Leicester Tigers 18-19

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Fixtures

Pre-Season

Saturday 11th August - Cardiff Blues (a)
Friday 17th August - Benetton Treviso (a)
Friday 24th August - London Irish (h)

Gallagher Premiership

SEPTEMBER
Saturday 1st 16:30 Exeter Chiefs (a)
Saturday 8th 15:00 Newcastle Falcons (h)
Sunday 16th 15:00 Wasps (a)
Sunday 23rd 15:00 Worcester Warriors (h)
Sunday 30th 15:00 Sale Sharks (h)



OCTOBER
Saturday 6th 15:00 Northampton Saints (a - Twickenham)


NOVEMBER
Friday 16th 19:45 Gloucester (a)
Sunday 25th 15:00 Saracens (h)
Friday 30th 19:45 Bristol (a)


DECEMBER
21/22/23 Harlequins (H)
28/29/30 Bath (A)


JANUARY
4/5/6 Gloucester (H)


FEBRUARY
15/16/17 Saracens (A)
22/23/24 Worcester Warriors (A)


MARCH
1/2/3 Wasps (H)
8/9/10 Sale Sharks (A)
22/23/24 Northampton Saints (H)


APRIL
5/6/7 Exeter Chiefs (H)
12/13/14 Newcastle Falcons (A)
26/27/28 Bristol (H)


MAY
3/4/5 Harlequins (A)
18 Bath (H)
24/25 Semi


JUNE
1st Final


European Champions Cup
12/13/14 October - Round 1
19/20/21 October - Round 2
7/8/9 December - Round 3
14/15/16 December - Round 4
11/12/13 January - Round 5
18/19/20 January - Round 6
29/30/31 March - 1/4 Finals
19/20/21 April - Semis
11th May - Final


Premiership Rugby Cup

Saturday October 27th 15:00 Saracens (a)
Saturday November 3rd 15:00 Worcester Warriors(h)
Friday November 19th 19:45 Sale Sharks
January 25/26/27 Northampton (a)
February 9th Semi-finals
March 16th Final




Squad and Coaching Team:

Head Coach: Matt O'Connor
Forwards Coach: Mark Bakewell
Assistant Coach: Geordan Murphy
Scrum Coach: Boris Stankovich
Senior Development coach: Brett Deacon
Team Manager: Teresa Carrington
Head of Rugby Operations: Ged Glyn


First Team Squad:
(as on Tigers website)

Props: Greg Bateman, Dan Cole, Gaston Cortes, Ellis Genge, Facundo Gigena, Owen Hills
Hookers: Jake Kerr, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Jimmmy Stevens, Tom Youngs
Second Row: Mike Fitzgerald, Graham Kitchener, Will Spencer, James Voss, Harry Wells
Back Row: Dave Denton, Will Evans, Sione Kalamafoni, Valention Mapapalangi, Brendon O'Connor, Guy Thompson, Fred Tuilagi, Mike Williams

Half Backs: Joe Ford, George Ford, Sam Harrison, Matt Toomua, Ben Youngs
Outside Backs: Jonah Holmes, Jonny May, Gareth Owen, Matt Smith, Matthew Tait, Charlie Thacker, Adam Thompstone, Manu Tuilagi, Telusa Veainu, George Worth


Development Squad:

Forwards: Taylor Gough, Sam Grahamslaw, Joe Heyes, Cameron Jordan, Henri Lavin, Sam Lewis, Keston Lines, Harry Mahoney, Tommy Reffell, Thom Smith
Backs: Sam Aspland-Robinson, Tom Hardwicke, Jordan Olowefela, Harry Simmons, Ben White

Yes Faeo plays both quite regularly.

Best hope for Tigers this season seems to lie in Tuilagi playing more than 3 games in a row, and some England players losing their places in the senior side but retaining club form.
Eastmond aside the signings dont look like the sort of players who are going to elevate Tigers first 15 to euro glory (or like getting out of the group stages), although the depth is there now with the two experienced props signed.

Aside from Fred and Olowefela what are the views on the potential for the devleopment players? Are they just going to be filling PRC spots or is there anyone who we could see getting some time in the Premiership/Euros?
The outside backs look a bit light (assuming May will be a core England player) ...is Aspland Robinson likley to step up this season at all?

The most important signing could easily prove to be Bakewell. The difference he made in limited time at the end of last season was incredible, with a full pre-season hopefully the lineout will have been sorted and breakdown continue to improve. At full strength and fitness I believe we have the best backline in the league. the pack has been underpowered in recent seasons (and man for man does not stack up to Sarries) but with some direction should be one of the better packs in league.

