleague Phil Vickery but together with most of the Kingsholm faithful I also felt Woodman’s strength to really be in his pace in open play, speed to the breakdown and handling skills, of which many a centre would be proud, but his scrummaging, set against that of the Craig Dowds and Julian Whites of the world suffers by comparison.

Certainly as far as mobility is concerned the Sale front row has few peers and St Andre’s strategy will doubtless be to try and play a loose Super12 type of game to capitalise on this very real advantage.

In the second row the loss of Scottish international Iain Fullaton to the avaricious Saracens robs the pack of some valuable experience and while Lobbe was to compensate for this loss that has proved not to be. I had thought that Lagarrigue had joined from Tucuman but can see no sign of him in the squad so I’m not sure what’s happened to him! In his absence the selection for the two positions would seem to centre on England wunderkind Chris Jones, Christian Day and stalwart Dean Schofield with Jason White available in extremis given his value in the back-row.

As with the front row there is a high degree of mobility here with the exploits of Jones well known to all and sundry however the set piece was a bit of a problem last term and apparently was so in the fixture against USAP, so there will have been plenty of attention given to this theatre of operations.

The mobility and ball-carrying theme continues in the back row as it appears Pierre Caillet has joined his Bougoin colleagues St Andre and Chabal.

With Jason White, one of the best ball carriers in the league, the club has the potential of teaming Chabal, Calliet, England Sevens player Magnus Lund, who I think has some real potential from what little I’ve seen of him, team mascot “Big Red” Pete Anglesea and others such as ex Tiger John Carter and Australian Sevens player Hugh Perrett and with England Under 21 Phil Davies waiting in the wings Sale have significant and enviable strength in depth in this department.

From the perspective of a fast ball carrying pack it’s hard to fault the Sale set up, what remains to be seen is how it fares when conditions are not conducive or a tight game is forced upon them.

Behind the pack one of the seminal scrum halves of the modern game (with Rob Howley), Bryan Redpath is restored so previously Welsh based Tongan international Sililo Martens must surely be destined to play a bit part to the little Scottish master as are Scott Benton and Simpson-Daniel junior. To the latter all that can be said is “look, learn and marvel at Redpath’s vision complemented by an effortless and precise service”. Scotty Benton meanwhile must continue to count his blessings and hope that the Indian Summer to his career provided by Jim Mallinder does not turn into a premature Winter under St Andre.

While many clubs seek in vain for a quality fly-half Sale rather greedily have two with the huge talent of Charlie Hodgson augmented by Mallinder’s inspirational signing of American Eagle Mike Hercus. Actually I thought that the Sale back division at times functioned better under Hercus’ influence than it did that of Hodgson once the England man had returned from injury. As Hodgson, being party to the debacle of Brisbane in the Summer, will presumably only take a limited part in proceedings I expect to see Hercus start.

In the centre Robert Todd’s arrival brings Sale a strong running, route one centre however as at Gloucester Toddy needs a centre partner with pace and subtlety to compliment his robust skills which is why, until the eventual arrival of Henry Paul in the centre, the partnership of Fanaloua and Toddy didn’t bear fruit, as with their being a similar type of player the centre became crowded and static.

I can only wipe my chin when thinking of what a combination Toddy and the supremely talented Graeme Bond would have made however it would seem that a cloak of secrecy has enveloped the injured Aussie who picked up a very serious neck injury in the cup semi against Leeds (if memory serves me aright – doubtless somebody will otherwise point out my error!)

As it is St Andre needs to settle on a partner for Todd. While the obvious choice is the reliable Jos Baxendell I wonder what would happen if Hodgson moved to inside centre with Hercus at fly-half!? Loads of talent there, great runners and readers of the game with the bludgeon of Toddy – just musing you understand!

The back three selects itself of course with what is one of the best back threes around combining the pace of Hanley and the running lines of Mark Cueto. I always think that Hanley looks happiest in the wide open spaces and least comfortable when driven in field amongst the traffic, while Cueto looks in his element when called upon to play like a maniac courier on an impossibly powerful motorcycle weaving through the grasping rush hour traffic.

At the back club captain Billy The Whizz – I can say no more.

So the question for me is will St Andre’s charges be permitted to play to their strengths by Tigers?

