Tigers hang on by a claw

By A + L Stand Tiger
May 3 2006

Friday night saw Tigers travelling to Watford to try and earn a rare away win against Saracens who themselves were looking to further their Heineken Cup ambitions.

On a whim, I volunteered to write the report for this match without realising I’d be entertaining an old friend visiting from Scotland and so wouldn’t be able to watch the game live. Never mind, I thought, I’ll tape it on Friday night and watch it at my leisure. However, on arriving home after a few shandies imagine my horror as I discovered that my VCR had gone on the blink and has failed to record the match. Fortunately Mr Murdock’s minions came to the rescue by repeating the match at the ungodly hour of 6 am. This was a condensed account so I may have missed some incidents deemed as inconsequential by the Sky team.

It was a funny old game really with lots to be encouraged by but other aspects to cause concern. I was worried that the reintroduction of Ellis and Goode as the halfbacks would reduce the recently seen more expansive game. Although Good did not have a very good start until his confidence grew after the half hour mark, chances were created. Daryl Gibson, although not back to his best, gave a structure to the back play that allowed Murphy, Varndell and Alex Tuilagi to express themselves, with all three showing good running lines and a confidence to try their hand from deep.

This was a hard fought encounter (is there any other type?) against a Saracens side that demonstrated the significantly improved form that they have shown under Eddie Jones. Neither was the game without controversy. Two occasions spring to mind. The first, in the 27th minute, resulted from a move started by a break by Varndell who passed inside to Murphy who shipped the ball onto Moody to have a charge at the line. The flanker was tackled short but appeared to have got the ball over the line. However, the decision was refer to the TMO who adjudged that the ‘score’ had involved a second movement. Even with my rose tinted one-eyed specs on I’d have to agree.

The second incident in the match could have been a lot more serious than it was. Shortly before half time Sarries were in their own half looking to clear the ball from a ruck. The ball went out to Glen Jackson, Harry Ellis gave chase and attempted to charge down the clearing kick. Instead Ellis failed to connect with the ball and took the supporting leg on Jackson. This could have resulted in a very serious injury for the Sarries fly-half; fortunately it did not. Understandably, Jackson reacted angrily to Ellis who to lay out of the floor after catching the boot of Jacksons kicking foot in its follow-through. A pushing match ensued between the two sides that the referee handled well. I’m not in Harry Ellis’ head so I don’t know whether the taking of the supporting leg was intentional. However, I do know that Harry is getting a reputation for being reckless in these situations. I think it would be wise for him to review his charge-down technique. It was good to see Harry and Glen making peace with each other as they left the field at half time.


Although the game was short of points and had its fair amount of niggle it was open with a lot of good rugby played. Both teams should be congratulated for providing an entertaining spectacle. However, the game started with one of the worse goal kick misses I’ve ever seen. Tigers were awarded what appeared to be a straight forward penalty in the 2nd minute and up stepped Andy Goode. Ah, I thought a safe boot to get the scoreboard rolling in the right direction. But alas the ball was hooked wide to the left of the posts. Oh dear its going to be one of those games was it? However, Andy made amends in the 31st minute when he chipped the ball to the right wing where Varndell collected to go over for a simple try in the corner. At this point we were 9-0 behind to three penalty kicks and I wasn’t confident that Goode would convert from the touch line. However, I need not have feared with Andy making a far better contact with the ball which sailed through the posts. At 9-7 we were back in the game and Goode started to play with a lot more confidence. To be fair Tigers had already created two try scoring chances. The first fell to Alex Tuilagi who spurned a three man over-lap to go for glory the second was the Moody none try I mentioned earlier. Tigers could have scored a further two tries in the second half but for handling errors and so could have ran-out comfortable winners. It encouraging to see Tigers creating more chances, particularly with Murphy back on form, but we’ll need to show a bit more clinical finishing to win the pay-offs.

The second half was an open affair (but not to a Wasps vs Irish extent!) with both sides pressuring the oppositions try line. However, defences held out with Tigers scoring a further two penalties to one by Sarries. Sarries are a lot better team under Eddie Jones than Diamond and I should imagine that every Fez boy hopes that Alan Gaffney carries on the good work next year. However, they’ll have to do so without the services of Kieran Bracken who retires at the end this season. Bracken came to Sarries rescue on several occasions making important covering tackles without which Tigers could have scored a couple more tries.

With this rare away win Tigers have dealt themselves the best hand they could hope for in the final weekend. Bristol should not be under-estimated but hopefully we can confirm a home tie in the pay-off semi-final.



Time Team Score Scorer Match Score
13 Saracens Penalty kick G Jackson 3-0
25 Saracens Penalty kick G Jackson 6-0
27 Saracens Penalty kick G Jackson 9-0
31 Leicester Try T Varndell 9-5
31 Leicester Conversion A Goode 9-7

47 Saracens Penalty kick G Jackson 12-7
51 Leicester Penalty kick A Goode 12-10
56 Leicester Penalty kick A Goode 12-13