Leicester Tigers Thread 2015/16 A New Beginning Part 1

[Welly]

2015/16 Senior Squad ATM:
Coaches: Cockerill (DOR), Mauger (HC), Hansen (Defence + Skills Coach), Blaze (Ass. Forwards), Murphy (Ass. Backs)
1/3) Ayerza, Balmain, Brugnara, Cole, Mulipola, Pasquali, Rizzo
2) Youngs, Ghiraldini, Bateman, Thacker
4/5) De Chaves, Fitzgerald, Kitchener, Slater
6/7/8) Crane, Croft, Fonua, McCaffrey, O'Connor, Pearce, Williams
9) Harrison, Kitto, Youngs
10) Burns, Williams
12/13) Bai, Loamanu, Roberts, Smith, Tuilagi
11/14) Benjamin, Betham, Camacho, Goneva, Thompstone,
15) Bell, Morris, Tait

2015/16 Development Squad: Oliver Byrant, Jake Farnworth, George Tresidder,  Will Owen

2015/16
Greg Bateman (Exeter)
Mike Williams (Warriors)
Mike Fitzgerald (Chiefs)
Opeti Fonua (Welsh)
Brendon O'Connor (Blues)
Peter Betham (NSW Waratahs)
Lachlan McCaffrey (London Welsh)
Jono Kitto (Bay of Plenty + Cheifs Development Squad)

Transfers Out 2014/15:
Paul Burke (N/A)
Phil Blake (N/A)
Neil McCarthy (Glous)
Tom Price (Scarlets)
Geoff Parling (Exeter)
Neil Briggs (Sale)
Julien Salvi (Exeter)
Pohe (USC)
Brad Thorn (Retirement)
Peterson (Glasgow)
Hamilton (Coventry)
Bristow (Wasps)
R.Williams (?)
Whetton
Hepetema (BoP)
Allen (Retirement)

[Welly]

First pre-season game V Argentina

Leicester Tigers
15 Mathew Tait (c)
14 Peter Betham
13 Christian Loamanu
12 George Catchpole
11 Gonzalo Camacho
10 Tommy Bell
9 Sam Harrison
1 Riccardo Brugnara
2 Greg Bateman
3 Tiziano Pasquali
4 Joe Maksymiw
5 Sebastian de Chaves
6 Mike Fitzgerald
7 Will Owen
8 Laurence Pearce

Replacements: Fraser Balmain, Charlie Beckett, Will Evans, Jake Farnworth, Owen Hills, Graham Kitchener, Lachlan McCaffrey, Ed Milne, Matt Parr, Oliver Povoas, Harry Thacker, Harry Wells, Seremaia Bai, Oli Bryant, Freddie Burns, Paolo Odogwu, Matt Smith, Adam Thompstone, George Tresidder, Ben White, George Worth

Los Pumas
15 Joaquín Tuculet
14 Santiago Cordero
13 Marcelo Bosch
12 Juan Martín Hernández
11 Juan Imhoff
10 Nicolás Sánchez
9 Tomás Cubelli (c)
1 Marcos Ayerza
2 Julián Montoya
3 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro
4 Guido Petti Pagadizabal
5 Tomás Lavanini
6 Javier Ortega Desio
7 Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe
8 Facundo Isa

Replacements: 16 Lucas Noguera, 17 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 18 Matías Alemanno, 19 Mariano Galarza, 20 Juan Manuel Leguizamón, 21 Martín Landajo, 22 Santiago González Iglesias, 23 Lucas González Amorosino, 24 Leonardo Senatore, 25 Pablo Matera, 26 Jerónimo de la Fuente, 27 Matías Moroni, 28 Juan Pablo Socino, 29 Horacio Agulla

[LondonTiger]

You can remove Mat Tait from the transfers out section

disappointed I cannot make it up tomorrow.

[Big]

Less pleasingly, Allen should be out through retirement as well...

[Welly]

A wonderful game will give more of a view later but WOW movement was Odogwu try just wow.

[formerly known as Sam]

Shame I missed it. The pre season friendly I played in was best described as a turgid affair.

[Geordie]

Is Odogwu one of your academy lads?

Anyhoo....Thacker - Hooker or 7? Has it been decided yet? Did he play v Argentina and where did he play?

[formerly known as Sam]

Yes he is GF. He's played for England under 18s previously and appears to have gas to burn. Be interesting to see if he can get a go in the LV this season.

