Tigers back on the horse with victory over Northampton
LEICESTER qualified for the Anglo Welsh Cup semi-finals to lift the gloom a little following that horror defeat by Glasgow.
It may only be a low-key secondary competition but this win was much needed after five successive defeats which wrecked European Cup hopes and left the Tigers behind in the Premiership race.
After chairman Peter Tom branded that 43-0 defeat last Saturday “unacceptable” in his match-day programme notes, it was left to a team of mostly back-up players to face their East Midland rivals.
“The players were aware of their responsibility and they responded,” assistant coach Geordan Murphy said after Leicester had led 24-8 and held off a Northampton rally.
A strong first 60 minutes delivered the advantage thanks to tries from three hard-working forwards in Will Evans, Dom Barrow and Harry Thacker, all converted by Owen Williams
Leicester’s acting boss Aaron Mauger, following the dismissal of Richard Cockerill, choose to watch the game from in front of the coaching box and took little part in the match-day organisation.
Nothing should be read into that move because often in this competition the main coach leaves the preparations to his other staff.
Murphy, who has spent some 20 years at Leicester, felt the recent run of matches to be the most intense in his memory and claimed the spell had left the squad drained.
He added: “It’s about getting back on the horse as quickly as possible and that’s what we intend to do.
“For me it was about the performance and it was about the guys playing with passion and I think we got that.
“I thought if we kept them under pressure and kept them on the ropes they would crack.”
Northampton paid for too many turnovers and Leicester’s strength in the line-out where the return of the versatile Tom Croft proved crucial.
Mark Hopley, another assistant coach, said the Saints had let themselves down in the first half. “When we got the detail right we showed what a dangerous team we are,” he said.
He paid tribute to the industry of captain Christian Day who was playing in his 200th game alongside a new recruit in South African David Ribbans.
Leicester dominated the first half to deservedly lead 17-8 at half-time. However, they made hard work of turning possession into points, three times being held up over the line before Evans managed to score.
Williams converted to reward Leicester for 22 minutes of effort yet they
immediately conceded a try out wide when Northampton broke clear thanks to an athletic jump by Ken Pisi.
Pisi set up a smart counter-attack which ended in Harry Mallinder scooting clear. Sam Olver made a hash of the conversion only to make up by landing an even harder penalty - albeit helped by a friendly post – after Williams had added a penalty.
To reward Leicester’s industry at the breakdown, a turnover produced the second try – Barrow charging over off Jono Kitto’s pass following good linking play down the left.
Leicester maintained the pressure at the start of the second half which brought a third try when Thacker fought his way over to cap an excellent performance alongside that of centre Jack Roberts.
At 24-8, Leicester looked set for a comfortable win but it was Northampton who finished the stronger, playing their best rugby to make a try for centre Nafi Tuitavake. Olver landed the difficult conversion but failed to improve a try on the whistle from the promising Rory Hutchinson after Northampton had again sliced open the Tigers defence.
In between those two Saints’ tries, Williams had kicked his second penalty to go alongside his effort in the 27th minute.