I am mildly optimistic for domestic success, butin Europe we will get spanked.

Fred won't make it.

Hardwick - reminiscent of Farrell he's solid in defence, vocal, confident at 10 and 12 and also has a big boot on him (see the penalty from halfway for the England under 20s).

White - likely to be out on loan this season, scrum half general type was England captain during J6Ns and vice captain during JWC. Great skills but needs to work a little on hoping the tempo.

Simmons - another scrum half though you could play him virtually anywhere in the backline, think Healy but without the lip. Needs to work in his passing accuracy but he's already a fab favourite and displaced Kitto leading him to leave the club last season.

Reffell - Welsh under 20s captain. Flanker, can play either but a bit of a fetcher so mainly 7. Has seen a little action so far but will be hopeful of more game time though that will depend on MOC waking up to the fact we need an openside on the pitch at all times.

Heyes - big tighthead, only 19. Looks likely to be given LV replacement game time this season. Highly rated but needs work on his technique.

Would also add Sam Lewis to that list.

Unsure on Lewis at the minute he looks like Croft without the skills. He needs to bulk up a little if he wants to play 6 or a lot of he's going to play lock. There's potential but he looks less finished than the others. Loan deal to the Championship would be the best move for him this season.

I liked what I saw of Lewis last season, but early days.

Ma'afu being a one year deal may lend credibility to the rumours that Nephi Leatigaga has signed for the the 2019-20 season.

Rumour was that Tigers were seeking an early release but it fell through. Ma'afu could be bridging that gap.

Ross McMillan in as another hooker. Guess with TPN likely to be here there and everywhere we could do with some cover.

Facunda Gigena starting at 3 tomorrow - thought we was a LH

Leicester Tigers (v Cardiff Blues, away, Saturday, August 11 2.30pm)

15 Jordan Olowofela
14 Jonah Holmes
13 Brendan Macken
12 George Worth
11 Sam Aspland-Robinson
10 Joe Ford
9 Ben White
1 Campese Ma’afu
2 Jimmy Stevens
3 Facundo Gigena
4 James Voss
5 Harry Wells (c)
6 Sam Lewis
7 Tommy Reffell
8 Thom Smith

Replacements: Jake Kerr, Harry Mahoney, Joe Heyes, Gaston Cortes, Sam Grahamslaw, Cameron Jordan, Henri Lavin, Taylor Gough, Fred Tuilagi, Harry Simmons, Sam Harrison, Tom Hardwick, Matt Smith, Adam Thompstone, Mat Tait

Cardiff Blues: Dan Fish; Jason Harries, Harri Millard, Willis Halaholo, Tom James; Steven Shingler, Lewis Jones; Brad Thyer, Ethan Lewis, Scott Andrews, Ben Murphy, James Down, Callum Bradbury, Olly Robinson (capt), James Botham

Replacements: Liam Belcher, Rhys Carre, Keiron Assiratti, Rory Thornton, Alun Lawrence, Dane Blacker, Ben Jones, Cai Devine, Morgan Allen, Tom Williams, Aled Summerhill, Cameron Lewis, Ioan Davies

LondonTiger wrote:Facunda Gigena starting at 3 tomorrow - thought we was a LH

Is it a preseason game?

They play in all kinds of positions in friendlies and the named team sheet rarely looks like the one that takes the field.

Maybe he can play both sides? Makes him more valuable for us. I'd rather Joe Ford was nowhere near even the preseason team, hopefully Hardwick gets the second half. Nice to see Worth at 12. The rumours over Macken seem justified as this must be a trial game.

Very much 2 pre season sides there

Looks a right mix. I recognise a couple of Cardiff players in a similar way you probably recognise a couple of Tigers. More about getting match fitness than anything else. Don't expect much from Tigers first half with captain mediocre at 10.

https://twitter.com/LeicesterTigers/status/1030099486687809536?s=19

Stronger team than last week.

Brendan Macken gets another run out on trial. More squad players involved. Hardwick gets a big chance at 10.

Shame Evans is still recovering but good to see Reffell given another go. Hopefully it indicates that we're going to actually play with an openside on the pitch this season.

It seems that we have an injury crisis already (I'm unsure how our medical/S&C staff keep their jobs then again the middle pitch at Oval Park is a knee breaker).

BOC out for an unknown amount of time.
Evans recovering from surgery over the summer.
Guy Thompson out until 2019.
Kitchener recovering from surgery over the summer.
Genge out until 2019.

Let's hope Spencer is good to go. Our pack didn't show up well in Treviso by all accounts.

Thompson is the only new injury there confirmed as serious is it not?

