Never write off the old guard. It's a lesson I learned a fair while ago,
when I was 17 to be precise. Making my
first senior rugby appearance for my local 4th XV (consisting mostly of the 40+
brigade), I was in the highly unusual situation of being one of the quickest
blokes on the pitch. It seemed great for the first couple of minutes, as I scooted
between gaps, but then the gnarly old veterans on the other side stepped in. The next time I went for a break I found the door well and truly slammed – or, to be precise, punched – shut, and as
I lay on the floor wandering what had just hit me, the charming opposition second
row, who must have been approaching 60, gave me a pat on the head and said
"Welcome to the big boy game, son".
It's easy to get seduced by new, exciting and potentially
successful options -take Harlequins and Saracens for example, relatively 'new
kids on the block' as far as challenging for honours in concerned, especially
when compared to the old powerhouses of English rugby, such as Leicester and
Gloucester. The temptation to focus your attention on the new boys is made all the more potent when you realise it isn't the
rosiest of times for these 2 titans – the Tigers, reigning English champions,
have been a shadow of their last-season's self this year, whilst Gloucester have
only one Anglo-Welsh Cup to show for their last 8 years of battling.
That said, the hosts for Sundays clash between the 'old
boys' have the better excuses. Landed
with a ridiculous injury list, Leicester have been plagued by inconsistency of
selection, ruing any legitimate hopes of cohesion within the side – especially the
backline, where a fly half and winger have formed the centre combination on
more than once occasion. But the Tigers
don't do excuses. They do winning – and they
know they have a great chance of that on Sunday. For the first time in a very long time,
Leicester go into a Six Nations-windowed league match with just one player
missing through England selection – Dan Cole. They are still
without 3 further Test Lions through injury – Tom Croft, Manu Tuilagi and Geoff
Parling – as well as the electric Miles Benjamin, but this is the closest to a
1st XV the East Midlanders have had in about 6 months. The pack looks strong, but they have to show
more grit than they did against Worcester and give Ben Youngs and Toby Flood
the kind of quick ball they need to create havoc.
Gloucester meanwhile, seem to have been forever a team of
promise. Any backline containing the
likes of Johnny May, Charlie Sharples and Henry Trinder is worth paying
attention to, and that's before taking into account the cruel injury that has
brought James Simpson Daniel's season to a premature end yet again. There's also a certain Mr Freddie Burns; this
time last year, the heir apparent to that England 10 shirt, but now so plagued
by uncertainty about his future that he can't force a place into the Gloucester
side to face, by all accounts, his future employers. A disappointment for the Welford Road
faithful. But the backs have not been
the problem for Gloucester – the problem, of late, is always the fact that the
tight 5 are as threatening as a pot of pansies.
The back row of Morgan, Kvesic and Kalamafomi is one of the most
intimidating in the Premiership on paper, but they have constantly been denied
a solid platform on which to operate.
The signings of Richard Hibbard and John Afoa are huge for the club, but
how they wish they could have an effect now.
With a wobbly set piece, the Cherry and Whites are constantly playing on
the back foot and, with the talent they have out wide, that is a real waste. But no Gloucester side lacks fight,
especially when it comes to taking on the Tigers, and you can bet that every
player in a cherry and white jersey will be fired up for Sunday's encounter.
Because Gloucester, like Leicester, are one of the old guard
– one of the traditional pillars of English rugby. They may go quiet for a while, but they never
truly disappear. They're just waiting
for the right time to strike.
Leicester Tigers
Team News
Adam Thompstone and Graham Kitchener return to the Leicester
team for Sunday's Aviva Premiership fixture against Gloucester at Welford
Road. Winger Thompstone, the club's top
try-scorer in 2012/13, returns after recovering from a knock picked up in his
England Saxons debut a fortnight ago, while Kitchener joins Ed Slater in the
locks. Number eight Jordan Crane returns
after injury for his first game since the Heineken Cup tie against Ulster. Slater, Tom Youngs and Ben Youngs are
included in the starting line-up after being released from the England squad
this week.
Starting Line
up: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Vereniki
Goneva, 13 Matt Smith, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Adam Thompstone, 10 Toby Flood (c),
9 Ben Youngs, 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Graham Kitchener,
4 Ed Slater, 3 Logovi'i Mulipola, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Subs: 16 Rob
Hawkins, 17 Boris Stankovich, 18 Fraser Balmain, 19 Louis Deacon, 20 Thomas
Waldrom, 21 David Mele, 22 Owen Williams, 23 Blaine Scully.
Key Player
Ben Youngs. Dropped
from the England squad for the first time in his career since making his
breakthrough in 2010, this is a real test of character for the 24 year
old. A difficult mix of an unsettled
Tigers side, a Lions Tour injury and lack of pre-season has seen the scrum half
looking both sluggish – carrying a couple of extra pounds (that said, when you
look at the family genes you will understand why that's easily done) – and
desperate, as he tries to conjure some inspiration for his team around him. Thankfully for him, Gloucester are a team
that he does have a good history against, scoring a great solo try against them
last time his form was called into question in 2012. I get the sense that he is overthinking
things at the moment and the key to getting his mojo back is to relax and play
his natural, heads-up game when presented with front foot ball. When he does that, there is nobody better at
putting forwards through gaps on the fringes and getting the Tigers' engine
purring.
