European Cup Review - Leicester Tigers 25 - 21 Toulon

There have been a few things missing from Welford Road a bit of late.  Manu Tuilagi (worryingly often), some silverware (a rare absence), some semblance of understanding in the backline and a certain fat Italian, who had become a fixture over the last 8 years at Welford Road.  But Martin Castrogiovanni returned to his old stomping ground on Sunday night with his new employers, Toulon, and, although his side didn’t exactly set the world alight, he still left an undeniable mark on the occasion.    He can always be relied on for that.

One part of the usually reliable Welford Road pitch was looking particularly worse for wear following a music festival at the rugby ground and, although it wasn’t quite looking like Glastonbury, it was pretty clear that free-flowing rugby was going to be at a premium – that much was clear as Chris Masoe spilt the greasy ball following the first box kick from Ben Youngs.  But that didn’t mean that there was a shortage of entertainment – instead, the hits rained in thick and fast at at test match intensity. 

Both sides had spells of possession but it was the Tigers who looked the more threatening, probing round the fringes and making yards through Tom Youngs and Graham Kitchener, and they should have had a try after just four minutes when Owen Williams took a quick tap following a Julian Salvi turnover, catching the Toulon defence off-guard, but Anthony Allen threw a poor pass when there was a 2 on 1 scenario waiting on the outside.  They went close again after Nicholas Sanchez brilliant knocked back a potential try scoring pass from Allen again, but the Tigers deservedly picked up three points though Owen Williams following a scrum penalty, with Marcos Ayerza and Dan Cole causing Castrogiovanni and Xavier Chiocci all sorts of problems  – a theme that was to continue throughout the game.  Castro was on the wrong end of the referees whistle again just 5 minutes later, harshly being adjudged by the video referee to have entered a ruck after Nigel Owens had blown his whistle – in real time though, he had already started to run in.  And, no offence intended, Castro has rather a large amount of momentum to reign in.  Williams nudged over the three though, and the Tigers had a 6 point lead after a quarter of an hour.

It was a less than ideal start for Toulon, but things were about to get much worse.  When Sebastien Tillous-Borde threw a nightmare pass back to Drew Mitchell under pressure from Mathew Tait, the former Wallaby couldn’t deal with it, allowing Tom Youngs to scoop up the loose ball and hand a try on a plate to the 94 year-old Brad Thorne, who plundered over for his first try in – it’s fair to say – a very long time.  It made the score 13 – 0 and, even though the European champions were heavy favourites against an out-of-sorts Tigers side, it looked an awfully long way back for the men in red.

But they are champions for a reason – Sanchez pulled three points back quickly and then Ben Youngs made a try saving intervention, showing great speed to reach a loose ball ahead of the onrushing Steffon Armitage, and then Mathew Tait replicated that feat with a great try-line tackle on Tillous-Borde after Jordan Crane had thrown a shocker of a pass.  Sanchez added another three from the resultant penalty and then his opposite number Williams endured a nightmare couple of minutes for the hosts, missing a tricky kick and then flinging a pass straight to the king of intercepts, Bryan Habana, giving the Springbok legend a simple coast to the line for an equalising score.  It was harsh on the Welsh youngster, who had kicked so well, but he got caught between the long and the short passing option – a reminder that his decision making, at this level, must be flawless.  Another missed kick from the Leicester playmaker meant the score sat at 13-13 at half time, with the visitors undoubtedly feeling the happier after overturning the deficit. 

Leicester had, in truth, been the better side, dominating the set piece and the collisions, and it was from another scrum that Williams got another chance to add three points – and this time he didn’t miss.  Ironically, though, that scrum dominance backfired just three minutes later when the Tigers scrum once again ploughed through the Toulon 8 on their own 22, but forgot to take the ball with them which gave Tillou-Borde the simple task of picking the ball up and passing on to Mitchell, who slid over in the corner.  Sanchez missed the conversion, but once again the champions were ahead against the run of play.

The Welford Road faithful must have been feeling that it was going to be yet another uninspired evening of rugby in the East Midlands, but then something old and traditional stirred inside the men in green.  The forwards, led by Tom Youngs and Thorne, started to make big yards in the carry, smashing tacklers backwards every time, and Owen Williams was kicking with precision and intelligence to haul the hosts into the right areas of the pitch.  Of particular note, Ben Youngs was varying his game magnificently, darting through gaps and threading some glorious kicks through in what was probably his best display in a Tigers shirt for the best part of a year.  When combined with a hugely aggressive clearout from the Tigers’ pack, it all created an unbearable pressure on the Toulon defence, and they started to concede penalties.  Williams slotted two of them with Sahchez responding with just the one and, with the likes of Geoff Parling and Leonardo Ghiraldini entering the fray, the collective might of Toulon was kept pinned inside their own half for the majority of the final quarter.  The Tigers held the lead at 22-21 with 5 minutes to play.

There were tensions bubbling over – with the comical mis-match of Ben Youngs squaring up to Mamuke Gorgodze a particular highlight – there were huge hits and bucket loads of tension, culminating with a an abysmal drop goal attempt from Niki Goneva, who should really stick to running.  This was European Cup rugby at its rawest.  The nerves of the home crowd were finally put to rest when Habana conceded a foolish penalty, allowing Williams to slam over his sixth penalty of the night from 50 metres and, although there were a couple of hairy moments as Toulon staged one final attack inside the Leicester 22, the hosts hung on for a famous 25 – 21 win.

The passion was there for all to see, even if the enterprising back play – from either side – was not.  It was Leicester’s best display of the season and, in that regard, it is a shame that the achievement has been overshadowed by a certain, self-proclaimed “fat Italian” launching into a colourful 5 minute rant about Richard Cockerill at an impromptu media session.  I’m a Leicester man, and it would take Castro to insult my mother and eat my last rolo for him to really get into my bad books, but it’s clear that he has a bit of growing up to do.  Richard Cockerill is many things, but a liar he is not.  That Castro had to pay his way out of a contract he had signed is not Cockerill’s fault, and I am unaware of any public assertion that he was leaving only for the money – everyone knew he was now second choice behind Cole.  And even if it was for the money, nobody would have blamed the Leicester stalwart for picking up one last big pay cheque in his senior years. 

Hopefully, in years to come, the memory of the outburst will fade against his great deeds in Tigers’ colours.  Because the memory of a big win against the Champions won’t be leaving the minds of the Leicester fans any time soon.