Kitchener confident Tigers can spring a surprise
GRAHAM Kitchener reckons Leicester’s durability in adversity will enable them to ruin Wasps’ party and reach a first Premiership final in four years.
Last week’s tragic family news affecting Tom and Ben Youngs has added to the emotional piquancy driving Tigers at the end of a campaign in which three head coaches have come and gone and legendary prop Marcos Ayerza retired early.
Add an injury list that has consumed star signings Matt Toomua and JP Pietersen, as well as the saga surrounding the departures of Freddie Burns and Owen Williams, and Leicester’s late season surge into the play-offs is little short of miraculous.
Despite his team finishing 18 points behind Wasps, a defiant Kitchener said: “There’s been a lot of adversity this year but it gives us huge confidence knowing we’ve come through it and shows the resilience of our group.
“It’s been a challenging year for many different reasons and people have been writing us off, saying we haven’t been as good as we should have been, which to an extent is true. But we’re in a semi and there is genuine belief that we can win it.
“Wasps are dangerous but we acquitted ourselves pretty well there earlier in the season. Coventry’s closer than Exeter or Saracens so we’ll have a lot of fans at the Ricoh and we’ve learnt from our last two semi-final losses at Bath and Saracens.”
Kitchener added: “The stats favour home sides in these play-offs but in the past Saints have beaten Sarries away, Sarries beat Saints and Leicester won at Gloucester a few years back, so we’re not concerned about the odds being against us.
“Wasps’ back-line is full of dangerous runners and very good ball players, while up front they’re pretty good as well. Their setpiece is strong and they’ve got good ball carriers, so they’re a good all-round team, as their position suggests. “They can score from anywhere and if you give them broken field they can put a lot of points on teams quickly. But we’re playing pretty well now under Matt O’Connor, below, we’ve won four of our last five games and Wasps will be aware of that.” While the Anglo-Welsh Cup is seen by many as a meaningless competition, Kitchener reckons winning it in March to end a four-year trophy drought provided a significant springboard as Leicester target a first Twickenham final since 2013.
He said: “It was a very important competition for us. At the time we were suffering some pretty poor form in Europe so it gave us a focus and pulling off big results against Saracens and Exeter got us on track and brought the squad together.
“Since we won it our performances have picked up and we’ve used that momentum in the league.
“Matt O’Connor’s now drip-feeding in new ideas and we’ll produce something a bit different for Wasps and then, hopefully, for the final. With everything that’s happened, it would mean so much for us to reach Twickenham once more.”