Repetition isn't always boring. There are, of course, many instances where it
is – New Zealand winning the Tri Nations (or Rugby Championship as it's now
known), another scandal involving a bank, and Danny Care maintaining a terrible
haircut. However, try telling that to
those Leicester fans who see their team in the knock-out stages once again for
the umpteenth time, and indeed to those following Quins, who see their
burgeoning, talented side in the playoffs for the second year in a row, having
developed a taste for success after last year.
This is of course a rematch of last year's final, where the London side
rolled across the road to Twickenham and, despite being underdogs, outplayed
their illustrious opponents to earn themselves a thoroughly well-deserved
win. So this one should have a nice
undercurrent of spice to it – with both sides trying to prove they are the
dominant force in England – and not least because of the recent furore
surrounding the Lions. Leicester, last
year's runners up in England, have been honoured with no less than six Lions
call ups, whilst the reigning champions have none. Not even the electric Danny Care, the
powerful Mike Brown or the inspirational Chris Robshaw. You can almost hear the indignation at the injustice
of it all bubbling over from West London, and they will be desperate to prove a
couple of points on Leicester's home turf.
And what will the Tigers think? Probably not a lot – after all, somebody
coming to Welford Road with a serious vendetta against the East Midlanders is
hardly a new scenario.
It's the usual story with Leicester – another semi-final (their
8th on the trot, and their 5th home semi on the bounce) with the prospect of a staggering
9th consecutive Premiership final on the bounce. But if you thought that the hunger for
success would have diminished, you'd be dead wrong. Not only is this Leicester's last shot at
silverware this season (which, at a club who adopt the Blofelt "This
organisation does not tolerate failure" mentality, is a big deal), but the
Tigers are also saying goodbye to two 'local' legends in Geordan Murphy and
Martin Castrogiovanni. You couldn't find two more different players –
one a balding full back with better footwork than Michael Flatley, the other a hairy,
marauding prop who is a suspected missing link from cave-dwelling times. But both these guys have a charisma and
passion for Leicester that has endeared them to the Welford Road faithful, and
the rest of the team will be desperate to give them a winning send off at home
and one last Twickenham appearance.
They'll need to up their game though – after an impressive run of form
in the Premiership, they've become a bit too relaxed of late with their semi-final
spot all but secured. Loose play led to
a loss against Bath and inaccuracy against London Irish, but you can bet that
Richard Cockerill won't let that happen again.
Leicester will have to ensure they bring out their 'A' game against the
defending champions – and that means getting their power runners hitting lines
2 passes away from the breakdown, recycling with lightning, and attacking a
back-peddling defence. If they play to
their potential, Murphy and Castro may just get the dream send-off they
deserve.
For Harlequins, the dream has had a couple of rude awakenings
of late. Following on from their
sensational victory over the Tigers' in last season's final, the Premiership champions
started the year in insuppressible style – with the likes of Mike Brown, Danny
Care and Chris Robshaw all maintaining their international form and scoring
tries seemingly at will. But they have
had to come down to earth with a bit of a bump – despite leading the league up
until Christmas, the west London side have only won 5 of their 9 games of 2013,
an average run which included 3 consecutive losses and disappointing home
defeats to Wasps and Exeter. But this
isn't the woolly, la-dee-da Harlequins outfit of old – this side has backbone
and tenacity, and has bounced back with 3 impressive wins which allow them to
travel to Welford road with a realistic degree of confidence. They'll be looking to Nick Evans to target Matt Tait and Nikki Goneva, especially, with high balls because they're not the most reliable duo covering back, although Tait improves with every outing. If Quins are at their best – playing at a
high tempo and with a lot of width – then they are a very difficult side to
hold down; plus they know they can beat Leicester, having won in their last 3
encounters (including twice at Welford Road).
Of course, once the players get onto that pitch, past form
will count for nothing and we'll hopefully be treated to a fast and skilful display
of attacking rugby. For one set of fans, who'll see their team marching onto
the final for the second year running, that'll make for a very enjoyable sense
of deja vous indeed.