Evans, Kitchener and Manu have been recovering from surgery - although Manu may be fit for the start of the season. Genge is already known.

BOC has been absent from the friendlies but he's been pictured in training so hopefully just recovering from a knock. That said it sounds like Mercer is being signed as injury cover which doesn't bode well.

For the final pre-season game against LI I hope to see near as possible the side that we will see against Chiefs with a little bit of rotation from the Treviso game.

1.Bateman 2.Youngs 3.Cole 4.Spencer 5.Fitzgerald 6.Williams 7.Reffell 8.Denton
9.Youngs 10.G Ford 11.May 12.Eastmond 13.Tait 14.Holmes 15.Worth

16.Stevens 17.Fe'ao 18.Cortes 19.Wells 20.Mapapalangi 21.Harrison 22.Hardwick 23.Veainu

No Kalamafoni, KC?

Kala is rumoured to be out injured short term LT.

He'd be starting at 8 with Denton at 6 if fit.

I'd be happier with a Wells/Spencer second row, bit more nasty in that combination than with Fitzgerald and we'll need that against Exeter in the first game.

I hope we can come up with a more robust centre combination for the first game. I don't fancy a Ford, Eastmond, Tait defensive combination. Move Worth into the centres for me, that would give us some more defensive muscle. Unless anyone like Smith, Owen or Manu feel like being match fit soon.

https://twitter.com/LeicesterTigers/status/1032613744755585024?s=19

About the strongest lineup we could put out, excluding known absentees. (Is Bateman injured?)

Loosehead is looking worryingly bare already. I have no confidence in Ma'afu. Otherwise I'm pretty happy with the team. Holmes might be unlucky to lose out to Thompstone for a starting spot but Thompstone is Mr Reliable.

The LI team looks a little odd, especially in the backs ... I think you'll be looking at a big win probably ...

London Irish: 15 Greig Tonks, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Theo Brophy Clews, 11 Luke McLean, 10 Ben Meehan, 9 Scott Steele, 1 Gordon Reid, 2 Dave Porecki, 3 Ollie Hoskins, 4 Barney Maddison, 5 Teofilo Paulo, 6 Josh McNally (c), 7 Max Northcote-Green, 8 Matt Rogerson

Replacements: 16 Saia Fainga’a, 17 Pat Cilliers, 18 Manasa Saulo, 19 Sebastian De Chaves, 20 Sam Twomey, 21 Brendan McKibbin, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 Jack O’Sullivan, 24 Isaac Curtis-Harris, 25 Jake Schatz, 26 Tom Stephenson, 27 Bryce Campbell, 28 Sean O’Hagan, 29 Reuben Knight

Injuries or experimentation from LI? Looks like mainly experimentation with some big names on the bench.

A bit of both I think - some of the main players haven't featured in either friendly.  Some of the backs look like experiments eg a 9 playing at 10.

Most of our big names have been saved for tonight. Whether that'll mean they are fresh or undercooked we'll have to wait and see.

29-3 sounds pretty one-sided at half time. Pretty much expected given the sides.

46-17 FT - not surprising ...

Tigers rolled the subs around a fair bit especially in the second half. Sounded like LI finished with more first team options on as Tigers had removed theirs which was probably not ideal.

MOTM was Eastmond, seems he's getting the fans onside pretty well.

Glad to see the scrum improve when Fa'eo came on, given his set-piece is an unknown quantity it was a promising start. Ma'afu was once again underwhelming though.

I thought Denton played well and featured strongly as a line-out option.

1.Fa'eo
2.Youngs
3.Cole
4.Spencer
5.Wells
6.Denton
7.Reffell
8.Kalamafoni

9.Youngs
10.Ford

11.May
12.Eastmond
13.Tuilagi
14.Holmes
15.Veainu

16.Stevens
17.Ma'afu
18.Cortes
19.Fitzgerald
20.Williams
21.Harrison
22.Hardwick
23.Thompstone

Given the absence of some key players I'd be happy with that against Chiefs. I still think it will be a long day to start the season, especially against the Exeter rolling maul and Tigers recent line-out woes.

If we can win our first three home games (Falcons, Worcs, Sale) and pick up one win away (Saints at Twickers is a big game) before the first European games then I'll be happy with the start of the season.

I suspect we'll see Williams at 7 and Reffell on the bench. Joe Ford and Tait will probably wear 22 and 23. MOC tends to go conservative.

I'd much rather your team. We could do with Owolofela on the bench. It's a game where we may need someone who can create something from nothing.

Didn't Taity limp off against Treviso? He didn't feature yesterday.

