I sometimes wonder at how heartless the fixtures secretary is at Premiership Rugby. Usually it's just for relatively minor cruelties, like having to visit Salford and Newcastle on consecutive weeks in January. This time, however, he or she has taken it to a whole new level. You see, Leicester and Northampton games are usually excruciatingly tense on their own, without the need for any end of season connotations thrown into the mix but, as it transpires, we are now faced with a local derby which is essentially a must win game - lose, and the season is over. Well, for Leicester at least.
Of
course, it's a very different story for Saints fans, having seen their side
cruise through the season on top the pile to go into this weekend as
uncatchable leaders with a game to spare. They don't need anything out of
this game, but it was still slightly surprising to see Jim Mallinder pick a largely
second string side - partially because it's the Midlands derby and there's
always a huge pressure to win, and partly because you just get a sense that
they're not quite as dominant now as they were earlier in the season. Don't get
me wrong, they're still playing some very, very good rugby but, compared to the
unplayable aura they had pre-Christmas, I do get a sense that there are some
vulnerabilities now - as Exeter showed a little while ago. That said, the
argument of not risking key players in what is technically a dead rubber is a
compelling one and, having dominated the league, Mallinder has earned the right
to pick a weakened side for this. The question is now, how will his side play?
Will they come to have a go, to try and win? Or will their brief be to just
'rough up' their bitter rivals with one eye on a future encounter? Perhaps in
this day of professional sport, the former is more likely.
Leicester
in fairness would not change their attitude no matter who was selected - from
the depths of pessimism leading into last week's game against in-form Wasps,
their best display of the seen has seen a resurgence of optimism that the real
Tigers are beginning to emerge from hibernation. The physicality at the
breakdown last week was relentless and the hosts will have no problem getting
up for this, given the opposition and the circumstances, and the fans thrive on
this winner takes all situation - essentially, any sort of win will see the
Tigers qualify in third, and with Exeter and Saracens expected to win with
bonus points, a loss or draw would see them drop out of the playoffs entirely.
The stakes are higher than they have been for a while but, after the
season they have had, the Tigers will thrive on that. They always do.
God
bless that horrible fixture man. He may not care about our heart rates,
but he knows how to set the stage.
Note: It would feel remiss of me not to at
least mention Manu Tuilagi's actions, which have seen the England centre ruled
out of the World Cup by Stuart Lancaster. The story is that he had an
altercation with a taxi driver, grabbing him by the throat and kicking his wing
mirror, before pushing two female police officers when they intervened - it is
the kind of loutish behaviour we have all seen on a Saturday night in town, and
for Manu to act in that way is both disgraceful and incredibly disappointing
from a man who seemed to have really matured over the last few years.
Anyone who, like me, grew up in Leicester, will know the Tuilagi boys are
absolute gents when sober but after a few shandies they are renowned for
getting a bit 'fighty'. He would do well to stay off the sauce for a while,
even if this is this was partially an outlet of aggression after a frustrating
year on the sidelines. There's no excuse for what he did though and it has
dampened the spirits of the Welford Road faithful - but, if there is any silver
lining it is that he will hopefully take his punishment on the chin, work to
make it up to the community and return a more mature and responsible individual
(as Danny Care did after being convicted of drink driving). Perhaps a
summer on the sidelines will help him fully recover from his injuries as well
and we can look forward to seeing the best of Manu Tuilagi as a player and a
person next season.
Leicester Team
News
Ed Slater and Christian Loamanu make their first Premiership
starts of the season after injury ravaged terms – Slater is of course the club
captain, but Ben Youngs remains skipper having thrived in the role this season. Slater returned after injury against Wasps
and starts instead of the injured Geoff Parling and Loamanu replaces suspended
centre Seremaia Bai.
Key Player
Christian Loamanu.
Richard Cockerill has come in for some stick this season, and a fair
amount of it would be justified – however, some issues were out of hands. You could see the thinking in bringing in
Loamanu – the powerful Japanese international would be a readymade replacement
for Manu Tuilagi when away on England duty, but instead both have been crocked
for large parts of the year and, as such, the new signing makes his first start
in the last game of the regular season.
On paper, the centre pairing of Loamanu and Tait looks tasty – with a
delightful mix of power and pace – but a lot will depend on how quickly the big
man gets up to speed with life in spotlight.
If he plays to his potential and hits the gainline off Burns’ shoulder,
then his power could cause Saints’ young pair of centres a lot of problems this
afternoon.
Northampton Team
News
Leaders Northampton make 13 changes to the side that beat
London Welsh, taking full advantage of the opportunity to rest some of their
big names. Ahsee Tuala and Jamie Elliott
keep their starting places, while captain Dylan Hartley is on the bench.
Starting Line
up: Tuala; Elliott, Waldouck,
Stephenson, Collins; Wilson, Dickson; Corbisiero, Haywood (capt), Ma'afu,
Dickinson, Craig, Dowson (capt), Harrison, Fisher.
Subs: Hartley,
Waller, Denman, Day, Nutley, Fotuali'i, Oliver, Packman.
James Wilson. I have
to say I’m a big fan of the versatile Kiwi – he’s just the kind of player that
every club needs; he may not make too many headlines, but he steps up whenever
asked and invariably does a great job.
In many ways he’s a similar player to Leicester’s Scott Hamilton in that
he isn’t blessed with the greatest natural attributes but he has a brilliant
rugby brain and a great all-round skillset – it’s for these reasons that he’s
filled in at fullback, on the wing, in the centre and now at fly half for the
Saints. His decision making will be put
under severe pressure by a hungry Leicester defence and, although he has the
skillset to deal with it, with an inexperienced backline outside him he cannot
afford to be indecisive – or make many mistakes.
Ed Slater v Phil Dowson.
It was great to see the big Leicester lock back on the pitch last week,
and the big man impressed with his physicality at the breakdown off the
bench. It will be interesting to see how
he handles starting a game after so long out, but he’s been picked at blindside
to lend extra beef when required and to pressurise the lineout from the
off. Dowson, meanwhile, is a very
different player – sort of in the Chris Robshaw mould in that he likes working
as a link man and doing the ‘dirty work’.
The problem for Dowson is, however, that he is part of a fairly
modestly-sized pack and it means he will need to do a lot more carrying than
usual. And, as ever, the ability to
bully the breakdown is key and the arm-wrestle between these two will go a long
way towards stifling the opposition attack and speeding up their own.
This fixture always stands out as the game of the season, and as the final fixture – a must-win for
Leicester – the buzz around this game has been phenomenal. Unfortunately, some of the sting has been
taken out of it by both Mallinder’s selection (which he has every right to
make) and Tuilagi’s misdemeanour, which has dampened the mood of a Welford Road
that is sensing a late resurgence. It
will be interesting to see how Saints approach this game – will they have a
crack or will they look to frustrate and niggle – but either way, Leicester
should win against a largely second XV.
And for the record, I would have gone for a home win even if the Saints were at full
strength. Welford Road is not a happy
place to visit at this time of year. Tigers by 12.
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