Leicester Team
News
Leicester include Mathew Tait and Dan Cole in their starting
line-up for Saturday's Premiership semi-final.
Both were replacements for Saturday's bonus-point win over London Irish
but return to a side skippered by fellow England international Toby Flood.
Starting Line up: Tait;
Morris, Tuilagi, Allen, Vereniki, Goneva, Flood (c), Ben Youngs; Mulipola, Tom
Youngs, Cole; Kitchener, Parling; Croft, Salvi, Crane.
Subs: Hawkins,
Balmain, Castrogiovanni, Mafi, Waldrom, Harrison, Ford, Smith.Key Player
Manu Tuilagi. The
Samoan-born wrecking ball has been a little quiet of late since his
barnstorming display against Northampton, but you only need to look at his
performance in that game to know what he's capable of when he gets into a
match. He's facing up to two smaller
centres in George Lowe and Tom Casson – with both men roughly the same size as
Tuilagi's thigh – but Lowe is quick and strong in the tackle. There is a channel for the Lions tourist to
exploit though, and that's between Casson and Nick Evans. Casson is, in my opinion, a colossally
average player and Nick Evans, despite being a world class fly half, isn't the
greatest defender – if Tuilagi makes sure he gets his hands on the ball and
hits that short line between 10 and 12, the Leicester machine will gather a
hell of a lot of momentum. And that's a
pretty hard machine to stop once it gets going.
Harlequins Team
News
Harlequins are without injured England captain Chris Robshaw
(ankle) so Luke Wallace continues at open-side flanker with Maurie Fa'asavalu
at blindside. Joe Gray is the hooker
with Joe Marler and James Johnston packing down at prop.
Starting Line up:
Brown; Williams, Lowe, Casson, Monye; Evans, Care; Marler, Gray, Johnston; Kohn
Robson; Fa'asavalu, Wallace, Easter (C).
Subs: Buchanan,
Lambert, Collier, Matthews, Guest, Dickson, Botica, Chisholm.
Key Player
Luke Wallace. With
the superb Chris Robshaw still battling his way back from a troublesome ankle
injury, all eyes turn on to the majestically-conditioned mane of the young
Harlequins' openside. His hair may be
girly, but his physicality is anything but – tenacious over the ball and fast
across the park, his contest with Salvi to slow down or steal attacking ball
from the opposition will be critical to the game. He doesn't have Robshaw's carrying and
offloading ability, but if he can make sure that he's first one in to the
breakdown, that won't matter – Leicester's game is based on momentum, and this
guy has the tools to stop it.
Key Battle
Ben Youngs v Danny Care.
Eeesh, this is a tight one. Care
must hate the sight of Youngs more than Augustus Gloop hates the sight of a 3
leaf salad. Not only is Youngs England's
starting 9, ahead of him by a whisker, but he's now a Lions tourist, whilst
Care has been left out. I personally
think they should have both gone, but that won't matter to Care – he has a
score to settle. The Harlequins man is
probably more of an individual threat than Youngs, in that he scoots through
gaps himself more often, but the Leicester 9's ability to bring in runners off
his shoulder is absolutely pivotal to how the Tigers play. Care will need to tune down his emotion and
frustration to avoid this becoming a personal vendetta that pushes him into
making selfish decisions, whilst Youngs will need to ensure his service, which
has been very sharp of late, remains reliable under the pressure that Quins
will surely apply on him. Both men are
key components in how their team attack – if one has an off day, it may just go
a huge way towards deciding the outcome of this tie.
Prediction
This one is going to be an almighty battle that should throw
up some decent rugby as well, and I can see it going right down to the
wire. Quins may well have had the nudge
on the Tigers in their last 3 encounters but, with a full strength side at
Welford Road, this may be where the title defence ends for the reigning
champions. Tigers by 5.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Share your views