Aviva Premiership Final Review - Leicester Tigers 37 - 17 Northampton Saints

Inevitability is a word that you don’t often associate with sport – part of its beauty and appeal which keeps crowds coming back over and over again is the fact that you can never be 100% sure what will happen.  Just ask the All Blacks about every world cup between 1987 and 2011 when they were expected to cruise through the tournaments, Manchester City about their ability to win the FA Cup against the (mighty) Wigan or any amateur golfer about how much of a ‘gimme’ a 3 foot putt is.  Yes, the constant threat of the unexpected is a real draw card within life, but that doesn’t stop there from being some pretty solid ‘bankers’ floating around, and two of these are in the Premiership.

The first one would be that Leicester Tigers will be contesting in another Premiership Final – the fact that their game on Saturday was the 9^th Final on the bounce is an indication of the phenomenal consistency they have at the club.  Despite playing some pretty mediocre stuff throughout the majority of the season, the Tigers know how to keep winning games and how to turn it on when it matters.  The second ‘sure thing’ would be that any game between Leicester and Northampton will have at least one flashpoint.  Northampton have had a pretty topsy-turvy season but are the only side in England who can at least match, if not out-gun, Leicester’s power game – and it’s that, along with the fierce local rivalry, which inevitably leads to non-rugby talking points for days or weeks to come. 

Little did fans of either side know that the daddy of all flashpoints would be taking place on English club rugby’s biggest stage on Saturday.  The opening was cagey and full of errors – a Tom Youngs skewed throw, an early engagement from the Saints pack – with both sides striving for a foothold in a highly charged atmosphere.  And it was the Tigers who struck first following a smart offload from Allen and even smarter footwork from Mat Tait, giving Leicester front foot ball which forced an offside from the Saints backline.  Captain Toby Flood nailed the 3 pointer and then, 3 minutes later, played an integral part in the opening try of the game, flipping a beautiful inside ball to Nikki Goneva for the initial break before drawing Foden and floating a gorgeous pass out wide to Niall Morris, who strolled over on the right.  Flood converted to make it a fine 5 minutes for the England fly half. 

In the crowd, Leicester fans took a breath, and that fear of going behind early seemed to have dissipated – but this was no time to relax, as Saints demonstrated with a fine try of their own 5 minutes later.  Jamie Elliot was hauled down by Manu Tuilagi, who then tried to get his hands on the ball; although the England centre may have technically removed his hands before going back in, it was nowhere near clear enough, and Wayne Barnes correctly gave the penalty.  Lee Dickson quickly took the penalty and shipped the ball to Stephen Myler via Luther Burrell, and the Northampton 10 finished well under pressure from Tait to score on the left.   He couldn’t add the extras from out wide, but a warning shot had been sounded.

But if that was a warning shot, the full-on volley was unleashed after 20 minutes when Courtney Lawes cut Flood in half with, in my opinion, a fair hit – but it was one of those borderline situations where the second row launched himself as the fly half was passing the ball. The decision was given for a penalty, but the real damage had been done – the England fly half took the not-unsizeable knee of Dan Cole to the head on the way down, leaving him concussed.  What was disappointing to see though was coach Richard Cockerill venting his views to the fourth official – his desire and passion to protect his star players was understandable, as was his justifiable frustration that, since a penalty had been (wrongly) given, no yellow card had been issued, but there has to be a better avenue for him to complain than setting that poor example.

Ben Youngs stepped up to take his first kick in 3 years for the club infront of 82,000 people and hooked it to the left, before Flood got crunched by Lawes again and had to leave the field looking very groggy.  If Flood was shaken, Leicester were rattled, and the game was brewing nicely in terms of free flowing rugby, with Northampton going close twice through Dickson and Ken Pisi, sandwiching a 70 metre break by Tait that led to another 3 pointer for the Tigers – this time converted by substitute George Ford.

Flood leaving the field was a potentially game changing moment, but another came around swiftly after, as Ben Foden – lively all game – took an offload from Jamie Elliot and went over on the left, only for a sensational cover tackle by Graham Kitchener to deny him, with the big lock getting himself underneath the ball.  The full back’s feet went out before he managed to wrestle the ball down, and a 22-metre drop out was given – much to the confusion and anger of the Saints players.  And it was this which, in my opinion, set in motion the chain of events that unfortunately defined the game.

