One of my first memories of a rugby match was of my dad
taking me to see Leicester Tigers v Bath in the Pilkington Cup final at
Twickenham in 1996. The match infamously
ended in a dodgy penalty try awarded by Steve Lander, Neil Back shoving the ref
over in frustration and me bawling my eyes out for two solid hours until daddy
bought me an ice cream. Nothing changes. But the one thing that really stood out for
me in that game was a moment that encapsulates the passion and fierce rivalry
between these two sides, and it involved (from memory) Bath winger John
Sleightholme and Leicester prop Darren Garforth.
Effectively, these two chaps were the complete opposite to
each other. Whilst Sleightholme was a
nifty and quick-footed winger with a knack for skinning opponents, Garforth
looked like a cross-between a grizzly bear and a bean bag. As well as constantly looking like he had a
hangover. At some point in the first
half, Sleightholme found the ball in space and found him one-on-one with
'Daz'. No contest, surely? Sure enough, Sleightholme stepped on the gas
and proceeded to motor past Garforth down the touchline at full tilt, and a try
seemed well and truly on the cards.
But then something incredible – something physics-defying –
happened. Daz put his head down, ran for
5 metres as fast as he could and then leapt like Eddie the Eagle, at full
stretch, and caught the shorts pocket of the speeding Sleightholme with his
fingertips. The winger was hauled down,
the crowd was on their feet, and the magic of the Bath-Leicester rivalry was
encapsulated in a 5 second moment. This
match, between the 2 dominant sides of the 90s, still manages to force players
to find reserves they didn't know they had.
Of course, Bath's reserves seem to have increased
significantly over the summer as they wheeled in a great selection of big names
of talent – from Jonathan Joseph and Matt Garvey from London Irish, to George
Ford from Leicester, to Gavin Henson from whoever he was irritating at the
time. It's an exciting time to be a Bath
fan as they try to get their new recruits to gel and create an understanding
within the team, and the Rec faithful would have been encouraged by a solid
21-0 win away against the Falcons in Newcastle's freezing version of a
monsoon. The loss of Kyle Eastmond will
be a blow, but this Bath outfit now has enough quality to cover all but the
most extreme injury crisis.
The Tigers, however, seem to be gradually descending into a
much more serious state of affairs on the injury front. Already cursed with losing the spine of their
attack in Ben Youngs, Toby Flood and Manu Tuilagi for the first two weeks of
the season, the mobility of the pack has taken a hit with Graham Kitchener and
Geoff Parling nursing knocks and the devastating news that Tom Croft will be
out for the entire season after rupturing his ACL (something I can empathise
with!). Nevertheless, the reigning
champions are renowned for the depth, and when you can bring in one of the
players of last season in Ed Slater and the fantastically talented Niki Goneva,
you realise that this Tigers side can still seriously threaten.
They'll need to if they're to claim a scalp this week,
against one of their fiercest rivals a century after they first met. As George Chuter said this week – "This
is a local derby in every way…except the location".
Bath have made two changes to the side that beat Newcastle
last weekend, with Guy Mercer coming in for Mat Gilbert on the openside flank,
and Gavin Henson replacing Kyle Eastmond at inside centre. Tom Heathcote takes
Henson's place on the bench.
Starting Line
Up: Watson; Rokoduguni, Joseph,
Henson, Banahan; Ford, Stringer; James, Webber, Wilson, Hooper (capt), Attwood,
Garvey, Mercer, Houston.
Subs: Batty,
Catt, Perenise, Day, Fa'osiliva, Young, Heathcote, Biggs.
Key Player
Jonathan Joseph. The
former London Irish man fell off the radar a bit following his appearances for
England in 2012, but his role on Saturday will be crucial to forcing himself
back into the reckoning. Although he
will be coming up against a superb athlete in Niki Goneva, the Fijian is
primarily a winger and may be caught out defensively from time to time. It will be up to Joseph to exploit this by
picking the gaps off George Ford and isolating Goneva defensively.
Leicester Team
News
Leicester Tigers bring Steve Mafi, Ed Slater and Scott
Hamilton back into the starting line-up. Mafi replaces Croft while Slater comes
in for the injured Louis Deacon. The team also includes Sebastian de Chaves.
Anthony Allen leads the team as captain while Jamie Gibson and Sam Harrison are
named on the bench. The Tigers are currently battling a monster injury list
with Deacon, Parling, Toby Flood, Croft, Miles Benjamin, Gonzalo Camacho, Rob
Hawkins, Graham Kitchener, Matt Smith, Mathew Tait, Manu Tuilagi and Ben Youngs
all sidelined.
Starting Line Up:
Morris; Hamilton, Goneva, Allen (capt), Thompstone; Lamb, Mele; Mulipola,
Youngs, Cole, Slater, De Chaves, Mafi, Salvi, Crane.
Subs: Briggs,
Stankovich, Balmain, Gibson, Waldrom, Harrison, Williams, Bowden.
Key Player
Julian Salvi. The
Leicester flanker is rarely the sort to hog the spotlight but he is so crucial
to the Tigers' game that he is the one player they really cannot function
without. His ability over the ball is
equalled only by – arguably – Francois Louw, who would be facing him on
Saturday were it not for his involvement in the Rugby Championship for South
Africa. Salvi will be aware that
Leicester's game, with so many injuries in the squad, will depend on him being
all over Bath like a rash – exploiting Louw's absence and slowing down the
opposition ball.
Key Battle
George Ford v Ryan Lamb.
When Ford announced he was leaving the Tigers, it wasn't the most
popular decision at Welford Road, and I for one think he is lucky to be
starting based on Tom Heathcote's form last year. But the ex-Young Player of the Year was
assured, lively and accurate from the tee against Newcastle in awful
conditions, and so he will be wanting to build on this at the Rec against his
old employers – but they will have done their homework on him. Ryan Lamb had a mixed afternoon on his debut
last week, looking sharp early on before fading, but he will need to play a
smart tactical game to match Ford's, rather than relying solely on attacking
instinct, if the Tigers are to really build the pressure on the men from the
West Country.
Prediction
The rivalry may be old but the passion is still very fresh
and feisty between these two. Neither
will want to leave with a loss and I can see this one being fast and frantic –
and very, very close. But the Tigers
have lost a huge amount of attacking zip with the short-term absences of
Tuilagi, Tait, Ben Youngs and Flood – in addition to the now-long-term lay-off
Croft – really limiting their options their options out wide, despite there
still being some handy players lurking around.
Bath on the other hand have a fresh new side who will be very eager to
get that first home win of the season, and I can see them sneaking a win at the
Rec. Bath by 3.
What else is happening in the Premiership this weekend?
Sale Sharks v
Newcastle Falcons: Some may view this as a key relegation battle but the
Sharks proved last week that they have no intention of finishing up at that end
of the table again. They will be buoyant
and should win comfortably. Sharks by
12.
Exeter Chiefs v
London Wasps: The Chiefs were
trounced at Franklins Gardens and will be determined to make amends, but Wasps
have top 6 ambitions of their own this year.
This will be a tight one but home advantage should prevail. Chiefs
by 3.
Worcester Warriors v
London Irish: This is another absolute belter but for different reasons –
these two are among the favourites to go down this year. The Warriors showed against Leicester for 15
minutes that they can play – if they can build on that I expect them to
win. Warriors by 9.
Saracens
v Gloucester: Gloucester will be smarting after being humbled
by Sale last week but it doesn't get any easy playing an away game at the
favourites' fortress. I can't see
anything other than a powerful home win here.
Saracens by 14.
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