Thacker's charge down try showed great awareness and a good burst of speed. It's an open topic at the minute but with the signing of Bateman and Mauger looking for a more expansive game plan he might move to 7. It'll be interesting to see what happens should he go out on loan again as he was a hooker when he played for Doncaster last season. Anyone know where he did play vs the Pumas?

[broadlandboy]

akas no LV this year

[formerly known as Sam]

Good point. Reserves and academy league then. I presume they aren't cancelled as well?

[LondonTiger]

Crane and Owen Williams may be ft for start of AP, Barrow out till Christmas.

[formerly known as Sam]

I suspected Barrow would be out for a while after we signed him. ACLs take time. Be good to get Owen back in the team and get the Williams vs Burns battle for the ten short going. With Mauger coaching them we could really see both improving nicely.

I'm really interested to see who gets the nod for the weekend game.

Oh and apparently Thacker came on at hooker.

[BamBam]

Which of the youngsters do you think can make a mark early in the season? Always good to see players come through at Leicester, they're usually made of stern stuff!

[formerly known as Sam]

I think Balmain will continue to impress and Brugnara on the other side likes a big carry so he'll probably catch the eye. Look out for England under 20 open side Will Owen as well, he's a but old school in his mentality.

[formerly known as Sam]

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/sep/10/manu-tuiilagi-england-rugby-world-cup-harshly-treated

Manu puts his side of the story across.

[Geordie]

Well Sam if that is the case then Lancaster has been very devious and used him completely as an example....and I don't like to see that.

I have to also say if a taxi driver drove off with half of me in it...id grab the driver round the flipping neck as well...and im not a violent man.

Bet the driver got a shock when the brothers turned up as well....that's a monster group of people.

[nathan]

Hopefully that will stop Meas from spreading gossip that he actually beat up two female police officers.

[LondonTiger]

Leicester Tigers (v Sale Sharks, away, Saturday 2.30pm)
Backs: Seremaia Bai, Tommy Bell, Freddie Burns, George Catchpole, Sam Harrison, Christian Loamanu, Paolo Odogwu, Matt Smith, Adam Thompstone, George Tresidder, Ben White, George Worth
Forwards: Fraser Balmain, Greg Bateman, Charlie Beckett, Riccardo Brugnara, Sebastian de Chaves, Tom Croft, Jake Farnworth, Mike Fitzgerald, Graham Kitchener, Joe Maksymiw, Will Owen, Matt Parr, Laurence Pearce, Tiziano Pasquali, Harry Thacker, Mike Williams

Thacker to feature in back row this weekend?

[LondonTiger]

Hopefully that will stop Meas from spreading gossip that he actually beat up two female police officers.

Just put him on ignore. Makes life much more pleasant.

[formerly known as Sam]

Thacker to get a run at 7 would be a good idea. Given him and Owen half each. Sale have named a fairly experienced pack so it'll be tough for the younger lads up front. We have a more experienced back line though so if we can provide good ball we should be able to run a few tries in. Some of the academy boys seem to have earned another go this weekend.

[Seagultaf]

Any Leicester fans cast any light on what Manu Tuilagi is up to. Apparently he has issued a press statement denying the charges of assaulting two police officers, which he pleaded guilty to in court back in May. What is he up to? If he didn't do it why plead guilty, if he gave false evidence is he now guilty of contempt of court?

Fantastic talent but clearly needs someone to put an arm around his shoulder and sort him out!

[LondonTiger]

Better if you just read the story linked to above

[formerly known as Sam]

Slightly annoyed we've only released a squad rather than the team list ahead of tomorrow's game. Takes some of the fun out of it. Not that I can make it to the game mind.

[LondonTiger]

I guess we are going to play two separate packs in each half:

Props: Balmain, Brugnara, Paquali & Parr
Hookers: Bateman & Farnworth
Second Row: Fitzgerald, DeChaves, Kitch and Maksymiw
Back Row: Croft, Beckett, thacker, Owen, Williams, Pearce.

Though I am guessing slightly that Williams may appear at No8 for a half.

[formerly known as Sam]

Williams or Beckett. In fact I'd be interested to see if Beckett could slot in at 8. He's certainly big and physical enough. This kings of the north competition is going to be er positive in terms of getting game time into our developing players.

We could see a lot of rotation at half time given the number of options in the backs it could almost be to different teams. Personally I wouldn't risk Burns for more than a half.

[TJ]

Any Leicester fans cast any light on what Manu Tuilagi is up to. Apparently he has issued a press statement denying the charges of assaulting two police officers, which he pleaded guilty to in court back in May. What is he up to? If he didn't do it why plead guilty, if he gave false evidence is he now guilty of contempt of court?

