Leicester Tigers - 2013/14 Thread

[LondonTiger]

First topic message reminder :

Senior Squad

Props - Ayerza, Balmain, Bristow, Cole, Mulipola, Schuster, Stankovich
Hookers - Briggs, Chuter, Hawkins, Youngs
Locks - Cain, Deacon. De Chaves, Kitchener, Parling, Price, Slater
Back Row - Crane, Croft, Gibson, Mafi, Salvi, Waldrom

Scrum Halves - Harrison, Mele, Steele, Youngs
Outside Half - Flood, Lamb, Williams
Centres - Allen, Bowden, Smith, Tuilagi
Wings - Benjamin, Camacho, Goneva, Morris, Thompstone
Full Back - Hamilton, Tait

Coaches - Cockerill (DoR & Forwards), Blaze (Asst Forwards), Burke (Backs), Murphy (Asst Backs)


Aviva Premiership Fixtures

Sun 8 Sep 14:00 Leicester Tigers   32         Worcester Warriors 15
Sat 14 Sep 15:15 Bath Rugby  27   Leicester Tigers 20
Sat 21 Sep 15:00 Leicester Tigers  33   Newcastle Falcons 6
Sun 29 Sep 14:00 Exeter Chiefs   9   Leicester Tigers  22
Sat 5 Oct 15:15 Leicester Tigers 19   Northampton Saints  19
Sun 27 Oct 14:00 London Wasps 22   Leicester Tigers 12
Sat 2 Nov 17:30 Leicester Tigers  16   Harlequins 23
Sat 23 Nov 15:00 Leicester Tigers 20   London Irish 11
Sat 30 Nov 15:00 Gloucester Rugby 17   Leicester Tigers 22
Sat 21 Dec 15:00 Saracens  49 v   Leicester Tigers 10
Sat 28 Dec 15:00 Leicester Tigers   v   Sale Sharks
Sat 4 Jan 15:00 Leicester Tigers 27  v   Bath Rugby 27
Fri 7 Feb 19:45 Worcester Warriors  22 v   Leicester Tigers 23
Sat 15 Feb 15:00 Leicester Tigers 11  v   Gloucester Rugby  8
Sun 23 Feb 15:00 London Irish  15 v   Leicester Tigers 20
Sun 2 Mar 15:00 Newcastle Falcons  18 v   Leicester Tigers 41
Sat 22 Mar 15:00 Leicester Tigers   45 v   Exeter Chiefs 15
Sat 29 Mar 15:00 Northampton Saints 16  v   Leicester Tigers 22
Sat 12 Apr 15:00 Leicester Tigers   v   London Wasps Welford Road
Sat 19 Apr 15:00 Harlequins   v   Leicester Tigers Twickenham Stoop
Fri 2 May 20:00 Sale Sharks   v   Leicester Tigers Salford City Stadium
Sat 10 May 15:00 Leicester Tigers   v   Saracens Welford Road



Heineken Cup Fixtures

Friday, October 11 8pm Ulster Rugby 22  Leicester Tigers 16
Friday, October 18 8pm Leicester Tigers 34  Benetton Treviso 3
Sunday, December 8 3pm Leicester Tigers 41 Montpellier Herault Rugby 32
Sunday, December 15 4pm (local time) Montpellier Herault Rugby 14  Leicester Tigers 15
10/11/12 January 2014 Benetton Treviso 19 v Leicester Tigers 34
17/18/19 January 2014 Leicester Tigers 19 v Ulster Rugby 22
Saturday, 5th April ASM Clermont Auvergne v Leicester Tigers

[formerly known as Sam]

Chiefs aren't stupid enough to let his negotiations drag on to January when other teams can start discussions. That's not a surprise Asbo, been very impressed with him this season, he looked a talent when I saw his occasional run out on the flank last season. Powerful, aggressive and a massive work rate is what I like to see in an 8. I thought he was a touch unlucky not to be capped this autumn.

RDW, there's no one on here doubting Denton is a good player. Just whether he'll fit into the Tigers 8 shirt where we generally look for the incumbent to be heavily involved in the tight exchanges and put a big shift in. The expectation is for hard yards and ling busting work rate. Still we managed to get Waldrom to stop standing in the centres so maybe we could progress Denton's tight work. I'll watch the AIs with interest.

[yappysnap]

He's out of contract next summer as is Waldrom. Rumours are Thomas won't be offered a new deal as his basics haven't improved enough. Ewers would fit perfectly. Of course Exeter will no doubt be in negotiations already.

Advanced stage, apparently!  Be v surprisde if he left (altho stranger things have happened)!