If Tigers are to fulfil the expectations of the pundits and their supporters not only must they not falter at home this season but they must also win some away fixtures as they did after the departure of Dean Richards last February and matches such as that to take place next Sunday are precisely the type where they must prevail.

As I’ve already said the make up of the Sale pack and the attitude of St Andre indicates to me that the open free running Super 12 type of game also espoused by Jim Mallinder is set to continue up Stockport way.

Tigers’ pack remains largely undisturbed from that which swept all before it in the latter part of last season with the only notable departure being that of Adam Balding, who is already making himself a firm favourite at Kingsholm with some good pre-season performances for the Cherry and Whites.

With the arrival of Tongan Taukafa providing a heavyweight option for lighter and faster George Chuter and with the young talented James Buckland now restored to fitness and physically falling between the two, Tigers have good selection choices here and with Rowntree, White and the vastly improved Darren Morris, who has regained much of the form that led to his becoming a British Lion, there is a formidable look to the Tigers’ front row and I think it will just be too much for the potential Sale trios, even though White is to be restricted to a second half performance due to the increasingly over-weaning demands of England.

Tigers are similarly blessed in the second row with Johnno at the club’s disposal and we must hope that Ben Kay is now back to his old self following his World Cup hangover and of course the illness and subsequent early death of his distinguished father. Here too though Louis Deacon waits to adopt the mantle to relieve either of the World Cup winning locks when the need arises and again I think that the Sale duo will struggle in the set pieces although they will prove an handful when play breaks down or if any ball thrown to the back of the line by Tigers falls into the waiting maw of the Sale loose forwards.

I think that Tigers are going to find their hands full if the Sale back-row do manage to get moving and it is by no means a foregone conclusion that Tigers will be able achieve dominance in this area by dint of speed or agility but may find their cause better served by using the bludgeon that the front five holds in its collective hand and which could see the volatile Chabal give Goode some kicking practice.

Tigers must dominate here and in the set piece if they are to prosper and give the heir apparent to the England #9 shirt a fighting chance against Redpath who will harrie and hassle the Tigers scrum half on his ball and doubtless be pretty much faultless on his own, even if his pack are under pressure. This will be a good workout for Ellis and if he holds sway over someone like Redpath then I expect to see him do more than carry Woodward’s briefcase during the Six Nations.

If Sale rely on the boot of Hodgson then so do Tigers on that of Andy Goode. However there’s much more to Goode’s game these days with some of his playmaking and deftness of touch now at a very high standard, reflecting how he has developed as a player and is doubtless benefiting from the presence of Pat Howard.

Goode could give the England player a real run for his money especially if the Tigers pack is a dominant in the tight as I believe will be the case. However Andy must not drift out of the game as he can when his attention seemingly wanders.

In Daryl Gibson Tigers have one of the best and most dependable inside centres in the league and Baxendell may find him a bit much in both attack and defence, my worry is at the Tigers’ persistence in playing Leon Lloyd out of position at outside centre in place of the hugely talented Ollie Smith. While he can undoubtedly do good things wearing the 12 shirt Lloyd looks such a good player on the wing that it seems profligate not to play him there and he will need to be absolutely accurate at centre in the taking and making of passes as Todd will lay up upon him and demonstrate why his talent for intercepting wayward passes in the 12-13-14 channels is the stuff of legend down Gloucester way.

On the wings it will be important not to cede the outside to Hanley and for this reason if Lloyd is not on the wing I’d like to see Holtby’s bulk used to drive Hanley infield and into the waiting arms of the Tigers’ back row and Daryl Gibson.

Cueto will just cause trouble given half a chance and he must, together with Robinson, be denied possession coming forward indeed if either side kick ball in front of the respective full backs they will surely be punished as Murphy too waits his chance. Similarly both of these supremely talented players will look to come in to the line at pace and provide a fascinating contest.

The question remains whether Sale will be permitted to play their preferred style of open rugby or whether Tigers will be able to stifle possession and see the Sale rapier blunted.

Although admittedly biased I do find it hard to see beyond the likely dominance of the Tigers front five and while I expect Sale to convert more of their chances than will Tigers I also think that Tigers will deny the North Westerners many opportunities for their backs to display their talents.

So a Tigers win but don’t ask by how many!