If you want to see somebody
frown, ask them what their favourite Lord of the Rings film is. They’ll pull that face either because they
think you’re weird for asking such a nerdy question, or they’ll have to run
through each film in precise detail in their heads before coming any sort of
conclusion. My personal favourite is
Return of the King, despite the cringe-inducing long goodbye at the end. And why am I talking about this? Well, it is a slightly tenuous link but ‘The
Return of the King’ was the first phrase which came to mind when I saw that
Martin Castrogiovanni was returning to Welford Road in Toulon’s colours.
Castro is, of course, a
legend in the East Midlands, known for his larger than life character and his
eccentrically larger than life appearance as much as for his relentless and
consistently-excellent efforts on the pitch.
But when he shows up for the men in red, he will have a real challenge
on his hands in the set piece. Although
the Toulon team sheet reads like a who’s who of international rugby, the one
area of potential supremacy for the hosts – at first glances at least – would
appear to be in the scrum. Marcos Ayerza
is widely regarded by many to be the best scrummaging loosehead in the world,
and his old team-mate is getting a bit long in the tooth and doesn’t quite
possess the raw power that he did in his younger days in Tigers’ colours. That said, the emotion of the occasion could
just bring that extra bit of energy he needs.
Elsewhere though, you can see
a bit of daylight between the sides – not necessarily always in terms of
quality, but certainly in terms of form and especially in terms of cohesion. Leicester’s decision not to replace Matt O’Connor
has always puzzled me and it looks, with the signing of Aaron Mauger, like the
management have finally accepted that the output of the Leicester backline does
not reflect the quality of the player they have available. What does reflect their current stuttering
displays, however, is their league position – 5th. Toulon, although it took them some time
adjust to life without a certain Mr Wilkinson, are sitting on the summit of the
Top 14 and are really motoring through the gears. They have a side to die for (or rather, to
pay a stupid amount of money for) and that is what makes them less fallible to
the away-day jitters that so many French sides suffer from – they have players
all over the park who have won in the toughest conditions at the highest
levels.
There are of course battles
all over the park to keep us intrigued, but it is fair to say that the Crumbie
Terrace will be keeping one eye on a certain shaggy prop throughout the 80
minutes, and beyond though. The question
remains though, will it be a triumphant return of the king or another tedious
overlong goodbye?
Leicester Team News
England scrum-half Ben Youngs
returns to lead Leicester Tigers in their home European Champions Cup Pool
Three match against Toulon on Sunday, with Frenchman David Mele dropping to the
bench. Matt Smith comes in at centre,
with Vereniki Goneva reverting to the wing, whilst Jordan Crane replaces
Lawrence Pearce in the pack at number 8.
Starting Line up:
M Tait; B Scully, M Smith, A
Allen, V Goneva, O Williams, B Youngs (capt); M Ayerza, T Youngs, D Cole, B
Thorn, G Kitchener, J Gibson, J Salvi, J Crane.
Subs: L Ghiraldini, M Rizzo, F Balmain, G Parling, R
Barbieri, S Harrison, F Burns, M Benjamin.
Key Player
Vereniki Goneva. With Manu Tuilagi out injured, and no
apparently coherent – or at least threatening – tactics to fall back on, Leicester
have often relied on the individual brilliance of Vereniki Goneva to win them
games. Against a winger as accomplished
and intelligent as Drew Mitchell, it may be a lot to ask the Fijian maestro to
conjure up some magic, but that is precisely what Leicester will need. They may have the pack to compete, but it
will not achieve the dominance to win the game by itself – they need Goneva
working off his wing, testing Sanchez, and then also holding his width at the
correct time to give himself the space to stand up his man.
Toulon Team News
With Matt Giteau unavailable,
Nicolas Sanchez steps into the fly half spot to lead the formidable Toulon
backline. English brothers Delon and
Steffon Armitage are in the reigning Champions’ starting line-up which,
shockingly, contains just five French
players. Martin Castrogiovanni is also
making an emotional return to a ground which he made his own over 8 years of
service, and is sure to receive a warm welcome from the Welford Road faithful.
Starting Line up:
D Armitage; D Mitchell, M
Bastareaud, M Mermoz, B Habana, N Sanchez, S Tillous-Borde; X Chiocci, G
Guirado, M Castrogiovanni, B Botha, A Williams, M Gorgodze, S Armitage, C Masoe
(capt).
Subs: J
Charles Orioli, F Fresia, C Hayman, J Smith, R Wulf, J Suta, E Escande, R
Taofifenua.
Key Player
Nicolas Sanchez. The fly half was simply superb for the Pumas
in the rugby championship, even in a losing side, refreshing the Argentine back
play by taking the ball to the line and picking out his runners or even
sizzling through himself. He couldn’t
quite replicate that form in a disappointing Autumn series – partly due to the
pack underperforming – but if he takes the ball to the gainline and puts the
juggernaut that is Mathieu Bastareau into even just a slight gap, the French
centre is going to be very hard to spot.
All he needs is clean ball, because Sanchez has the ability to unleash the
rather substantive arsenal outside of him.
Key Battle
Julian Salvi v Steffon
Armitage. Could it be any others? Arguably the best pilferer in the Premiership
over the past three seasons against, well, probably the best pilferer in
Europe. Salvi is rarely talked up by
fans because he’s pretty unspectacular, but his durability and flawless
technique makes him indispensible to the Tigers – so often he is the first man
over the ball, and once there he is nearly impossible to dislodge. A bit like a certain Englishman lining up
opposite him. Armitage’s physique isn’t
going to win him any swimming certificates (except perhaps for bombing), but he
is immovable over the ball and – this is where he has the edge on Salvi – he is
difficult carrier to stop because of his low centre of gravity. But Sunday’s game is all about the breakdown –
if Salvi gets on top, he can turn the form book on its head and set a famous
win in motion. But against Armitage,
that is far from easy.
Prediction
If Leicester had the likes of
Parling, Croft, Slater and Tuilagi available (the latter two in particular), I
would be leaning towards Leicester milking the Welford Road factor and coming
away with a bruising win. But the Tigers’
have stuttered so badly without their big names that, even with the likes of
the Youngs brothers and Dan Cole returning, it is hard to see them coming out
on top against a side in which every player is a seasoned international - and they are a side who are bang in
form. The Tigers are not. There is the potential for the hosts to get
the upper hand in the scrum – shockingly, I think Ayerza may be able to cause
Castro some problems – but otherwise, the visitors just seem to have a slight
in edge in physicality and big game experience.
And those will be the two deciding factors on Sunday. Toulon
by 6.
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