Leicester vs Gloucester

[Puja]

Leicester: Holmes; May, Tuilagi, Toomua, Olowofela; Ford (capt), Youngs; Genge, Polota-Nau, Cole, Fitzgerald, Kitchener, Williams, Evans, Kalamafoni.

Replacements: Kerr, Bateman, Heyes, Wells, O'Connor, White, Eastmond, Worth.

Gloucester: Hudson; Sharples, Twelvetrees, Atkinson, Thorley; Williams, Braley; Hohneck, Visagie, Balmain, Grobler, Mostert, Clarke, Evans, Morgan (capt).

Replacements: Walker, McAllister, Knight, Slater, Ludlow, Vellacott, Trinder, Banahan.

[Puja]

Not sure how Murphy has looked at the Bath game and come to the conclusion that Wells and O'Connor were the problems. O'Connor I mind less as it's good to see Evans get a start, but Fitzgerald continuing to steal a living bothers me.

Puja

[Which Tyler]

Can they both lose please?

[fivepointer]

3-3 draw perhaps?
Quite difficult to call this one. Tigers have been poor, but Glos blow hot and cold. Cips missing may tilt things Tigers way if their pack can gain parity at least.

[Gloskarlos]

Tigs should win this. Arguably their strongest team out there.Too many Glos injuries to compete for 80 and our front row may get munched. Plus Glos haven’t won at WR since 2007 I think.

[Gloskarlos]

Glos unavailable list.

Ruan Ackermann, Danny Cipriani, Gareth Denman, Ruan Dreyer, Todd Gleave, James Hanson, Willi Heinz, Jaco Kriel, Franco Marais, Tom Marshall, Jake Polledri, Henry Purdy, Val Rapava Ruskin, Will Safe, Jason Woodward

[Puja]

Glos unavailable list.

Ruan Ackermann, Danny Cipriani, Gareth Denman, Ruan Dreyer, Todd Gleave, James Hanson, Willi Heinz, Jaco Kriel, Franco Marais, Tom Marshall, Jake Polledri, Henry Purdy, Val Rapava Ruskin, Will Safe, Jason Woodward

Leicester's unavailable list:
Defensive coach, defensive plan, functioning lineout, cohesion in attack, Dan Cole, the Mike Fitzgerald that we paid for, and Telusa Veainu.

I still fancy your chances.

Puja

[Danno]

Glos unavailable list.

Ruan Ackermann, Danny Cipriani, Gareth Denman, Ruan Dreyer, Todd Gleave, James Hanson, Willi Heinz, Jaco Kriel, Franco Marais, Tom Marshall, Jake Polledri, Henry Purdy, Val Rapava Ruskin, Will Safe, Jason Woodward

Leicester's unavailable list:
Defensive coach, defensive plan, functioning lineout, cohesion in attack, Dan Cole, the Mike Fitzgerald that we paid for, and Telusa Veainu.

I still fancy your chances.

Puja

Dayumm this post made me want a rating system for the forum

[Tigersman]

It isn't even our strongest team TBH.

[Tigersman]

Harsh on Olowofela.

[p/d]

Bloody harsh! If Rose had to watch it that many times then he was looking for a reason not to reward skill

[Tigersman]

Pleased from Tigers youngsters.
Evans looked great
Olowofela best game of the season.
Heyes destoryed Glous scrum when he came on.

On the whole it's made 3rd and 4th massively close.

Falcons and Wuss dropped along way now 7 points behind Bristol.

[Epaminondas Pules]

Harsh on Olowofela.

Very. Looked a sensational finish to me. I am biased, but I didn't see any air between fingers and the ball.

Much, much better all round today. Far from perfect and lots still to sort out, but better. Will Evans made a difference.

Kalamafoni is so frustrating. One good thing for three bad. And bloody hold onto the ball you cock!

[Epaminondas Pules]

Pleased from Tigers youngsters.
Evans looked great
Olowofela best game of the season.
Heyes destoryed Glous scrum when he came on.

On the whole it's made 3rd and 4th massively close.

