By Mike Hill
November 10 2002

Tigers beat their bitter East Midlands rivals by a healthy 16 points to 3 but failed to find top gear. Tigers had far too much firepower up front for a Saints pack heavily depleted by international duty. It was a pity that the back line never functioned smoothly enough to make the most of the glut of possession that came their way.

Two of the senior players Josh Kronfeld and Martin Corry were magnificent in leading the team to a well earned victory. They were however ably assisted by splendid performances by the youthful Louis Deacon and Ollie Smith. Stand in captain Dorian West put his England disappointment behind him to turn in an excellent performance.

The first half started in typical fashion for a Saints v Tigers clash with both teams keeping it tight and fly half's kicking for territory. It soon became clear that Leicester had a big advantage up front and they played to this driving incessantly around the fringes of ruck and maul.

Paul Grayson was unusually wayward with his penalty kicks missing two relatively straightforward kicks that would have given his side the lead at half time. As it was Tigers won the first half 6 - 3 with Murphy in good form. The return of Ollie Smith was a godsend as he made a number of try saving tackles and looked generally classy throughout. Leon Lloyd again looked lost.

The new signing Craig McMullen started at ten and struggled to find any rhythm to his game. His passing was poor and his kicking out of hand was laboured but it's only his first game and he has played for the ACT Brumbies before. Expect a big improvement from him in the coming weeks but it was a relief when Sam Vesty came on in the second half.

With handling errors disrupting Tigers continuity the only source of points seemed to be Murphy's boot and after Tigers had tried in vain to roll the catch and drive over the line they opted for the three points. Leicester's persistence and forward dominance was finally rewarded with a successful line out drive and Josh Kronfeld scored to cap a fine performance.

Although some Saints fans seemed intent on blaming the referee for their sides shortcomings the overwhelming territory and possession that the Tigers enjoyed pointed to the reason for their success. Man of the Match for the second week in succession is Josh who is playing his best rugby of his spell with Tigers and was involved in everything yesterday.

He finally seems to be living up to the All Black Legend tag maybe inspired by the current proximity of his country men. Martin Corry and Ollie Smith were both very close to the award this week. Corry makes a fantastic stand in second row who along with Louis Deacon made light of the lack of Johnson and Kay.

One down two to go in this crucial International period and the biggest game comes next Friday. Tigers look like being without Murphy who has been selected for Ireland to play Fiji. This means it will be Sam Vesty to take on the metronomic Mercier in a duel that will most likely settle the contest.

Gloucester will know that this is probably their best chance in years to halt Tigers phenomenal home record and further underline their status as top dog in the Premiership. Tigers on the other hand are slowly coming in to form and fear no one at home. It should be a titanic battle.