Gloucester Team
News
Mike Tindall returns to the Gloucester starting line-up and
will also skipper the side as one of five new faces in the side from the team
that faced Sale Sharks last weekend. In
the pack, Will James comes in to partner Elliott Stooke in the second-row,
while Director of Rugby Nigel Davies welcomes back England back-row forwards
Matt Kvesic and Ben Morgan. In the
backline Dan Robson gets the nod at scrum-half, partnering Ryan Mills at
half-back, with Tindall joining Henry Trinder in the Gloucester midfield.
Starting Line
up: 15 Rob Cook, 14 Charlie Sharples,
13 Henry Trinder, 12 Mike Tindall (capt), 11 Martyn Thomas, 10 Ryan Mills, 9
Dan Robson, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Sione Kalamafoni, 5 Will James, 4
Elliott Stooke, 3 Sila Puafisi, 2 Darren Dawidiuk, 1 Nick Wood.
Subs: 16 Huia
Edmonds, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Rupert Harden, 19 James Hudson, 20 Matt Cox, 21
Jimmy Cowan, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Shane Monahan.
Key Player
Ben Morgan. Big Ben
returns from England duty as arguably the unluckiest man in the squad – every time
he's pulled on the England shirt in his last 4 appearances he's looked
unstoppable…it's just that he happens to replacing Billy Vunipola, probably the
only bloke bigger than he is and in a superb run of form himself. Whilst England may be lucky to have two
potentially world-class number 8s, Gloucester haven't really seen the best of
Morgan. Of course, he has been playing
behind a pack as solid as a pile of pillows, which doesn't help, but we've yet
to see him produce that blockbusting, all-action carrying and offloading
display that we see in a white shirt.
The gainline battle is absolutely critical against Leicester, and if the
visitors are to have any hope at all, they need their behemoth number 8 to get
his hands on the ball around the breakdown at every available opportunity.
Key Battle
Logovi'i Mulipola v Nick Wood. With Dan Cole popping his slippered feet up
and smoking a pipe (he seems the sort) with England this weekend, Logo 'Mini'
Mulipola takes his preferred tighthead spot, only just returning himself after
a troublesome calf-injury. There was no
sign of any tenderness last week against Worcester when, as one of the few
Leicester players to impress, he rampaged around for a solid hour, causing
havoc. He may be dynamite in the loose,
but he perhaps doesn't carry the same technical ability that Cole does at prop,
and that's an area that Nick Wood will be looking to test out. The Gloucester scrum had a miserable time of it
at Kingsholm against Leicester earlier on in the season, and there is every
chance that it could happen again unless Wood can live up to his supporters'
hype and deliver a technical masterclass in loosehead scrummaging. If Mulipola even just gains parity in the set
piece, the visitors will be in trouble – Ayerza is on the other side and he
should have no problems getting to grips with Puafisi.
Prediction
Last year, this would have been a real humdinger but now,
whilst the intense rivalry still remains, I can really only see one winner. Leicester have looked very rocky of late but
this is the first time in a very long time they have had anything even close to
resembling a first choice team out, and it will be very interesting to see how
they respond to that. Gloucester
themselves have looked fragile all season, and whilst this is a key game for
both sides in terms of building confidence for the run-in, I don't think that
the Cherry and Whites are in the mental position to take advantage of
Leicester's comparative 'wobbly patch'. As
was the case when the teams last met, the set piece is likely to be the key
area, and with Kitchener and Ayerza packing down for the hosts, I can see the
line-out and the scrum being a tricky area for the visitors. With clear weather on the cards for Sunday,
let's hope we see some running rugby from some of the talent on show, but the
likelihood is that there will be one-sided scoreboard at the end…Tigers by 12.
Sale Sharks v
Saracens: Saracens were dealt a huge
upset at home against London Irish last week but I can't see them taking their
foot off the gas for 2 weeks running, despite Sale's decent home record. Sarries
by 8.
Harlequins v
Newcastle Falcons: Quins have a
chance to try and 'bed in' to the top 4 and they have a great shot against the
Falcons at home, with Deano's return to the 'scene of the crime' much
anticipated. Too much firepower for the
hosts, though. Quins by 12.
London Wasps v London
Irish: The 'London' derby between
these two looks like being an entertaining encounter, with both sides playing
some decent stuff of late. It should be
close, but I think home advantage will be enough for Wasps. Wasps
by 3.
Northampton Saints v Worcester
Warriors: You've got to feel for the
Warriors. After suffering an agonising
defeat at the hands of Leicester last week, they now have to go and attempt to
bounce back at top-of-the-table Saints.
No contest here, I'm afraid. Saints by 15.
Exeter Chiefs v
Bath: Another big fixture in what
Chiefs fans like to refer to as "the real West Country derby". And this one should be an absolute cracker,
with both sides firmly in the mix for a top 4 spot. Worryingly for Rob Baxter though, Bath are
the only side his team has failed to beat in the Premiership since their
promotion...that's 10 attempts without success.
Bath by 2.
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