Falcons and Wuss dropped along way now 7 points behind Bristol.

Yep, first time he's really looked at home. Holmes also excellent, and yeah Joe Heyes with some monster scrummaging.

[Tigersman]

Might have spoken too soon about wuss.

[fivepointer]

i'd have awarded Olowofela the try. Close one but it looked just about OK to me.
Overall Tigers much better. Some real snap in their carrying and breakdown, while Ford controlled things very nicely. Genge first rate. Cole playing far better then when he was being picked by England.
Heyes is going to be some player.

[Oakboy]

i'd have awarded Olowofela the try. Close one but it looked just about OK to me.
Overall Tigers much better. Some real snap in their carrying and breakdown, while Ford controlled things very nicely. Genge first rate. Cole playing far better then when he was being picked by England.
Heyes is going to be some player.

Fair comment. Something is still missing, though. Arguably, Leicester have four of the England first-choice back line in Youngs, Ford, Tuilagi and May, yet the youth winger looked the best back in their XV, IMO.

[francoisfou]

i'd have awarded Olowofela the try. Close one but it looked just about OK to me.
Overall Tigers much better. Some real snap in their carrying and breakdown, while Ford controlled things very nicely. Genge first rate. Cole playing far better then when he was being picked by England.
Heyes is going to be some player.

Fair comment. Something is still missing, though. Arguably, Leicester have four of the England first-choice back line in Youngs, Ford, Tuilagi and May, yet the youth winger looked the best back in their XV, IMO.

It’s a pity that Jonah Holmes has opted for Wales because for me, he was in fine form today.

[Epaminondas Pules]

i'd have awarded Olowofela the try. Close one but it looked just about OK to me.
Overall Tigers much better. Some real snap in their carrying and breakdown, while Ford controlled things very nicely. Genge first rate. Cole playing far better then when he was being picked by England.
Heyes is going to be some player.

Fair comment. Something is still missing, though. Arguably, Leicester have four of the England first-choice back line in Youngs, Ford, Tuilagi and May, yet the youth winger looked the best back in their XV, IMO.

Really?? Olowofela had his best game for us, sure, but looked what he is, a decent prospect. Ford was excellent today, as was Holmes. May and Toomua very good. Many a mixed bag, BT then used as a decoy in the main.

[Oakboy]

i'd have awarded Olowofela the try. Close one but it looked just about OK to me.
Overall Tigers much better. Some real snap in their carrying and breakdown, while Ford controlled things very nicely. Genge first rate. Cole playing far better then when he was being picked by England.
Heyes is going to be some player.

Fair comment. Something is still missing, though. Arguably, Leicester have four of the England first-choice back line in Youngs, Ford, Tuilagi and May, yet the youth winger looked the best back in their XV, IMO.

Really?? Olowofela had his best game for us, sure, but looked what he is, a decent prospect. Ford was excellent today, as was Holmes. May and Toomua very good. Many a mixed bag, BT then used as a decoy in the main.

Again, fair comment, but I was thinking in terms of perormance from the point of view of doing the right thing at the right time and playing up to their ability. I thought Ford played solidly but can/should be far better relative to his skill-set. Youngs had one good break giving a glimmer for a few seconds of the player he used to be. May was excellent in patches but his headless chicken routines indicate a lack of team cohesiveness to my simple mind. Holmes and Toomua were useful but erratic. Tuilagi I just can't offer an opinion on. There were some thumping tackles but he is not an integral part of the team in a constructive sense. You make a good point about the decoy bit but did it really gain the team anything to unload slow ball down his throat? Yes, he was gang-tackled but no advantage was taken of the number inbalance thus created. That has to be lost somewhere in his unloading function, Youngs's slow arrival/distribution and the general backs alignment.

All of that takes me back to Olowofela's simple function of nearly always doing the right thing at the right time and maximising his ability for the good of the team. He demonstrated what I meant when replying to 5p that 'something is still missing'. Maybe, it is a coaching thing associated with recovering from a long bad patch. You would know better than me. Leicester's backline look like they need to concentrate on doing the basics well till things click. Perhaps, they are missing a Barritt/Allen type character to get defence and attack into the right shape in each mini-phase.

