Here come the French…

HEC
By RichW
January 6 2005

Whilst the French generally have a reputation for hard scrimmaging front rows I find it hard to imagine that they will have the best of a fearsome Tigers trio which should see Graham Rowntree restored alongside the awesome Julian White and the seemingly England bound George Chuter.

OK.Now I don’t want you all to get your hopes up here. This isn’t going to be like one of our former previewer’s efforts – with in depth research and insightful analysis of the opposition. This is, in part, because I don’t have the time and in part because I don’t know a great deal about Biarritz Olimpique! Anyway, I agreed to do this preview sometime ago so in the spirit of meeting my commitments here goes.


I will, if I may, begin with an observation about the first leg of this particular rubber. After the absence of Johnno in the week preceding our game in the south of France Tigers produced one of the most ineffectual, disjointed and imprecise performances I’ve seen in a long time – right up (down) there, for me, with the Ravenhill and the Madejski Stadium. Make no mistake, play like that again and we’ll get done.

That said I felt as I watched that game at the end of October that Biarritz should have won by a great deal more and my abiding impression of the Pyreneans was that there was little for an on-form Tigers to worry about. Now I accept that one cannot draw too much from one game but I approach this game with considerably high hopes.

Whilst the French generally have a reputation for hard scrimmaging front rows I find it hard to imagine that they will have the best of a fearsome Tigers trio which should see Graham Rowntree restored alongside the awesome Julian White and the seemingly England bound George Chuter.

Similary, without the demands of his deserved benefit/testimonial to distract from the week’s preparations this time I anticipate a Johnson led second row, featuring his World Cup winning partner Ben Kay to have the best of this area. The Tigers lineout held up reasonably well under the pressure of ball-poacher extraordinaire Alex Brown last week with both Chuter and James Buckland steady, coughing up little ball to the Gloucesterman. The peerless Johnson goes from strength to strength it seems to me and if this season is to be his last I cannot see him allowing a home defeat in the European Cup derail the march to glory and with Kay, now back to somewhere near his best, after the post World Cup slump this remains a pairing without match.

So in the tight five a clear home advantage and one which Tigers must exploit with ruthless physicality, all the more so because of the threat posed by the Basque back-row.

Prior to Martin Corry’s injury (one of those ‘ee-yeww’ moments if I ever saw one) I saw little between the two units – Leicester’s perhaps a little more hardworking and canny, Biarritz a little more expansive, and with Serge Betsen roaming the park maybe a little more abrasively physical.

However, in the absence of the England Number 8, Will Johnson steps into the breach. Will had one of his best games for Tigers against Gloucester last week and no-one has never accused the younger Johnson of shirking. But it would be a conceit to suggest that we are not weakened by the loss of Corry and so it becomes all the more critical that the tight five exert pressure to reduce the impact of the all French international unit of Lievremont, Betsen and the never self-effacing Imanol Harinordoquy.

Keeping them tied to the tight unit, and denying them the opportunity to get into wider channels – thus precluding the need for Mr. Lewis to enforce the laws around the rucks and the off-side line – should give the home back-row and half-backs the time and space they need to do their own jobs. Adding spice to this particular battle is the public antipathy between Harinordoquy and Lewis Moody. I wonder, given the Frenchman’s previous reaction to Lewis’ criticism, whether it’s time for Mad-eye to have another pop at rattling his cage…

At half-back two international nines (sounds good that eh, Harry?) will provide a fascinating battle and though Dimitri Yachvili has the greater experience and maybe the smoother skills I expect the young England man to try to get under his skin as he did with Matt Dawson and Andy Gomarsall of late. If he achieves that not only will he notch another scalp but the Frenchman’s game will struggle under the pressure and Tigers should profit.

At ten I have to confess to being entirely in the dark. Had Julien Peyrelongue been fit an absorbing contest with one of the English games form fly-halves would have provided one of the key areas. As it is I can only talk about Andy Goode. Without going into details it appears self-evident to me that under Pat Howard’s tutelage Andy has blossomed into an all round player of the very highest order.

