Leicester Tigers
London Welsh v Tigers Match Preview
By ChrisC
August 27 2012
To Everything There is a Season I should perhaps start this first article of the new season by saying that, for anybody reading one of my pieces for the first time, it is my custom to have a bit of a rummage through the rag bag that passes as my brain before I get to the matter in hand. It drives some readers crazy whereas some seem to enjoy it. If you are amongst the former – then my apologies, if you are amongst the latter then I hope you enjoy this week’s meanderings. Here goes:
Childhood summers always seemed suffused with light and how I longed for the end of the school term with its exams and school reports, twin curses that visited while I sat in a stifling classroom.
I was like a hamster on a wheel running frantically toward the holidays but all the while standing still, until at last the blessed day arrived and I was free.
Unvaryingly, I accompanied my parents on a pilgrimage to a holiday camp that had, long ago in the depths of a London winter, been selected for our family holiday.
The first I can remember was to the Isle of Wight. This involved an impossibly glamorous sea voyage from Portsmouth, preceded by a long car journey in my father’s venerable Wolseley 8, which had a quirk in that the faster the car went the slower the windscreen wipers moved. Their speed could though be augmented by swinging a small chromium plated crank handle located on the dashboard which connected to the wiper mechanism, so inclement weather saw me usurp my mother and move to the front passenger seat to undertake this most important task – so clouds did have a silver lining!
In one of the few surviving family photographs there I am, a small blond haired boy in a knitted swimsuit, standing on a windswept Isle of Wight beach with some other long forgotten child accompanied by our respective fathers. I can still remember how heavy that homemade swimsuit was when wet, sagging, as it did, toward my tiny knees.
Locations changed through the years but the holidays were pretty much identical with accommodation in little more than garden sheds and stodgy food eaten in big cafeterias. In the evenings there was entertainment for the adults and older children until the witching hour of 8pm when they too were banished to bed.
The game attempts of the resident entertainment staff were routinely interrupted by loudspeaker announcements reporting that a baby was crying in some ill starred chalet, a shamefaced parent then scurrying away to silence their recalcitrant offspring. At 11pm the strains of “Goodnight Campers, see you in the morning” heralded the end of the evening’s festivities and us kids feigned sleep as our tipsy parents returned with whispered farewells and theatrical “shushing” so as not to wake us.
Girls were a different land to us scruffy eleven year old lads as we spent the days roistering around the campsite. Evenings though were the time for good behaviour under the watchful eyes of our parents. I still have a memory from then how the girls were so soft, clean and fragrant and how it was an oddly unsettling, yet somehow pleasant, experience as I held my partner while we performed a stilted waltz around the dance floor, undertaken at the firm insistence of our respective parents, who sat proudly cooing on the sidelines like sun reddened pigeons at the antics of their “so grown up” offspring.
The holiday done and new interests blossomed in the summer sun, there were battles to fight, streams to dam, trees to climb, camp fires to light and so, after a perfunctory letter or two, holiday romances and friendships withered together with memories of candyfloss, sun tan cream and gritty sand underfoot.
Too quickly the next school term appeared over the horizon. The wonderful, exciting summer was over as autumn and Christmas beckoned. There I was back on that wheel.
As Pete Seeger, The Byrds and many other artistes have sung in “Turn, Turn, Turn”, echoing the words that Ecclesiastes attributes to King Solomon; “To Everything There Is a Season”.
Which, you’ll be relieved to hear, brings me to the thing that the autumn season is for: Rugby Union.
What a relief it also is to see the return of club rugby after the summertime management speak peppering England’s incumbent Head Coach’s justification of his tactics, selections and results in South Africa, maybe he’d have been better to realise there’s; “A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak”.
The attempts, by the administrators of our sport, to exclude London Welsh from the Premiership was another unedifying spectacle during the close season. With the relegated Newcastle Falcons refusing to acknowledge that there’s: “A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away”.
So this Saturday Tigers set off to Oxford to meet the latest London side to try its luck in the Premiership. How odd a sport it is that sees so many clubs playing their home fixtures other than in the locality of their naissance.
Tigers’ opponents start off with two stern examinations of their credentials, meeting last season’s top two clubs in quick succession, this weekend’s confrontation with the Tigers at Oxford followed by a trip to the Stoop.
With all the shenanigans surrounding promotion the window of opportunity for recruitment afforded the Dragons was limited but they have made a number of acquisitions which have a workmanlike solidity to them and may be enough to see them hold on to their newly won status but I have a feeling it’ll be a tough season for the Premiership’s new boys and they mustn’t get detached from their peers early on or the game will literally be up.