Fantastic talent but clearly needs someone to put an arm around his shoulder and sort him out!

I read a bit of it.  He doesn't understand what assault is.  He thinks it needs to be a beating to be assault.  In fact assault is any unwanted physical contact or even the threat of such.  So pushing a cop is assault with no real defence to the charge.  Even if he didn't know they were cops its still assault.  I think he may not be the sharpest tack in the box

Rules are different for cops tho - they are allowed to touch and grab without permission so it doesn't matter they touched him first.  As it was so minor he got a very minimal punishment from the courts.  Normally assaulting a cop gets you a much more serious punishment.

[LondonTiger]

Only twelve backs, so will not be a full change. Perhaps Bai to play 10 in second half?

[formerly known as Sam]

I'd have thought Bell would move from 15 to 10 for the second half with the academy lad (Worth?) coming on at 15.

[formerly known as Sam]

Starting lineup;

1. Brugnara
2. Thacker
3. Balmain
4. De Chaves
5. Kitchener
6. Williams
7. Owen
8. Beckett
9. Tresidder
10. Burns
11. Loamano
12. Bai
13. Catchpole
14. Thompstone
15. Bell

[LondonTiger]

Ouch. 38-5 to Sale. Expected to lose but that is much worse than it should have been. Need to see improvements.

[formerly known as Sam]

I listened to the first half on the radio and our defence sounded good then but we got turned over very easily as we were pedestrian getting to attacking breakdowns.

We also named a young pack against a strong Sale one.

[nathan]

Any Leicester fans cast any light on what Manu Tuilagi is up to. Apparently he has issued a press statement denying the charges of assaulting two police officers, which he pleaded guilty to in court back in May. What is he up to? If he didn't do it why plead guilty, if he gave false evidence is he now guilty of contempt of court?

Fantastic talent but clearly needs someone to put an arm around his shoulder and sort him out!

I read a bit of it.  He doesn't understand what assault is.  He thinks it needs to be a beating to be assault.  In fact assault is any unwanted physical contact or even the threat of such.  So pushing a cop is assault with no real defence to the charge.  Even if he didn't know they were cops its still assault.  I think he may not be the sharpest tack in the box

Rules are different for cops tho - they are allowed to touch and grab without permission so it doesn't matter they touched him first.  As it was so minor he got a very minimal punishment from the courts.  Normally assaulting a cop gets you a much more serious punishment.

I don't think he said he isn't guilty, Obvisouly there are many levels of assault and he's ensuring people know it was the lowest entry as folks keep writing that he beat two female officers up - which is unfair because he didn't.

[TJ]

no there are not many levels of assault. Assault can be aggravated but assault is assault. He pushed the cop he is guilty off assault. He does claim he did not assault them from the quotes I read but that is because he does not understand that what he did is assault

[HongKongCherry]

Reading that Guardian article Manu comes across as a prized prat. He is suggesting Bomber was being disingenuous banning him as he already knew he was injured; this shows immense arrogance without any form of remorse or understanding the impact of his actions. In reality he has got off incredibly lightly and the ban is only covering a period he would have missed anyway, but he seems determined that the injury does not warrant any disciplinary action for an offence he pleaded guilty to.

I can understand his need to explain he did not beat up 2 female officers but his desire to still claim his innocence and that his admission of guilt was purely on the advice of his lawyer is frankly pathetic and childish. If he cannot understand he committed an offence that night perhaps Bomber needs to ban him for a longer period. I am a firm believer that we all make mistakes in life, but it is how we deal with them that sets us apart; Manu is truly setting himself apart by his behaviour.

[Welly]

He still hasn't told the whole story.

Suggest Lancaster isn't squeaky clean in this manner.

[HongKongCherry]

He still hasn't told the whole story.

Suggest Lancaster isn't squeaky clean in this manner.

Did he kick the other wing mirror off??

Seriously though how could Bomber not be squeaky clean? If he hadn't have banned Manu then fair enough. He's given him a lenient ban given his injury would rule him out for the same international period.

[LondonTiger]

There is a separate thread for Manu, can we discuss that there - especially as I am starting to doubt he will ever play for Leicester again.

[nathan]

no there are not many levels of assault.  Assault can be aggravated but assault is assault.  He pushed the cop he is guilty off assault.  He does claim he did not assault them from the quotes I read but that is because he does not understand that what he did is assault

from a law point of view, but you clearly understand what i mean. It has been reported and folks on here are also saying he beat two female officers up which he didnt.

