Men in black out to tame Tigers

By Jason Harris
October 25 2002

Saracens aim to end a four match losing streak against double double winners Leicester Tigers at Vicarage Road as the champions seek their first Zurich Premiership win on the road in seven months.

There will be many fascinating head-to-head battles around the field. The most interesting of all will be in the netherworld that is the front row.

Former Toulouse team mates, Tigers' Franck Tournaire and Sarries' Christian Califano square up to one another for the first time since their summer moves to England. Very rarely do clashes between props get this big. If Phil Vickery came up against Graham Rowntree or Jason Leonard on the same paddock, it wouldn't attract half as much interest as the two Gallic giants vying for supremacy. There'll be fireworks, that's for sure.

Elsewhere, there could also be several other humdingers. I say could as neither coach is willing to publish his 22 for the game until Sunday. It's standard practice for Tigers boss Dean Richards, but Sarries supremo Buck Shelford has taken a leaf out of the Leicester book and left it until the last minute before announcing his squad.

Tigers firebrand skipper Martin Johnson needs no introduction to Saracens' players or supporters. Let us forget his past indisecretions and realise that he is one of the best leaders in the game and a great player to boot. His suspect temperament, like that of his England second row partner Danny Grewcock, could still be his undoing, however. If Craig Quinnell gets anywhere near the paddock, we can expect some interesting things to happen, both on the ball and off it.

Andy Goode, meanwhile, has stepped out of the shadow of a succession of outside halves at his old club to realise his ambition of playing and kicking the goals regularly in a Zurich Premiership first team. Goode will be out to prove a point to his former employers should he be in the black no10 jersey on Sunday.

The point being that his potential opposite number, none other than Austin "Mr Gobby" Healey, appeared to be instrumental in Goode's departure from Welford Road. The Leicester Lip made it clear to Richards (and everyone else on the planet, it seemed) that he wanted to play and that he SHOULD play at stand-off. Goode had to make way and so he was snapped up by the Men in Black.

Healey's performances at 10 have been somewhat inconsistent; some brilliant individual touches, a couple of great tries, but lacking in the dependency required of an outside half when the chips are down and playing on the back foot. The jury (the hard-to-please Leicester faithful) are still out on whether Oz is the man for the job. If not, youngster Sam Vesty could come in.

And so it continues: the back row also has a potentially great duel. England stalwarts Richard Hill and Neil back could both be starting at open side and we may well know, once and for all, which one of them is the best Englishman in that position. Both players have been complementary about the other's side in the press this week. I expect no such pleasantries from the number 7s come three o'clock on Sunday.

Leicester, despite their very average start - like Saracens they're 3-3 after their first six outings - and the media talking of a crisis up the M1 are at their most dangerous when they're being written off. It will be a very foolish person indeed that will bet on them surrending easily to Saracens.

Sarries have conceded 181 points in their four straight defeats against this weekend's opponents. I expect them to put up a better fight - a meaphorical one, of course - than they did in those four games.

Both teams are smack in the middle of the table with identical win/loss records. Leicester are sixth, two points ahead of seventh-placed Saracens thanks to a couple of extra bonus points. There is very little to choose between them, especially as Saracens have home advantage. Playing on one's own patch of grass this year has become a vital criterion in determining which sides leave the ground with the four points. Wins on the road in the Zurich Premiership have become as scarce as job vacancies in an economic depression. Home advantage should and MUST count.

It is a good time to be playing a Leicester side that has no away form under its belt and Sarries are finally getting back into the winning habit at home. It'll be a close call, but if Sarries play their strongest avaialbe side and they play AS a side, perhaps they could just sneak it.