Firstly, a frustrated Dylan Hartley was warned for abusive backchat by Wayne Barnes at a scrum, before a missed subsequent penalty by George Ford gave Northampton a 22 metre drop out.  Then came the first moment of utter stupidity, with Stephen Myler kicking the ball straight out from the restart.  Wayne Barnes could be heard saying “You can’t kick it straight out but yes, it’s time” (indicating that time for the half was up) prior to the kick – but even if the Saints players had misheard (thinking Barnes said “can” instead of “can’t”) it is a player’s responsibility to know the rules of the game.  If Myler didn’t know that he couldn’t kick it straight out, unfortunately that is his fault.  It gave Leicester a scrum on the 22 metre line from which Dan Cole and Logovi’i Mulipola drove through the Saints pack and won a penalty, leaving a fuming Dylan Hartley to get up and say the words “F*cking cheat” to Barnes.  A red card was brandished despite the fact the Hartley claimed he was talking to Tom Youngs – but this was still completely mindless in two ways.  Firstly, replays showed Hartley looking at Barnes, not Youngs (on the floor), when he said the words; and secondly, even if they had been directed at Youngs, he had just been warned about using abusive language that could be interpreted by Barnes to be directed at him.  To run that risk by launching an insult at Youngs would be just as brain-dead as insulting the referee himself. 

Ford, converted the penalty to give the Tigers a 16 – 5 halftime lead, but the incident had left a nasty taste in the mouth and given a fixture that rarely needs extra drama some added controversy.  Some sides would have wallowed in self pity and imploded – but Northampton are made of sterner stuff.  They came out with added verve and purpose in the second half, with Foden looking especially dangerous, and they got a deserved reward just 3 minutes into the new period.  A beautiful Christian Day offload and a superbly timed pass from substitute hooker Mike Haywood allowed Myler space to ship the ball via George Wilson to Foden, who this time was not to be denied in the left hand corner.  Myler missed the conversion again, but the 14-man side were right back in the game.

Leicester responded the way they know best – with power.  Dan Cole destroyed Soane Tonga’uiha in a Northampton scrum and the pressure led to a loose ball which was gloriously scooped up by Anthony Allen, before Graham Kitchener got his large mitts on the pill and galloped through a gap on the blindside to score on the right.   Ford fluffed his kick, but made amends with a simple penalty following his excellent break which almost resulted in another try – and may well have done if he’d backed himself and gone for the line instead of looking for support.  The Leicester fans seemed to relax in the sense that the game was out of Northampton’s reach – but how wrong they were.

A scuffed kick from Ben Youngs gave Foden a chance to counter, and the full back danced through the Tigers’ defence to give the Saints front foot ball.  Jordan Crane then somehow managed to trip himself over and leave a huge gap in the midfield which Luther Burrell powered through before flicking a delightful offload up to Dickson, who gathered expertly off his boot straps to bring Northampton within 7 points, following Myler’s conversion.  Game on.

With 25 minutes to go, Northampton had the ascendency and were playing the better rugby, but it couldn’t last.  Despite throwing everything at Leicester, Saints eventually ran themselves into the ground.  Taking advantage of a tiring defence, Manu Tuilagi crashed through Tom Woods’ challenge to race home from 50 metres on 65 minutes, before substitute Steve Mafi put the icing on the cake with a gorgeous basketball-style offload to put Niki Goneva in for a try.  It was game over – Leicester were deserved winners by 37-17 and, by putting their name on the trophy that they last won in 2010, they made it a record 10 English Championships overall.

This final was another classic that was packed to the brim with speed, power and skill, but it’s one that will unfortunately be remembered for a moment of stupidity rather than the many moments of brilliance.  That the likes of Flood’s pass for Morris’ try or Dickson’s pick up for Northampton’s third will be a secondary thought to the moronic actions of one man is a sad indication of the press coverage these occasions receive, but it should not mask what overall was fantastic occasion.

So the curtain comes down on another season of Premiership rugby, and so to on the East Midland club careers of Brian Mujati, Soane Tonga’uiha, Martin Castrogiovanni and Geordan Murphy – but it’s just another dramatic chapter in the history of Leicester-Northampton games.  And I already can’t wait to see the next instalment.

Leicester Player Ratings

Mat Tait – 8 – Superb break in the first half and some lovely footwork throughout, just not quite as involved as he would have liked to have been in the second half.
Niall Morris – 7 – Well finished for Tigers’ first try, but was then fairly quiet.  Solid presence though.
Manu Tuilagi – 7 – You just can’t keep him down.  Even when you think he’s having one of his quiet days at the office, he then goes and strolls through a tackle to score a game sealing try.
Anthony Allen – 8 – An absolute rock.  Made the right decisions throughout and tackled anything that moved.  The glue that holds the Leicester backline together.
Niki Goneva – 7 – Magical running in the first half and a deserved try late on, needs to keep working on his ball retention and security though.
Toby Flood – 7 – Was looking in fine fettle before an injury forced him off, kicking well and passing beautifully for the opening try.
Ben Youngs – 6 – Some very sharp service but there were few gaps for him to exploit, and a couple of iffy kicks handed decent ball to the opposition
Logovi’i Mulipola – 7 – Very strong work in the scrum where he held his own, maybe even got the upper hand, against Brian Mujati.   Not as prominent in the loose as usual though.
Tom Youngs – 6 – Exceptional around the park, particularly on the carry, but had a bit of a dodgy day with his lineout throws.  Will hope that’s the last set of clangers for the season.
Dan Cole – 8 – He’ll probably be one of the few opposition props to miss Soane Tonga’uiha.  Has a great record in the set piece against him and continued that dominance in the final – a major blow to the Saints’ cause.
Graham Kitchener – 9 – A magnificent display from the underrated lock.  Carried hard all game, worked well in the lineout, made a superb try saving tackle on Ben Foden and scored a great try.  Not bad for a second row.  Man of the Match.
Geoff Parling – 6 – A solid, if unspectacular showing, from the Lion.  I’d question some of his lineout calls (making Youngs go to the back on his first throw) but did his usual grunt work around the pitch.
Tom Croft – 7 – Superb in the lineout and in defence as usual, but was surprisingly invisible in attack when compared to his heroics a fortnight ago.
Julian Salvi – 7 – A quietly effective game, making a nuisance of himself at ruck time and making countless tackles
Jordan Crane – 7 – Confirmed his renaissance this season with a powerful and intelligent display, building momentum when his team required it.