[yappysnap]

Who would Tigers fans say is the player to look out for next season then?

[broadlandboy]

O'Connor, still captaining N Harbour in ITM, Blues player of the season last year,usually plays 7 but doing a good job at 8 at the moment ,EQ

[formerly known as Sam]

Odowugo (sp?) the flying academy winger has two in two pre season including making a Agulla look a little silly as he breezed past him with next to no room to the touchline.

Could also be a break through year for Will Owen on the open side and we're bound to see more of Balmain and Thacker.

[LondonTiger]

Odowugo  (sp?) the flying academy winger has two in two pre season including making a Agulla look a little silly as he breezed past him with next to no room to the touchline.

Could also be a break through year for Will Owen on the open side and we're bound to see more of Balmain and Thacker.

Paolo Odogwu

[formerly known as Sam]

Yep that's the chap. Hopefully he'll pick up a nickname.

[LondonTiger]

Odo perhaps

[formerly known as Sam]

Wheels?

I'm hoping he gets a run out or two this season. Been a while since we've had someone with that level of pure speed in the team. Unlike Varndell he seems stocky so hopefully he'll be more solid defensively.

[yappysnap]

That's if Cockeral takes a punt on the academy boys for once, which would be a shock...

[LondonTiger]

Well we used more academy lads last season when cockers was selecting the team, than when MOC was previously.

[formerly known as Sam]

The conservative approach did seem to stem more from MOC, as Leinster found out. Cockers did bring in the likes of Roberts and Catchpole in the backs last season and Catchpole has played in both preseason games so far.

Mauger has some talented players to work with and develop and with no marquee signing and Manu well knows with Manu. Mauger needs to get the most out of what's already here. If he can bring on the three development centres Roberts, Catchpole and Bryant then he'll have options for power, speed and creativity in the midfield. If he doesn't then he's short on options and it could be a harsh start to the season.

[Gooseberry]

Any Leicester fans cast any light on what Manu Tuilagi is up to. Apparently he has issued a press statement denying the charges of assaulting two police officers, which he pleaded guilty to in court back in May. What is he up to? If he didn't do it why plead guilty, if he gave false evidence is he now guilty of contempt of court?

Fantastic talent but clearly needs someone to put an arm around his shoulder and sort him out!

I read a bit of it.  He doesn't understand what assault is.  He thinks it needs to be a beating to be assault.  In fact assault is any unwanted physical contact or even the threat of such.  So pushing a cop is assault with no real defence to the charge.  Even if he didn't know they were cops its still assault.  I think he may not be the sharpest tack in the box

Rules are different for cops tho - they are allowed to touch and grab without permission so it doesn't matter they touched him first.  As it was so minor he got a very minimal punishment from the courts.  Normally assaulting a cop gets you a much more serious punishment.

What he was saying was that he didnt do what people commonly think of when they here the word assault, and that theres been a lot of assumptions that it was more serious than it really was....although the assualt on the taxi driver seems to get swept under the carpet by everyone! I hardly think whilst having a drunken fight with a taxi driver he stopped to think " its ok for me to shove this person who just grabbed me because even if they are a police officer my legal advice is that it wont be assault"
He has been rather unfortunate in that most of these cases would never get near the courts.

That aside the red mist and behaviour does need sorting. Its nothing new and hes acted like Jonah from Tonga his whole life. Its far from the first time hes been in trouble whne out ddrinking, just the firts time its ended up in court. Tigers generally have been very good at looking after problem players like him, but equally the old school rugby drinking and "boisteriousness" culture still prevails.

All aside its only a matter of time before he heads to France, if he isnt picked for that Six Nations thats a given.

[king_carlos]

Who would Tigers fans say is the player to look out for next season then?

If he can get fit I'd say Niall Morris at full back. He doesn't have the same magic as Geordie but he has really good core skills and excellent feet. Our back line has lots of power available, especially in the back 3, but I think Morris could offer some brilliant balance from full back coming into the line and using his hands and footwork to spark things.

People will probably say that Tait can do the exact same from 15 but I'm hoping that we can get Manu fit and at 12 with Tait outside him.

9.Youngs
10.Burns or Williams
11.Thompstone or Betham
12.Manu
13.Tait
14.Goneva
15.Morris

I'd love to see the power of Manu and those wingers being balanced by Tait and Morris offering a bit of guile around them.

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