TIGERS MAUL TREVISO AHEAD OF BIGGER OSPREYS TEST
Leicester Tigers' 52-0 mauling of Italian club Benetton Treviso at a packed Welford Road took them four points clear at the top of Heineken Cup Pool Three on Saturday. But with the second-placed Ospreys, who fell 17-15 to Perpignan in the south of France, still to play in Swansea next week, this seven-try victory could have been a little too easy. Passage to the last eight of Europe’s top club competition is still not secured for the 2001 and 2002 winners.
Two tries each for wing Scott Hamilton and former All Black and captain Aaron Mauger, and 17 points for England fly-half Toby Flood before he was withdrawn with 30 minutes left, were the headline-grabbers of a clinical display, especially in the first-half. Leicester knew this would be an easy win, having defeated their opponents 60-16 at the Stadio Communale di Monigo in October.
Hamilton, the blond New Zealander, got the Tigers’ wheels rolling after only four minutes, capitalising on the first cluster of Treviso mistakes that would punctuate the game.
Following a penalty scrum the left wing cut in on a scissors move and swatted aside four would-be tacklers to score to the left of the posts. Flood, the England No10, laced the conversion.
The Italian visitors, without 12 first-team players, including former Wasps centre Fraser Waters, struggled all afternoon in their luminous yellow strips.
The only thing they seems to highlight was the gulf in class between them and last year’s Guinness Premiership runners-up, as passes went to ground, kicks were miscued, lineouts lost, and tackles not executed.
Hamilton ambled across the line again on 14 minutes after fullback Geordan Murphy’s introduction in the Leicester back line had created an overlap that the Italian defence simply ignored.
A converted score for centre Mauger in the 26th minute, following a penalty try, saw the Tigers ensure their bonus-point win with 55 minutes remaining.
When travelling skipper, prop Franco Sbaraglini, hopped off 10 minutes before the break, things could not have been much worse for Treviso.
Tigers’ right wing Matt Smith went over in the corner a minute later and Flood converted from the touchline before Mauger bulldozed over for another seven-pointer, taking the score to 40-0 at the interval.
On the rare occasions Treviso managed to run the ball out of their half possession was turned over. To their credit, when they won penalties, they opted for quick taps and scrums. But it proved a fruitless venture against the relentless and unforgiving Tigers.
Following a 40–yard break by 19-year-old scrumhalf Ben Youngs, Flood crashed over after 49 minutes. After slotting his conversion – his sixth out of seven attempts – the 23-year-old was substituted.
And, bar replacement Johne Murphy’s try with just under half an hour left, Leicester, with their seven substitutes all used, failed to turn the screw. Even when flanker Marco Filippucci was sin-binned with seven minutes left the Tigers had taken their foot off the pedal to the point where it seemed as though they didn’t want to score again.
Of note, however, was the lively performance of man-of-the-match Youngs, making his first European start, as well as the return of Tigers’ prop Martin Castrogiovanni, the Guinness Premiership’s player of the season two years ago.
And while it proved the perfect tonic to remedy the disappointment of last weekend’s 17-13 loss to Northampton Saints in the Guinness Premiership, coach Richard Cockerill, still standing in for the absent Heyneke Meyer, will know that the Ospreys, packed with their Welsh internationals, will be a completely different proposition next Saturday.
Leicester Tigers Tries: Hamilton (S) 2, penalty try, Mauger 2, Smith, Murphy (Johne)
Conversions: Flood 6 (7), Hougaard 0 (1)
Penalties: -
Drop kicks: -
Benetton Treviso Tries: -
Conversions: -
Penalties: -
Drop kicks: -
Leicester Tigers: G Murphy; S Hamilton, S Rabeni, A Mauger [capt], M Smith, T Flood, B Youngs; M Castrogiovanni, G Chuter, J White; M Wentzel, B Kay; T Croft, B Woods, J Crane
Replacements: B Kayser, B Stankovich, M Corry, B Deacon, J Dupuy, D Hougaard, J Murphy
Benetton Treviso: B Williams; A Vilk, M Horak, M Neethling, E Galon, M Goosen, T Botes; F Sbaraglini, D Vidal, P di Santo; A Pavanello, C Van Zyl; M Gilbride, H Louw, D Kingi
Replacements: E Ceccato, A Ceccato, M Filippucci, M Barbieri, S Orlando, A Marcato, A Lucchese
Referee: Pascal Gauzere (France)
Leicester Tigers' 52-0 mauling of Italian club Benetton Treviso at a packed Welford Road took them four points clear at the top of Heineken Cup Pool Three on Saturday. But with the second-placed Ospreys, who fell 17-15 to Perpignan in the south of France, still to play in Swansea next week, this seven-try victory could have been a little too easy. Passage to the last eight of Europe’s top club competition is still not secured for the 2001 and 2002 winners.