Their cause will have been helped by the arrival of Kingsley Jones to assist Lyn Jones in the moulding of a Premiership side.
The major issue for the Dragons, who finished fourth in last season’s Championship on 67 points, some fourteen points and four wins behind the table topping Bristol, will be their ability to compete in the forwards, an issue they’ve sought to address by recruiting Paulica Ion on loan from London Irish and Russian lock Kirill Kulemin who joins from Castres.
Additionally Neil Briggs has joined up with Kingsley Jones after the erstwhile Sale hooker’s brief sojourn to Bourgoin.
Briggs will be vying with Dan George, who’s on his second time around with London Welsh, and another new signing, this time from Plymouth Albion, military man Gareth Evans. I expect though to see Billy Moss start on the loose head side of the front row and that Lyn Jones will also keep faith with Dan George who has served the club so well in their promotion year.
The fifty-one time capped Romanian Ion only managed seven starts for London Irish last term but I think he could get the nod on the tight head against the Tigers as his nemesis, Marcos Ayerza, will be absent on international duty with Argentina, however Ion could instead find himself facing Logovi'i Mulipola who was a revelation following his arrival at Welford Road last season.
It won’t be easy for the Romanian any more than it will be for the rest of the Dragons’ front row where they will also face Martin Castrogiovanni or Dan Cole and George Chuter, with Keiran Brookes at last recovered from the injury that saw him miss most of his debut season for the Tigers, perhaps joining Tom Youngs on the bench.
In truth I can’t really see the London Welsh front row getting the better of the likely Tigers’ trio. The visitors have strength in depth and as was the case last term Tigers can field a first choice front row as replacements and it is this that could see the Dragons pack, which went well against the Scarlets, wilt later on.
In the second row Adam Brown was ever present for the Dragons last season in the Championship and in spite of the signing of Kulemin I can also see club stalwart Matt Corker getting his day in the Premiership sun after making over 150 appearances for his side. Corker has top level experience, albeit some five years ago when at Wasps, and then only as a replacement on two occasions.
With Louis Deacon again injured I can see new signing; South African, Rob Andrew getting a start alongside Geoff Parling to give some grunt in the engine room of the scrum for Tigers as well as the line out and here again the Premiership’s newest club will face a thorough examination at the set piece as the increasingly impressive Kitchener could also be in the match day squad and Tongan wunderkinde Mafi brings an extra dimension to the Tigers’ line out, an area in which the Dragons struggled against the Scarlets, losing six line outs in the opening period.
London Welsh skipper Jonathan Mills looks a nailed on starter on the blind side and is another long serving player with 141 first team appearances to his name. Abrasive and effective as demonstrated by his eleven tries I expect he’ll be facing the aforementioned Steve Mafi, so I suspect Mills will have his hands full with one of last season’s stars.
Ex Birmingham & Solihull open side Mike Denbee will be able to test himself against another standout player for Tigers last term, Aussie Julian Salvi, while with Jordan Crane and Thomas Waldrom both fit Richard Cockerill has a selection headache as to who starts but I think that we’ll see Crane get the nod after a whole season missed through injury and putting ex Doncaster Knight Ed Jackson, who’s likely to start for London Welsh in the #8 shirt, through his paces with perhaps the dynamic Crane/Waldrom combination being used later against a tiring Dragons’ defence.
It will be a real challenge for the home side’s breakaway forwards and they’ll need to find a way to stop Salvi bossing the breakdown and contain Crane, Mafi and later Waldrom.
Behind the pack Lyn Jones has signed Nick Runciman, who’s welcomed back after a time at Kingsholm where he managed only seven Premiership starts last season and I expect to see him add to his eighty-one appearances for London Welsh at the weekend.
I think, as was the case at Gloucester, the Cheltenham born scrum half will need to be adept at making a silk purse out of what I sense will be an Old Spot’s ear of possession.
Opposing Runciman will be either the feisty Micky Young, who had a poor debut season at Welford Road, first dogged by injury and then by a totally unjustified suspension. The erstwhile Falcon will be hoping to get the chance, cruelly denied him last term, to get his name on the team sheet before Ben Youngs reappears after injury sustained in England colours. Young Sam Harrison grabbed his chances with both hands last season and he’ll get plenty of game time this but I hope to see the ex Newcastle man get a start.