I have heard that he isn’t as good as Wilkinson, Hodgson or Barkley. Well perhaps, when fully fit and at his best Wilkinson is still the best in the world but between the others I see little to choose, except that I’d trust our man’s goal-kicking under pressure over theirs. In the light of this I suspect a clear advantage to Leicester here and one that could be critical.

So not withstanding the caveat that Monsieur Betsen be denied the freedom of the park, the Leicetser half-backs should enjoy themselves and if that happens be able to release the back-line that was held in so little esteem by the Shedites until last weekend.

Now we all know about French backs, so I’m going to eschew clichés about flair and Gallic magic. What has struck me most about watching Biarritz both this season and last is that their backs are more of the Benard Laporte, modern French variety than the traditional ‘chevaliers’ of the game that generations of French players have been.

Damien Traille, in particular is what some call ‘a big unit’! Similar in many ways to Mike Tindall or Stirling Mortlock, he’s quicker than he looks, has good hands and is plenty strong. He must be marked very carefully.

Starting now at ten he may lack the cultivated boot of a full time outside-half but his pace and power make up for that. If he cuts back inside towards Andy Goode the Leicester man better have on his tackling shoes and the back row need to be on their metal. Again we see the importance of keeping their breakaway trio on the back foot. Should he go outside Darryl Gibson will need to be at his excellent best.

However, if we can slow down Traille, preventing him making the hard yards then the Tigers should be able to throw a blanket of defence across their backline, stifling the movement of the ball and cutting down their options. Under these circumstances I see rich pickings for master ball thief, Neil Back, and penalties aplenty as frustration takes hold something on which the Leicester backs will look to thrive.

One particular fly in that ointment may be Jimmy Marlu. The sometime French winger is a genuine speedster and he must be denied space.

Last week at Kingsholm Ollie Smith was a revelation on the wing. Not to say that he’s not still a better centre but the pace with which he outflanked the Cherry’s defence was a sight to behold. In all honesty, can any of us imagine Leon skinning Goodridge like that?

I expect to see him retain his place out wide and, hopefully, with a fit-again Austin Healey on the other flank and Geordan Murphy causing mayhem from full-back the back three will be as hot as the threesome up-front!

Again, I can only put it down to the influence of that Australian fellow but Leon Lloyd is also now back to somewhere near his best. His defence is solid – and it will need to be this week, he looks strong going forward and he has passed the ball more times in the last five weeks than I can remember.

It may not be our first choice unit missing Seru Rabeni but still looks pretty handy and playing with the confidence that Pat seems to have instilled, they are a match for anyone – even Gloucester. Should be a good battle.

It seems to me that this game comes down to the battle to release the back rows. If the Leicester tight five can gain the ascendancy, forcing Messieurs Harinordoquy, Betsen and Lievremont to remain close to the set-piece and break-down then Moody, Back and Johnson should have plenty of time and space in which to work.

One more proviso may be best mentioned at this point. Having made much of the back-row battle – it is vital that Tigers keep the starting trio on the field until the job is done. Given the apparent paucity of cover the stakes are high indeed!

Which brings me to the wider consideration of the game: I read that Biarritz have not travelled well in this year’s French Championship. This suggests a mental weakness that can, and indeed must, be exploited. Tigers will want to get the kind of start that they did against Wasps. I’m quite satisfied that if they do, the French team are not possessed of the kind of cussed indomitably that the Wycombe team have and that they may well fold. For them they will be hoping to silence us, the crowd, early and it’s important that we don’t let them!

So in conclusion: Leicester to win and, if the tight five gain early ascendancy, imposing themselves on the game, a bonus point. Well we’ll see won’t we?

Finally – apologies for the slightly superficial nature of this preview. It’s been Christmas don’t you know!