History will be kind to me because I intend to write it

FLOOD TARGETS OSPREYS' HOOK

England fly-half Toby Flood is relishing the chance to go head-to-head with Wales No10 James Hook when Leicester Tigers take on Ospreys on Saturday in the decisive match in Pool Three of the Heineken Cup.

On Saturday Flood inspired the Tigers to a 52-0 mauling of Italian side Benetton Treviso while Hook’s team fell 17-15 to Perpignan in the south of France.

The defeat leaves the Welsh club four points behind the Tigers, who won the European Cup in 2001 and 2002.

If the Ospreys are victorious against Leicester they could book their place in the last eight of the competition – and Flood is determined to not let that happen.

“We know what a tough test it will be – they have pretty much a full international side,” said the 23-year-old. “It is massive for us.

“After the Treviso game we were listening to the Ospreys game and we were thinking ‘happy days’ when Perpignan were 17-0 up. Then the Ospreys did really well to come back 17-15 and get the losing bonus point.

“We need to go there and do the same thing, but of course we are going there for the win. With the quality that they have got it will be good preparation for the Six Nations.

“It’s going to be difficult, a big challenge mentally for us – it is a tough place to go to. It is fantastic that it comes down to one-off games. We need to deal with the noise and the ferocity which will almost be like a Test match.”

Flood reasons that Hook, 23, will be the man Leicester have to stop. He added: “He is a fantastic player, I have to admit.

“He has everything you want from a 10/12 – like me he has played a lot at 12 as well. He is a good distributor, has a great step, a good fend and he is a good defender, too.

“He is the type of player that you realise is great on and off the ball. So it will be difficult. You never want to talk someone up when you are playing them next, but you have to give credit where it is due and he is a world-class player.”

Labels: Heineken Cup, James Hook, Leicester Tigers, Ospreys, Toby Flood

Posted by Oliver Pickup at 11:00 am | Permalink | Comments

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)

Labels: Heineken Cup, Leicester Tigers, Treviso

Posted by Oliver Pickup at 10:58 am | Permalink | Comments

LOFFREDA PLEADS FOR MORE TIME AT TIGERS

Marcelo Loffreda has urged the Leicester Tigers board to consider his team’s progress over the past few months before deciding whether to sack him.

The Head Coach, who took Argentina to last year’s World Cup semi-final, has struggled in his first season at Welford Road, but his team scraped into today's final.

But after being outplayed in the first half they went down 26-16 to London Wasps – with rumours circulating that the result of this final would determine his future.

But Loffreda insisted the future could be bright – although he acknowledged it is not his decision.

He said: "I am not happy now - I am very sad. It really hurts to lose the game. But we have to look forward. I think we can do many good things in the future.

"During the months and the games that I have been with the team, I think we have improved.

“I was very happy where things were going. It was tough and we were inconsistent in the beginning, but we began to find our way.

"Leicester have the talent and the players to be great.

"I really don't know if I will be Leicester coach next season. I would love to stay here but I am not the one who has to make that decision."

Labels: Guinness Premiership, Leicester Tigers, Marcelo Loffreda, Wasps

Posted by Oliver Pickup at 9:04 pm | Permalink | Comments

CORRY ANNOYED AT LETTING WASPS DOMINATE

Leicester Tigers captain Martin Corry conceded that his team were always going to find it hard to come back from 23-6 at the interval, as London Wasps captured their fourth Guinness Premiership title in the past six seasons.

The 34-year-old former England captain dished out a stern half-time team talk, and his troops responded through tries from winger Tom Varndell and scrum-half Harry Ellis to pull back the score to 23-16. But, as fly-half Andy Goode fluffed 10 kickable points, it proved too little too late.

Corry said: “We left ourselves too much to do. Wasps are a side with a much talked about defence and it was always going to make it tough when you have to chase a lead. Everything we said we shouldn't do, we probably did in the first-half.

“We always felt even when went behind that if we can hit our game, and when we hit our game we're a very difficult side to beat. Today summed up the whole season – our problem is that when we don't hit our game we look quite ordinary and when we do we look very dangerous.

“We've got the Guinness Premiership final and we've lost. But we'll show the Leicester spirit and come back better and stronger next season.”

Labels: Guinness Premiership, Leicester Tigers, Marcelo Loffreda, Martin Corry, Wasps

Posted by Oliver Pickup at 9:01 pm | Permalink | Comments

DALLAGLIO BOWS OUT ON A WINNING NOTE

Lawrence Dallaglio added one final item of silverware to his glittering 18-year career as he led his beloved London Wasps to a 26–16 victory over old enemy and reigning champions Leicester Tigers in the Guinness Premiership grand final on the hallowed turf of Twickenham.

After a pulsating game, in which momentum swung both ways, the 35-year-old backrow warrior waved a tearful farewell to 81,600 spectators – a world record for club rugby – and collected his sixteenth winners’ medal.

Although he named this final win a career highlight, the No8 wanted to steer attention away from him. “It has been a very special day and I have been very fortunate to have many special days in my career," he said. "But I was always wary that today was about Wasps and playing a game of rugby and a mighty opponent like Leicester and I didn't want to detract from that."

On a stage fitting for one of the finest rugby players in world history to bow out, the two most dominant sides in the English game in the past decade were pitted against each other.

Dallaglio’s team had been as low as tenth in the table, but after losing only twice since October, they looked the team to beat going into the play-offs. And it was the London club who took the early initiative.