I'm hoping that Reffell starting all three friendlies is a sign that he will get opportunities with BOC, Evans and Thompson injured. Reffell is no more raw than Evans was when he first broke through and impressed on debut.

Williams at 7 and Mapapalangi on the bench would look more like MOC selections of last year though.

Olowofela is at least ready to be 4th choice winger, with Aspland-Robinson also looking a shrewd signing I'm happy that no senior wingers have been signed.

Macken signing for the season is a solid bit of business for depth but yet another sign that the coaches don't see Charlie Thacker as a first team player. I can't help but think he'd be better off playing regular rugby in the championship.

Agree on the winger situation. Owolofela looks like he's physically ready and he's got all the skills to rip teams to shreds. Get some experience and he could be a real star on a couple of years. Ideal time to bed him in as Thompstone isn't getting any younger. Aspland-Robinson can get his feet under the table on the wing and then move to TV's understudy at 15 next season. Decent succession planning for a change.

I hope Reffell gets a chance to start. He's played well, kept his head down as a development player and his work rate is good. I worry Williams at 7 will see us lacking mobility around the park.

Not sold on Macken. Has length of contract been confirmed? Owen and Smith are still around and decent players and I'd like to see more of Worth and Hardwick in at centre. Worth came off the bench and played at 13 a bit last season. Charlie Thacker should be on loan at Bedford this season and will probably move next.

Olowofela isn't ready yet for starting shirt.

He is a good player and is great in attack but in the pre-season games he has been found out a few times in attack especially prepositionally.

Reffell has been solid in Pre-season but hasn't exactly put his hand up for the 7 shirt yet. (Not a surpised given he's only turned 19 in April not everyone is a Curry.

Macken will be a one year deal to get us through Toomua being out, Owen is out still i believe and whilst smith is a excellent club man isn't really up to it top wise.

Smith isn't up to it at the top level but neither is Macken. It's the type of journeyman signing that hampered us previously. We have no less than three senior OC options after Manu that's before we look at the youngsters, not sure we need to add a fourth. We have a plethora of 12 options there's literally no benefit to Macken playing there for us.

Owolofela isn't first team ready yet but he's got the potential to be international standard. Drip feed him in this season to get experience and adapt to the pace, work on his positioning. Next season when the RWC is here and we're missing chunks of the squad he can go win us matches.

Macken is an alright 3rd option better than our current options.
Thacker isn't good enough and Olowofela can cover 13 he really isn't one IMO.

3 senior options at 13 is all well and good but
Manu will either be fit with England or injured
Owen is currently injured

and suddenly our options become a lot shorter.

Manu, Smith, Tait, Owen. Four senior options. Macken makes that five. Worth came off the bench and played 13 last season.

I'd rather we'd taken the Macken money and added it to the prop funds so we could have acquired a better option than Ma'afu.

Do you know how much is Macken on or Ma'afu?
Not exactly good quality prop money even together.

Tait and Owen are currently injured.
As I said Manu will be most likely England or injured during AI's and 6N's.

Looks like Macken may be LI bound

http://www.the42.ie/brendan-macken-london-irish-kidney-4203797-Aug2018/

Good signing for Irish, certainly help shore up the defence in the middle for the championship.

So what head coaches are available...

I was out yesterday evening, so missed the game. I am told the scoreline flattered us.

formerly known as Sam wrote:So what head coaches are available...

Bernard Jackman might be available shortly

LondonTiger wrote:I was out yesterday evening, so missed the game. I am told the scoreline flattered us.

I heard similar. Got back and watched it on record last night. What's really worrying is that the players didn't play particularly badly. They were committed, big tackles rained in and in the opening 10-15 minutes of the second half we looked half decent ball in hand.

The patterns in attack and organisation in defence was shambolic. Made to look even worse by the simple but brutally effective tactics employed by Exeter.

Artful_Dodger wrote:

formerly known as Sam wrote:So what head coaches are available...

Bernard Jackman might be available shortly

Not sure he's got what it takes to succeed at Welford Road.

I'd like to see Murphy given a crack with Ben Herring returning as a defence and turnover specialist (the latter was a role he fulfilled back in 2009-11 to good effect). Call the Murphy promotion temporary and then if it doesn't work then we will back where we start if it does work then that saves us some money.

Denton looks a good signing.

Welly wrote:  Denton looks a good signing.

Looked good ball in hand. Solid in defence. Really liked him coming off the shoulder of Ford. Would like to see him hit a ruck but it's clearly not in our tactics ( ). Would like to see him a bit more confrontational.

Thought Fe'ao looked half decent off the bench. Williams gave him a bit of trouble in the scrum but around the park he did a fair bit of damage.

MOC gone.