Two tries each for wing Scott Hamilton and former All Black and captain Aaron Mauger, and 17 points for England fly-half Toby Flood before he was withdrawn with 30 minutes left, were the headline-grabbers of a clinical display, especially in the first-half. Leicester knew this would be an easy win, having defeated their opponents 60-16 at the Stadio Communale di Monigo in October.
Hamilton, the blond New Zealander, got the Tigers’ wheels rolling after only four minutes, capitalising on the first cluster of Treviso mistakes that would punctuate the game.
Following a penalty scrum the left wing cut in on a scissors move and swatted aside four would-be tacklers to score to the left of the posts. Flood, the England No10, laced the conversion.
The Italian visitors, without 12 first-team players, including former Wasps centre Fraser Waters, struggled all afternoon in their luminous yellow strips.
The only thing they seems to highlight was the gulf in class between them and last year’s Guinness Premiership runners-up, as passes went to ground, kicks were miscued, lineouts lost, and tackles not executed.
Hamilton ambled across the line again on 14 minutes after fullback Geordan Murphy’s introduction in the Leicester back line had created an overlap that the Italian defence simply ignored.
A converted score for centre Mauger in the 26th minute, following a penalty try, saw the Tigers ensure their bonus-point win with 55 minutes remaining.
When travelling skipper, prop Franco Sbaraglini, hopped off 10 minutes before the break, things could not have been much worse for Treviso.
Tigers’ right wing Matt Smith went over in the corner a minute later and Flood converted from the touchline before Mauger bulldozed over for another seven-pointer, taking the score to 40-0 at the interval.
On the rare occasions Treviso managed to run the ball out of their half possession was turned over. To their credit, when they won penalties, they opted for quick taps and scrums. But it proved a fruitless venture against the relentless and unforgiving Tigers.
Following a 40–yard break by 19-year-old scrumhalf Ben Youngs, Flood crashed over after 49 minutes. After slotting his conversion – his sixth out of seven attempts – the 23-year-old was substituted.
And, bar replacement Johne Murphy’s try with just under half an hour left, Leicester, with their seven substitutes all used, failed to turn the screw. Even when flanker Marco Filippucci was sin-binned with seven minutes left the Tigers had taken their foot off the pedal to the point where it seemed as though they didn’t want to score again.
Of note, however, was the lively performance of man-of-the-match Youngs, making his first European start, as well as the return of Tigers’ prop Martin Castrogiovanni, the Guinness Premiership’s player of the season two years ago.
And while it proved the perfect tonic to remedy the disappointment of last weekend’s 17-13 loss to Northampton Saints in the Guinness Premiership, coach Richard Cockerill, still standing in for the absent Heyneke Meyer, will know that the Ospreys, packed with their Welsh internationals, will be a completely different proposition next Saturday.
Leicester Tigers Tries: Hamilton (S) 2, penalty try, Mauger 2, Smith, Murphy (Johne)
Conversions: Flood 6 (7), Hougaard 0 (1)
Penalties: -
Drop kicks: -
Benetton Treviso Tries: -
Conversions: -
Penalties: -
Drop kicks: -
Leicester Tigers: G Murphy; S Hamilton, S Rabeni, A Mauger [capt], M Smith, T Flood, B Youngs; M Castrogiovanni, G Chuter, J White; M Wentzel, B Kay; T Croft, B Woods, J Crane
Replacements: B Kayser, B Stankovich, M Corry, B Deacon, J Dupuy, D Hougaard, J Murphy
Benetton Treviso: B Williams; A Vilk, M Horak, M Neethling, E Galon, M Goosen, T Botes; F Sbaraglini, D Vidal, P di Santo; A Pavanello, C Van Zyl; M Gilbride, H Louw, D Kingi
Replacements: E Ceccato, A Ceccato, M Filippucci, M Barbieri, S Orlando, A Marcato, A Lucchese
Referee: Pascal Gauzere (France)
Labels: Heineken Cup, Leicester Tigers, Treviso