They were 10-3 up just after 10 minutes, thanks to flanker Tom Rees’ converted score and a penalty after six minutes by full-back Mark Van Gisbergen. Riki Flutey, more used to playing inside centre, was handed the task of deputising for injured wunderkind Danny Cipriani at fly-half.

The Maori 28-year-old, recently named player of the season by his fellow professionals, assisted by a dominating front eight, soon began to make his touches count. Led by Dallaglio and his superb young backrow colleagues James Haskell and Rees, Wasps tackled, foraged and drove like men possessed.

Before the interval Leicester, skippered by Martin Corry at blindside flanker, became starved of ball and their frustrations began to become costly in the form of Wasps penalties. Three out of three from Van Gisbergen, and a well worked converted try by winger Josh Lewsey took the score to 23-6 at the break.

In the second half Tigers rolled up their sleeves, knowing that the next score was crucial. Their pack – as Dallaglio’s had done in the first half – began to rule the park and Wasps finally buckled under the pressure after 56 minutes. Andy Goode’s cross-field kick was tapped back by Geordan Murphy and, after Lewsey fumbled, touched down by the Premiership’s leading try scorer Tom Varndell.

Fly-half Goode, who laced two penalties in the first half, then missed his first kick of the afternoon with the conversion attempt. Six minutes later scrum-half Harry Ellis got in on the action with a try having broken blind from a scrum to bring the score back to 23-16 and set up an edge-of-the-seat final 15 minutes.

But Goode, who had drop-kicked Tigers into the final, failed again to convert and miscued two further penalties. His missed 10 points turned out to be crucial in what could well be Argentine coach Marcelo Loffreda’s final game.

In response, Van Gisbergen kicked a penalty with eight minutes remaining and Wasps held on for their fourth Premiership title in six years. An emotional Dallaglio, withdrawn to a standing ovation with 13 minutes left on the clock, was quick to praise his team-mates.

The former England captain, who earned 85 international caps and was the only player to feature in every minute of the 2003 World Cup success, said: “I feel this is one of Wasps' greatest achievements and for me it is the only way to finish.

“We were tenth in the table around Christmas time and it's just been a monumental effort by everyone and it's a huge testament to the squad.

“Obviously, when it's your last game, there's a lot of hype which is inevitable. But today wasn't about me, it was a fantastic achievement and it was a fantastic day. I'm very proud.”

Labels: Guinness Premiership, Lawrence Dallaglio, Leicester Tigers, Marcelo Loffreda, Wasps

Posted by Oliver Pickup at 8:51 pm | Permalink | Comments

SHARKS EDGE OUT TIGERS

An expectant and convivial Edgeley Park greeted Leicester, and on a fresh but icy afternoon in Stockport, their hosts – Sale Sharks – grafted well to eek out their first defeat of the Tigers since their play-off final at Twickenham back in May 2006.

The score on that occasion was 45-20 but the Tigers had beaten the Sharks in their next four meetings. Sale came close in the same fixture last season but a last-minute Sam Vesty try took Leicester to 26-25 up.

Much of the pre-match hype, of the televised game that had been sold out weeks before, had been about the head-to-head between All Black centres Luke McAlister – who had made his try-scoring home debut for the Sharks the week previous against Bayonne – and Leicester’s Aaron Mauger.

In truth, the contributions of the men inside them – fly-halves Charlie Hodgson and Andy Goode respectively – proved more significant. With all the excitement about Wasps’ 20-year-old stand-off Danny Cipriani, these two England internationals quietly proved their worth, with assured, no-frills performances from hand and boot. Hodgson, however, won the battle, as Goode missed four out of seven crucial penalties.

Only 25 days before had the Tigers thrashed Sale 32-8 in the EDF Energy Cup at Welfare Road, but Sale on home turf are a different beast. Coach Philippe Saint Andre had called for the ‘16th man’ to make himself be known, and his wish was granted.

A full complement of 10,872 cheered and jeered in equal measure in this scrappy match – Sale’s last at home in 2007. It caught fire minutes before the interval and only rekindled in the 65th minute when Goode knocked over another penalty to tie the scores at 14.

Sale should have been tucking into their half-time oranges 14-3 up after Rory Lamont had belly-flopped over in the left corner after some quick shipping of the ball. French giant Sebastian Chabal, who in mid-week committed to a new two-year deal, had bludgeoned the Leicester pack on the right. Scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth flashed to Hodgson, he to McAllister and then onto the Scottish winger via full-back Julien Laharrague.

As it was, the Tigers hit back immediately with a backs move which halted Lamont in his tracks on the right wing, and allowed his opposite man – Johne Murphy – to sidestep Laharrague and go over for a the only other try of the game.

Hodgson’s three first-half penalties had been answered by only one from Goode, and the second-half began 14-8. But the Leicester man applied the pressure again with a 45th minute penalty. As soon as he pulled his team level 20 minutes later, Hodgson knocked one over himself. McAlister cemented the result with only five minutes to go with a penalty from the half-way line.

With Leicester all but out of the Heineken Cup thanks to their 22-11 loss to Toulouse the week previous, and with Sale leap-frogging them in the mid-table of the Premiership (Tigers slip to sixth while the Sharks move up to fourth), new Argentinean coach Marcelo Loffreda’s start has been tough. Top of his New Year’s resolutions must be to find more of the grit and determination that the Tigers showed under erstwhile coach Pat Howard.

Labels: Guinness Premiership, Leicester Tigers, rugby union, Sale Sharks

Posted by Oliver Pickup at 12:48 pm | Permalink | Comments