Subs

Rob Hawkins – Not enough time to make an impact
Fraser Balmain – Not enough time to make an impact
Martin Castrogiovanni – Not enough time to make an impact
Ed Slater – 7 – What a season this guy has had.  Unlucky to be injured in the month leading up to the final, but made a statement straight away with a couple of bruising carries.
Steve Mafi – 7 – Not on for long but a lovely assist to finish the game.
Sam Harrison – Not enough time to make an impact
George Ford – 5 – Not particularly impressive.  Kicking was poor and was he often looked slow and indecisive with his distribution.
Matt Smith – Not enough time to make an impact

 

Northampton Player Ratings

Ben Foden – 8 – A wonderful return to form.  Sharp on the counter attack, the full back scored one and set up another.   Probably just shaded his battle with Tait, but both looked in excellent nick.
Ken Pisi – 5 – Did nothing wrong, but didn’t get into any positions to show off his speed or footwork.  Was well marshalled.
James Wilson – 7 – Another solid display from a player who offers something different George Pisi.  Reliable in defence and big with the boot, is proving his worth as a tactical centre.
Luther Burrell – 8 – What a fine inside centre this guy has become.  Some bruising carries and a couple of deft offloads and passes really stood him out.  Hopefully Mallinder will give him more of a run in the side next year.
Jamie Elliot – 6 – Looked good on the rare occasions he had the ball but was shackled pretty well throughout, before being sacrificed for a hooker replacement.
Stephen Myler – 6 – Distributed well but missed some difficult kicks that would have brought Saints even closer to the Tigers.  Finished well for his try but also messed up that critical restart.
Lee Dickson – 8 – A very sharp display.  A smart tap and go set up a try for Myler and a wonderful pick up earned him a deserved 5 pointer.
Soane Tonga’uiha – 5 – Came a very obvious second best in the scrum and didn’t make any noticeable dents in the loose.  Not the way he would have wished to have bowed out.
Dylan Hartley – 3 – Score halved because of his stupidity.  Regardless of whether or not he did direct his words to Barnes, he shouldn’t have opened his trap at all after the warning he’d been given.  I feel gutted for him though – one moment of madness has cost his side a shot at the Premiership title and a Lions Tour.
Brian Mujati – 5 – Well taken care of by Mulipola and we didn’t hear too many cries of “Muuj” in open play either – an indicator of his involvement.
Courtney Lawes – 7 – Biggest impacts were his hits on Flood...but what impacts!  Harshly penalised for one but a good reminder of his talents nonetheless.  Not much with ball in hand though.
Christian Day – 8 – Very strong display.  Worked well in the lineout and was a nuisance in the loose, showing lovely offloading skills for Foden’s try.
Phil Dowson – 6 – A quiet but workmanlike display from the blindside.  Showed good foraging ability at the back of the lineout and worked well as a linkman as well.
Tom Wood – 7 – A solid display from this summer’s England captain.  Was superb in defence and made a mess of Leicester ball more than once – although he did miss the key tackle on Tuilagi as he tired after running himself into the ground.
Samu Manoa – 6 – Really quiet compared to the previous week.  Didn’t see him obliterate anyone or get his hands on the ball enough to make a real impact.

Subs

Mike Haywood – 7 – A strong performance by the young hooker.  Came on in difficult circumstances but acquitted himself really well in the loose, despite a couple of wobbles on the throw.

Alex Waller – 5 – Could not stem the powerful surges from the Leicester pack up front.
Tom Mercey – 5 – Like his fellow replacement prop, looked shaky in the set piece but brought energy to the Saints game.
Ben Nutley – Not enough time to make an impact
GJ van Velze – 6 – Aggressive and powerful presence when he came on, looking to inject thrust at every opportunity.
Martin Roberts – Not enough time to make an impact
Ryan Lamb– Not enough time to make an impact
George Pisi – Not enough time to make an impact