I'm sure if Tigers offer enough IPads/KFC and holidays to Oktoberfest then he could be tempted...

[formerly known as Sam]

Wrong club Yappy. We don't do/can't afford flashy gimmicks like that. There will be the French pre season retreat which is generally a hostel in the middle of nowhere. We could offer a great chance to play in an AP final and earn an England call up.

[formerly known as Sam]

Tait to be sent out on loan to recover match fitness according to Cockers.

[king_carlos]

Tait to be sent out on loan to recover match fitness according to Cockers.

Any more news on where (Nottingham I'd guess?) and how long for Sam? Must be so frustrating given the work he put in to get fit and playing so well last season to be back in the same position! We could desperately use him at the moment to add some magic to the backline and guile to the back 3 play.

The bulk of long term injuries England players have had since '03 is taking the mick. Not an excuse for our poor sides in that era at all given our resource, more an indication that something needs to be done about the sheer bulk of games players now have to contend with. If it's brushed under the carpet and ignored it will only get worse.

[king_carlos]

Also the sides have been confirmed for the first of the Montpellier games at WR on Sunday.

Leicester: 15 Hamilton, 14 Thompstone, 13 Goneva, 12 Bowden, 11 Benjamin, 10 Flood (c), 9 Youngs, 8 Crane, 7 Salvi, 6 Gibson, 5 Kitchener, 4 Deacon, 3 Cole, 2 Youngs, 1 Ayerza
Replacements: 16 Briggs, 17 Stankovich, 18 Balmain, 19 Slater, 20 Waldrom, 21 Mele 22 Scully, 23 Lamb

Montpellier: 15 Floch, 14 Nagusa, 13 Ranger, 12 Combezou , 11 Audrin, 10 Trinh Duc, 9 Pelissie, 8 Beattie, 7 Gorgodze, 6 Galletier, 5 De Marco, 4 Hamilton, 3 Bustos, 2 Geli, 1 Leleimalefaga.
Replacements: 16 Bianchin, 17 Nariashvili, 18 Fa'anunu, 19 Privat, 20 Tulou, 21 Paillaugue, 22 Olivier, 23 Berard

Goneva returns at 13 with Thompstone back to the wing and Slater/Lamb returning on the bench.

Montpellier have Rene Ranger in the 13 shirt for the first time (big test for Niki) and Nagusa returns to the right wing.

Both teams have strong packs out so it should be a bruising encounter up front to say the least!

[Manofthematch]

Any news on Floods decision? I read today that Gloucester are after Priestland, indication that Burns is on his way?

Also does anyone know how Javiah Pohe is getting on? He's looked a real handful every time he's played for England age groups, is he anywhere near making the step up?

[formerly known as Sam]

Pohe played both LV Cup games, has been on loan at Notts and was on the bench vs Glaws. Only 19 so should make the step up over the next year or so.

Flood to give his answer in the next 4 weeks.

Tait will probably go on loan in the next week or so. Not sure where. Nottingham or Rotherham will be most likely.

[Manofthematch]

Nottingham is my cousins old club, a lot of teams play in green in the East Midlands don't they? (Totally irrelevant I know)

Shame for Tait I'd hoped he was having some sort of renaissance at Leicester

[formerly known as Sam]

Once he's match fit for I'm sure Tait will tear it up in the first team again. He just needs a couple of games to get back up to speed. He's not played since May and our next three games are Montpellier x 2 and Saracens, not games that you can throw him straight into.

[Artful_Dodger]

Is Niall Morris injured?

[formerly known as Sam]

Yes, picked up an injury getting help up over the line by Yarde (who was also injured in the same tackle).

[king_carlos]

Yes, picked up an injury getting help up over the line by Yarde (who was also injured in the same tackle).

A moment to treasure for Tigers and England fans everywhere right there.  

[formerly known as Sam]

Yeah it was a nobody wins situation. Thankfully Hamilton has rolled back the years in the last few weeks. We need it as well with only Scully left standing as an alternative fullback and It's his first season as a professional player having been semi pro and then past of USA 7s.

Pohe is starting for Nottingham this weekend at 12 by the way.

[Manofthematch]

Awesome, cheers Sam. Does Pohe have much of a kicking game?

[formerly known as Sam]

None I've seen so far. Not seen much of him though. He's a 17 stone wrecking ball, not as explosive as Manu but he has better hands. A bit of refinement needed but a young player we should see develop and become a Tigers regular. Pohe/Manu centre combo would not be lacking in firepower and the opposition would not want to be running the crash option. Certainly the Notts fans seemed happy with his solitary performance for them this season (where he scored) and were not pleased when Tigers named him as a sub the week after.