Lyn Jones marquee signing has been Gavin Henson who’s still seeking his epiphany, this time with London Welsh, his sixth club. Henson made his top level debut over a decade ago for the old Swansea club before it morphed into the Ospreys. Those were his halcyon days when he was previously mentored by Lyn Jones and have since been followed by unhappy times at; Saracens, Toulon and Cardiff as he’s tried to resurrect his rugby career from that of a “C List” celebrity and latter day stalwart of TV reality shows displaying varying degrees of tackiness.
In his pomp he tackled like a dump truck and had deceptive pace with a silky style of running which was a joy to watch but it remains to be seen whether he can recover his poise and application in the rough and tumble of the Premiership or whether he is to become another lost sporting soul.
With Henson picking up a broken cheekbone against Scarlets he won’t be coming up against Matthew Tait this time who’s not yet fit either and who’s putative international career was temporarily stopped in its tracks by two tackles from Henson in an England v Wales match back in February 2005, which led the ever witless and ill informed British media to condemn Tait and laud Henson. In the face of the media’s dim wittedness the then England coach, Andy Robinson, dropped the young Tait like a hot potato while the Welshman went on to be the brand that is (or at least was) Gavin Henson. Selection by media! How little things have changed.
If Henson is unable to play it’ll probably be Gordon Ross who’ll instead link up with New Zealand born Sonny Parker who has fetched up at London Welsh after finding himself surplus to requirements down in Swansea and who, at 34, had seen his appearances last season limited to nine in the RoboCop league and one in the LV= Cup. He’s a vastly experienced player used to playing at the highest level so his knowledge will make him a valuable asset. Ross, capped twenty-five times for Scotland, has been an odd player to watch over the years as at times he shows some good vision and nice touches but too often he is limited in his playmaking and his periods at Leeds and latterly Saracens, which ended in the 2008/9 season, were not filled with distinction.
Twenty-four time capped Tongan Hudson Tonga'uiha is pretty sure to be in the centre alongside Parker and they’ll make an uncompromising combination so Tigers will have to be on their guard if the pair get any half decent possession, an objective that will not be aided should Henson be absent, as looks the case.
George Ford looked sharp against Ulster though I hope Flood will get a seasonal pipe opener to challenge the gain line as surely Ford will be kept in reserve for Flood’s all too often EPS absences. New boy Dan Bowden hasn’t been involved in the pre-season matches due to injury so I expect to see Tony Allen’s defensive prowess and organisation being deployed against London Welsh and that Manu Tuilagi will be trying his arm against the Dragons’ midfield and to cause as much trouble as he did against Nottingham.
Out wide for the hosts it’s hard to see past ex Tiger’s development player, the Nigerian born Joe Ajuwa, who slotted ten tries from twenty-four appearances in the Championship. Powerful and quick it will be interesting to see how he fares against Premiership defences.
On the other flank ex Bath winger; Nick Scott will probably be on parade. The Colston educated Scott only joined London Welsh in February but quickly made a name for himself with seven tries accruing from his twelve Championship appearances, so another who knows his way to the try line.
I’m sure that the hosts will be delighted that Alex Tuilagi and Horacio Agulla have left for pastures new but I shall be interested to see how Vereniki Goneva goes. From his try scoring exploits against Ulster and Nottingham in particular, when he got a brace in the 64 -7 mauling handed out by Tigers’ to their near neighbours, he looks an exciting prospect. With new signing Benjamin still not fit then another Tigers’ stalwart; Scott Hamilton, is likely to once again join the attack having himself found the whitewash twice against Nottingham.
Tom Arscott is another new arrival at the Kassam, this time from Sixways where he didn’t see much action last term but was a key player and ever present in Worcester’s earlier push back into the Premiership. I reckon he’ll see plenty of game time for his new employers and if he can rekindle the form we saw from him back in 2007/8, when he was with Bristol in Premiership, he’ll be another useful acquisition. However he will first have to displace Alex Davies who scored 250 points for his side last season, has Premiership experience with Sale and spent time in New Zealand, most notably with North Otago where he was also a prodigious points scorer.
Geordan Murphy will once again be on parade as club skipper looking to weave his spells and with Niall Morris fit again I also hope to see more of him this term after a standout start to last year’s season in very trying circumstances.
The London Welsh midfield looks a real threat but in spite of the new recruits I can’t see the home side’s pack giving them enough quality ball and if the Tigers’ backs get the wind behind them it could be a difficult debut match for the Premiership newbies, even though too many Tigers’ players were denied a full pre season by the constraints of the odious EPS agreement.
