which have resulted in us losing games we maybe could have won.

I am not saying we would have won today, indeed what fluent rugby that was played came from the visitors, and almost the entire second half was played in the Leeds half of the field.

Leeds made an ominous start when Thomas’ kick off failed to go ten yards. Jeremy Staunton twice had the chance to get Leicester off to a flyer, but he pushed two kickable penalties wide, and when Ceiron Thomas slotted his first two kicks between the uprights to give Leeds a 6 – 0 lead, it looked to be ‘game on’. However it wasn’t long before Leeds managed to not only lose possession, but also as a result concede needless penalties, and the next two opportunities that came his way were duly converted by the visitors’ fly half to level the scores. To compound the issue, both of Thomas’ restarts went straight into touch, effectively giving Leicester the ball back. On the heavily sanded pitch, the midfield defences were on top, and the game lacked fluency. Jordan Crane had dropped the ball going over the line early on, but the whitewash hadn’t been threatened otherwise.

With 30 minutes or so on the clock, Leicester found touch close to half way, and the teams lined up for the throw. Leeds were confident, Hinton came into the line to assist the attack, and Titterell threw in. The ball was knocked back by a Leeds player, but it was Craig Newby, the Tigers back row forward who collected the ball and ran 50 yards unchallenged to cross in the corner, and give the visitors a 5 point lead which they took into half time.

Thomas reduced the deficit early in the second half, and had the opportunity to give the hosts the lead, but his 40 yard penalty just went wide. This was the last time Leeds threatened, as Leicester, pushed Leeds back into their own territory with some good disciplined play. The Leeds pack had more than held their own, but just after the hour Juan Gomes, whose 5 yard run and dummy was a highlight of the afternoon, was replaced, and the visitors started to take control up front. Staunton kicked another penalty to increase the lead, and then missed with a drop kick, but it hardly mattered as Leeds were unable to make any progress up field. When they did get across half way, they once again lost their own line out, and when Rabeni made an interception he made 20 yards, lost the ball in contact, and the egg was returned deep into the Leeds 22.

Leicester were quite content to play out time, and the final score of Leeds 9 Leicester 14 reflected how well Leeds had defended, and possibly how little use Leicester had made of the possession they had.

As far as the league table goes, we are in exactly the same position we were in before this weekend, only there is now a game less to claw back the deficit.

Today we made basic errors, and the decision making at times was poor. While Leicester moved the ball along the threequarters, our ball never got beyond Rabeni, and this for me is now a major worry. We have got to take the bull by the horns, and today, I would have liked to have seen Joe Ford play at centre for the last 20 minutes or so.

Andy Titterell had a solid debut, and the battle between him and Chuter was entertaining, as was the ‘affection’ shown between Wentzel and Ben Kay.

Again, no lack of effort, and yet again, one Leeds player stood head and shoulders above anybody else on the field. Stand up Hendre Fourie, another top notch display from our number 7 and without any shadow of doubt my man of the match.

I won’t give up the ghost yet, but we have got to find a way of posing a threat when we attack. We have played 13 games now, using mainly the experienced players we brought in to do a job, yet we have only scored ten tries. They haven’t all delivered so is now the time to be bold, and as has been suggested elsewhere, give youth a fling? The only way is up, let’s go for it.

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