There's a couple more Tigers backs I've heard good things about as well Humphreys the fullback, Bryant the young 10 and Rhys Williams the winger who is a Welsh under 18 capped player who according to my work colleague was very much the gentleman at the Tiger ladies evening. Be interesting to see if the diminutive centre Charlie Thacker can emulate his brother Harry and show size doesn't matter and you can make the team if you have the skills.

[nathan]

Someone mentioned that Tait warmed up with the tigers before the game, anyone know if thats true?

[formerly known as Sam]

Would be in keeping with Cockers interview stating he was close to a come back but in desperate need of game time.

[Welly]

Would be in keeping with Cockers interview stating he was close to a come back but in desperate need of game time.

Doesn't help when the next few weeks are some of the toughest games of the season.

[formerly known as Sam]

Yeah, Cockers has said he's looking to get him a couple of games in the Championship to get him back up to speed.

[yappysnap]

Well done to Tigers on their win. Almost the best performance by an English club on the weekend....   

Salvi looked brilliant in particular. Still not sure about Banahan on the wing though.

[Welly]

Tait playing for Nottingham tomorrow, at 15 may be a different Tait, Though.

[formerly known as Sam]

Nope It's Mat Tait. Cockers has said he needs game time.

Yappy, Banahan on the wing?

[propdavid_london]

I just read on planet rugby that Tigers are targeting Rhys Priestland and Freddie Burns for recruitment!
If that's the case then I would much prefer them to sign Burns.
Nothing against Priestland, I just want to see young English talent developed further.

There seems to be a real surplus of Welsh players moving not only to France but to the Premiership sides (on a slightly smaller scale). Particularly Wasps and Gloucester with their DoRs.

[Welly]

It also says some in France and a couple of Nz'ers interesting to see who they are, but glad he hasn't mentioned names don't want other teams paying extra attention to them.

[propdavid_london]

Apparently Cockers goes on to say that playing in France doesn't make you a better player. It just makes you wealthier.
I can think of 1 or 2 players where that isn't necessarily the case.
Stephen Jones definitely came back from France a much better player - was it Perpignan he played for?
I would argue that Steffan Armitage improved even more when given a run for Toulon. (maybe the calliber of the rest of the pack gave him licence to roam free though).
Wilkinson had a reinvigorated career.

Going into the old books now -
Perry Freshwater - massively rated in France but not much over in England.

[formerly known as Sam]

Freshwater was much appreciated at Welford Rd but not by England until Andy Robinson got desperate.

Not a big fan of either Burns or Priestland at WR. They are both decidedly flakey and neither are particularly good off the tee. Priestland would be expensive and Burns is neither cheap nor providing the experienced head we need at the helm. Williams is a 10 with potential, we need someone to help mentor him through as he could be a real asset in years to come.

Would prefer to see us go for a Colin Slade, Jonathon Wisniewski or a Frans Steyn (bit dream world on the last one) an experienced and classy player who is experiencing a little dip on their career trajectory. We're good at rejuvenating players just look at half our back divisio with the likes of Allen, Tait and Thompstone.

[king_carlos]

Looking at the match report for Tait's return at Nottingham but can't find a full right up of the match yet so limited information to work from.

He started at 15 and came off after 42mins in a 24-14 win. No news on how he played but seems an odd time to bring him off a mere 2mins into the second half so hopefully it was a case of easing him back in and not something flaring up to enforce it.

Hopefully get some more news on it over the weekend.

Also good to see Morris return to the starting line-up for Sundays return trip to Montpellier. Waldrom gets a start ahead of Crane as well.

Montpellier: Pierre Berard; Lucas Dupont, Anthony Tuitavke, Wynand Olivier, Yohann Artru; Enzo Selponi, Benoit Paillaugue; Yvan Watremez, Mickael Ivaldi, Nicolas Mas, Robins Tchale Watchou, Thibaut Privat, Alexandre Bias, Mamuka Gorgodze (capt), Alex Tulou.

Replacements: Thomas Bianchin, Na'ama Leleimalefaga, Paea Fa'anunu, Johnnie Beattie, Mickael Demarco, Eric Escande, Thomas Combezou, Anthony Floch

Leicester Tigers: Scott Hamilton; Niall Morris, Vereniki Goneva, Dan Bowden, Miles Benjamin; Toby Flood (c), Ben Youngs; Marcos Ayerza, Tom Youngs, Dan Cole, Louis Deacon, Graham Kitchener, Jamie Gibson, Julian Salvi, Thomas Waldrom

Replacements: Neil Briggs, Boris Stankovich, Fraser Balmain, Ed Slater, Jordan Crane, David Mele, Matt Smith, Ryan Lamb

As many have predicted they've put out a slightly second string side resting the likes of Nagusa, Ranger, Trinh-Duc and Hamilton (Floch and Beattie also drop to the bench). With Mas a TH and Gorgodze captaining from the back row there is still considerable quality in the forwards though.