On balance though I reckon that for London Welsh it’ll be a time to weep rather than a time to laugh.
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:09:03:21:06:27 by Tiggs.
I hope we can give them a torrid time up front to make the back row have to work even harder.
That said, I wish LW a good season and hope they will not be the whipping boys predicted by so many, that would not be good for the league.
I am of course very much looking forward to this Sunday but have to admit at the same time i am equally very nervous. I am somewhat optimistic, but also a realist. Looking forward very much to meet greet and speak to the LEICESTER TIGERS supporters. "C'MON YOU WELSH" PADDYTAF.
"GIVE THEM NO BALL OR BAD BALL WELSH"
Generally agree with the thrust of the article, even if I am a preamble skipper.
As with everything else on here - it's not compulsory to read the preamble!
Cheers for the season's opener ChrisC.
I hope you and the mem have summered well and I look forward to the new season with your weekly previews.
Thank you for your latest offering Chris I wish you and our team good health and a wonderful season of Rugby.
Quote:SK88
Gordon Ross did win the cup with Leeds, bit harsh to say it was a spell without distinction!
I actually said: ".......not filled with distinction"
which, in my view, is quite different.
As Mike has said above, this game gives us the chance to make a flying start, but good luck to Welsh for the coming season too. It can't be easy with the limited preparation time they've been given.
Thanks as always Chris - another super preview - and complete with some personal colour. Fwiw I like your meanderings - I don't always agree with everything you say but they are always interesting and if you're going to make the effort to do the research and craft these pieces then the least I can do is read the whole thing! Great to have you back.
My own rather simple view on this fixture comes in the form of a question - how much better than Nottingham are LW? Last season would suggest that the gap wasn't huge - so how effective has their recruiting been?
...
Just a point, the whole appeal process has nothing to do with the Falcons, they said from the beginning that they would accept whatever ruling the RFU gave. Yes we spoke at the hearing, but that was because we were invited to. The club did not fight the relegation and openly said multiple times that we deserved to be in the Championship this season. Everyone at the Falcons is sick of us being made the villians of the whole saga when in fact we had nothing to do with it and the real problem was with the RFU.
Chris .. given we seem to be contemporaries, your welcome preamble stirs the nostalgic warmth in the pit, perversely reminding me just how grim the monochrome fifties were; primarily though, they are simply entertaining, and this is 'a time to embrace'
I hope Tigers do not read this or they risk thinking there's little need for the graft which will be essential to convert your confidence into a result. You are right enough, of course, but historically first games are not our best; that said I think I saw enough last Saturday to believe our first really stern test will be a week or two later, but Welsh will be as fired up as Quins were at HQ so there is a pit to side-step
Welcome back from peace and tranquility .. very welcome
'Lions led by donkeys' .. Lest we forget
I just gathered (maybe wrongly) from the press statement:
Falcons Statement
that Falcons being "extremely disappointed" at the outcome of the hearing indicated that they had made representations that London Welsh shouldn't be promoted (and by extension that Falcons shouldn't be relegated)
If it's otherwise I don't really understand what Falcons were disaappinted about from the outcome of the hearing that found in favour of London Welsh or indeed why Falcons were even considering an appeal.
I find it a bit of a stretch to imagine that Falcons who, invited to the hearing (although they didn't have to attend of course if they were content that they should be relgated as you say) then spoke in favour of London Welsh.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:08:29:09:00:14 by ChrisC.
Thanks as always Chris for a well researched and enjoyable read. The 'colour' your ramblings give to your pieces always make them far enjoyable than the dry product dished up by the journos. Wonder when you'll have to start repeating your themes (if ever)?
Its not the fans who have made the falcons out to be villians (well apart from a few trolls from London Welsh), it is more the uninformed national media who published article after article saying how welsh had been mistreated and the falcons were refusing to accept relegation. In a shock moment it was actually stuart barnes who came out and said it was really falcons who had come out of all of this with their hands clean, having just remained silent and got on with preparation for the new season. Anyone its in the past, and we'll be seeing you in 2013 anyway (hopefully...) so good luck for the new season.
On a final note, great match preview. It always seems to me that the fans who write the match reports and previews on here (shout out to Leipziger the falcons match reporter) are better than those in the national press....
PADDYTAF.
"GIVE THEM NO BALL OR BAD BALL WELSH"
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