Wiese comes to the rescue for Leicester
JASPER Wiese made this wet night memorable for Leicester when he bulldozed and tiptoed his way over for a match-winning try in the 51st minute.
Wiese is such a modest guy that he limited his after-match comments to: “I was in the right place at the right time” and that “the boys dug it out” in reference to how his pack mates won the ball back on the Edinburgh line.
This all disguises the fact that his super-charged performances continue to inspire Leicester which makes the decision to leave him out of the starting XV a little baffling.
Wiese, who appeared as a half-time substitute, grabbed hold of a loose ball 15 metres out. He then went on a carving run to the corner, forcing his way through three stout defenders in Jamie Ritchie, Duhan van der Merve and Grant Gilchrist.
To finish off he managed to keep his balance and made sure that he did not catch the touchline before diving over. It was an outstanding individual try.
For old Tigers, it prompted talk that Wiese is a one-off who has joined the likes of Dean Richards and Martin Corry when it comes to legendary figures at No.8.
Leicester boss Richard Wigglesworth maintained afterwards that he named Wiese on the bench to enforce on the No.8 that he had a “few things to work on” and that Olly Cracknell deserved to be picked ahead of him.
“Perhaps I fired him up,” conceded a smiling Wigglesworth who claimed the Edinburgh back row would “come looking for him”.
Whatever the reason to start Cracknell, Wiese appeared at the interval just when Edinburgh’s international line up had threatened to boss this compelling cup tie.
Two penalty goals from
full-back Emilano Boffelli had given Edinburgh a hard-fought 6-3 lead after Leicester had opened the scoring in the fourth minute via a three-pointer from Handre Pollard.
Edinburgh dominated the last 15 minutes or so of the first half and were successfully disrupting Leicester’s usual line-out dominance at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.
Leicester grabbed hold of the match immediately after Edinburgh had taken that 6-3 lead from the second of Boffelli’s kicks in the 50th minute.
The visitors botched the re-start and Leicester forced a lineout in the Edinburgh 22. They then lost the throw but grabbed a loose ball when van der Merve, in attempting to clear up the bad possession, spilled the ball into the path of Wiese.
The forward needs no second invitation to run at opponents and Wiese, only 10 minutes into his
stint, took off to leave Edinburgh defenders in the mud.
Some sharp-eyed observers thought Leicester No 4 George Martin had blocked Edinburgh prop Pierre Schoeman in getting across to Wiese, but referee Mathieu Raynal choose only to check the No.8’s route along the touchline.
Pollard added the conversion to put Leicester 10-6 up as the conditions began to increasingly play a part on a night when the slippery ball made for some 35 turnovers.
Edinburgh did have a chance to reduce the deficit but Boffell’s penalty
from 30 metres hit an upright and it was Leicester who took their chances, Pollard adding two more penalty goals to edge Leicester clear.
Overall, Leicester took their chances and had the match-winner in Wiese. Edinburgh will kick themselves that their fullstrength line up did not have the composure to consolidate an excellent start having weathered the Leicester start.
Wigglesworth, like last week against Bristol, was delighted at Leicester’s calmness under pressure. “It was an extremely committed performance – I will take that. It was wet weather rugby,” he said.
Jasper Wiese the chance to charge over for the only try. Blair added: “It was almost comedy stuff with the little errors in and around that. We felt we were in the fight, our strategy had been good.”
Leicester’s Richard Wigglesworth said: “It was a proper cup tie. I enjoyed it and felt we had dominated the second half.”
He hopes Ben Youngs will be fit for next weekend’s quarter-final having missed out due to a knock from last week. However, Jack van Poortvliet had one of his best matches this season and Wigglesworth added: “His kick selection was excellent.”