[formerly known as Sam]

According to the Notts forum they played badly and as such Tait's opportunities were limited. He apparently grew into the game as it went on. He was one of several subs around half time. Sounds like the usual return from a long lay off, another Notts game next week may be a good idea to ease him in.

[king_carlos]

Cheers for that update Sam. Good to hear it was just a planned subbing. Given the lay-off he's had growing into the game steadily is the best you can hope for really.

Given it's Saracens at Allianz next weekend it's probably not the game to throw him back in to deal with an aerial assault! Get the feeling that if we didn't have such tough fixtures these three weeks he could have been featuring off the bench for the 1st which is good news though.

If we finally get back to full strength in the backs the back three could be interesting with Morris, Benjamin, Goneva, Thompstone, Scully, Camacho and Hamilton with his new lease of life competing for the wing spots. Probably be between Morris, Benjamin and Niki IMO. Would be good dilemmas to have if we could get Allen and Manu back together in the centre!

Not that Bowden and Goneva have done a poor job filling in though, far from it to be fair.

[formerly known as Sam]

A backline of Youngs, Flood, Goneva, Allen, Manu, Morris, Tait could be ready by the final round of the HEC, throw in Mele, Williams and Benjamin on the bench that's the kind of options that give us a chance of competing in the big stages.

[Nachos Jones]

Jaysus, Leicester were opened up there   

[Nachos Jones]

And that's why I think that England would be a better side with Flood at 10 with Youngs 9.

[nathan]

Nice Hollywood by the number 9.. Benjamin binned.

[Nachos Jones]

Tom Youngs showed some pace to chase down the Montpellier wing earlier on. Possible answer to England's 12 problems? He would be a battering ram and wouldn't have to throw in at the line-outs

[nathan]

Tom Youngs showed some pace to chase down the Montpellier wing earlier on. Possible answer to England's 12 problems? ;)He would be a battering ram and wouldn't have to throw in at the line-outs

So true

[Nachos Jones]

I actually do think that he would make an amazing impact sub at 12, he is very quick and quite physical.

[nathan]

I actually do think that he would make an amazing impact sub at 12, he is very quick and quite physical.

I'd imagine he would tire pretty quick

[nathan]

The French players do seem to throw there hands in the air a lot.

[Nachos Jones]

I actually do think that he would make an amazing impact sub at 12, he is very quick and quite physical.

I'd imagine he would tire pretty quick

That's why I said impact sub, get him on for the last 20 of a match.

Ahh, its just me being a little silly, don't take me seriously

[nathan]

Surely Geneva was pulled back!!

[Nachos Jones]

Leicester surely must get points here...

[nathan]

lol, Owens is having a poor game.

Montpellier were straight off their feet.

[Nachos Jones]

Yeah, its not often I say Owens is having an indifferent game but Montpellier are certainly getting away with a lot more than Leicester here...

Mind you, Leicester are really walking on thin ice here...

[nathan]

Very true, still believe Owens is the best ref in the world.

Bit unhappy about Geneva being pulled back, should of been a yellow card.

[Notch]

0-0 at HT... unbelievable really. Leicester dying for the whistle there. It was going to be a yellow if they went to the maul again.

Are Montpellier playing a crash ball 10?

[Nachos Jones]

For me it was 50-50 with Geneva, seen them given as many times as I have seen them not given. That said, if it were a Munster player I would be screaming for a yellow

[nathan]

0-0 at HT... unbelievable really. Leicester dying for the whistle there. It was going to be a yellow if they went to the maul again.

Are Montpellier playing a crash ball 10?

I think there running the game from 9.

[nathan]

For me it was 50-50 with Geneva, seen them given as many times as I have seen them not given. That said, if it were a Munster player I would be screaming for a yellow

Thought it should of been after giving Benjamin a yellow. But hey, we move on!

[Nachos Jones]

0-0 at HT... unbelievable really. Leicester dying for the whistle there. It was going to be a yellow if they went to the maul again.

Are Montpellier playing a crash ball 10?

Very much so. They are trying to take Flood out of the game but Flood is having a decent game and has asked a lot of questions of the Montpellier defence.

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