Divine Display From Saints Beats The Tigers

Saints 05-away
By get_bent
February 27 2005

Poor team selection. There I've said it. That was why the Tigers lost to Northampton. But John Wells can rest easy because it wasn't him who inked in the wrong names in, it was Andy Robinson in neglecting Ben Cohen because he unleashed a hungry beast of a man on the Tigers.

Northampton 26 Leicester 11

Saints deservedly ended up winners of a typically touchy affair, with the Tigers never really recovering from a sloppy start. Seven days earlier the Tigers made a lethargic start to proceedings against Newcastle but this time there was no Goode or Smith to pull the strings.
	Vesty and Healey tried manfully behind the pack but were always up against it after the relegation-haunted Saints had raced into a 21-3 lead. The tone for the opening was set right from the very off - a high Drahm kick-off was spilled by makeshift fullback Rabeni. Minutes later the scoring started when Will Johnson failed to control the ball from the scrum and Howard played in his half-back partner Drahm to open the scoring.
Saints charge
Tigers could have hit back after a superb Vesty break but the lumbering James Hamilton failed to spot (or chose to ignore) Austin Healey on the wing. It was costly. Back was sin-binned for his usual work on the floor and Drahm added a drop-goal and the winger with the characteristics of an oil-tanker John Rudd had a jog over the line for another try.
	Saints attack
But Tigers were struggling to get going, with Chuter poor in the lineout and Johnson and Back subdued. Johnson also spent ten minutes on the touchline when he pummelled Simon Emms. Johnson had the reach advantage but Emms was definitely in a different weight category, but nonetheless the former England captain comfortably won on points. Then the Tigers sniffed a comeback at the end of the first half when Lloyd added five points and Vesty added a further three with his refreshingly simple kicking style. None of that messing about crouching or holding your hands to make it look like you're a reliable kicker, just whack the ball on the plastic and smack it towards the H.
	The second half was frustrating. The saints looked jittery at times but the Tigers were let down by sloppy play. The game was mostly played in the Saints half but the excellent Blowers mopped up a lot of pressure. Then in the closing minutes Holtby and Tuilagi A managed to create a kerfuffle with a relatively situation in the Tigers' 22 and quick turnover ball allowed Cohen to deservedly get on the score sheet.
Contested line out
Cohen looked more comfortable playing on the wing and made several rampaging runs down the wing. The standard of his play was only matched by his opposite number with Healey continuing his fine form (bar a penalty that missed touch) with slick hands and clever running. At times it was him and Vesty taking the challenge to Saints but unfortunately they came up short. It's easy to say that the loss was down to missing internationals, but maybe Northampton wouldn't be in the trouble they are still in had Worcester not benefited from the international period. Tigers were weakened but the game gave the opportunity to see how the Tigers backup players would fare and the answer was mixed. Vesty continued his improvement and Bemand looked sharp but others, such as Holtby and Hamilton, were disappointing.
So the Tigers left the county famous for shoes, Des O'Connor and Trevor Morley without any points. All that was left was for the Saints fans to ask "Who the hell are Leicester Tigers?" - I don't know but I'm sure their name is on some of those silver things at Welford Road……
	Result - indeed!