[Epaminondas Pules]

Fair comment. Something is still missing, though. Arguably, Leicester have four of the England first-choice back line in Youngs, Ford, Tuilagi and May, yet the youth winger looked the best back in their XV, IMO.

Really?? Olowofela had his best game for us, sure, but looked what he is, a decent prospect. Ford was excellent today, as was Holmes. May and Toomua very good. Many a mixed bag, BT then used as a decoy in the main.

Again, fair comment, but I was thinking in terms of perormance from the point of view of doing the right thing at the right time and playing up to their ability. I thought Ford played solidly but can/should be far better relative to his skill-set. Youngs had one good break giving a glimmer for a few seconds of the player he used to be. May was excellent in patches but his headless chicken routines indicate a lack of team cohesiveness to my simple mind. Holmes and Toomua were useful but erratic. Tuilagi I just can't offer an opinion on. There were some thumping tackles but he is not an integral part of the team in a constructive sense. You make a good point about the decoy bit but did it really gain the team anything to unload slow ball down his throat? Yes, he was gang-tackled but no advantage was taken of the number inbalance thus created. That has to be lost somewhere in his unloading function, Youngs's slow arrival/distribution and the general backs alignment.

All of that takes me back to Olowofela's simple function of nearly always doing the right thing at the right time and maximising his ability for the good of the team. He demonstrated what I meant when replying to 5p that 'something is still missing'. Maybe, it is a coaching thing associated with recovering from a long bad patch. You would know better than me. Leicester's backline look like they need to concentrate on doing the basics well till things click. Perhaps, they are missing a Barritt/Allen type character to get defence and attack into the right shape in each mini-phase.

I think you're being a wee bit harsh across the piece there. Ford, especially, was excellent. Saying Holmes was erratic is just wrong. It was Jordan's best game in a Tigers shirt. He looked comfortable and didn't muck up, or look startled, which is good.

The main thing we've got is to find that cohesion both in attack and defence with a pack that actually does something other than lie down and play dead. That and build some confidence. It isn't coaching in attack as such, but confidence and ideally not being in scramble back-foot mode for 60 out of 80 minutes.

[Scrumhead]

Fair comment. Something is still missing, though. Arguably, Leicester have four of the England first-choice back line in Youngs, Ford, Tuilagi and May, yet the youth winger looked the best back in their XV, IMO.

Really?? Olowofela had his best game for us, sure, but looked what he is, a decent prospect. Ford was excellent today, as was Holmes. May and Toomua very good. Many a mixed bag, BT then used as a decoy in the main.

Again, fair comment, but I was thinking in terms of perormance from the point of view of doing the right thing at the right time and playing up to their ability. I thought Ford played solidly but can/should be far better relative to his skill-set. Youngs had one good break giving a glimmer for a few seconds of the player he used to be. May was excellent in patches but his headless chicken routines indicate a lack of team cohesiveness to my simple mind. Holmes and Toomua were useful but erratic. Tuilagi I just can't offer an opinion on. There were some thumping tackles but he is not an integral part of the team in a constructive sense. You make a good point about the decoy bit but did it really gain the team anything to unload slow ball down his throat? Yes, he was gang-tackled but no advantage was taken of the number inbalance thus created. That has to be lost somewhere in his unloading function, Youngs's slow arrival/distribution and the general backs alignment.

All of that takes me back to Olowofela's simple function of nearly always doing the right thing at the right time and maximising his ability for the good of the team. He demonstrated what I meant when replying to 5p that 'something is still missing'. Maybe, it is a coaching thing associated with recovering from a long bad patch. You would know better than me. Leicester's backline look like they need to concentrate on doing the basics well till things click. Perhaps, they are missing a Barritt/Allen type character to get defence and attack into the right shape in each mini-phase.

Is the Youngs break you’re referring to the one when he passed straight in to touch?

One passage of play that sums up how he’s been playing in recent times

[Oakboy]

That's the one and you are right about him.