Just when you thought you'd had all of your Christmas presents for this year, Leicester Tigers gave their fans one last special gift with a bonus-point win against Worcester Warriors at Sixways. Last week on the blog we spoke about the opportunity to put the game beyond Worcester's grasp by going for 7-pointers ahead of kickable penalties. RIchard Hill's side do not have too many high scores within them and with just 22 minutes gone Leicester had built up what would turn out to be an unassailable lead.
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Though Leicester stuttered to the bonus point element of their victory - the 4th try could have been scored much sooner were it not for several sloppy pieces of handling - they gave a much more rounded performance than Worcester and Toby Flood again showed some moments of class to create tries.
With Marcos Ayerza injured for a few weeks there is, as there was during the World Cup period, a huge reliance on the fitness and form of Boris Stankovich. The loosehead prop tackled his heart out during those early, fruitless weeks of the season and at Sixways, against a respectable opposition front row, he gave a monumental performance. Time and time again he made Tevita Taumoepeau look like a rookie prop, not a 37-year-old veteran with 29 international caps and over 100 Premiership performance under his belt.
The injuries to Ayerza and Kieran Brookes have altered Richard Cockerill's tried and tested game plan. Either Dan Cole or Martin Castrogionvanni (whoever starts) is now required to play the full 80 minutes; their routine second-half rotation cannot occur because Castro is required on the loosehead side and Julian White is only on the bench for emergencies.
The strong lock partnership of Louis Deacon and Ed Slater showed that, at Aviva Premiership level, Leicester have four second-rows who can compete with the best. The toil and endeavour of Deacon coupled with the mobility of Slater provided a perfect blend and will have given Cockerill confidence in his ability to rotate key personnel as the season progresses. On a quiet day for Leicester's player-of-the-season thus far - Thomas Waldrom - and with the absence from the starting lineup of top tackler Julian Salvi, the two second rowers contributed a much needed 17 tackles.
Where Leicester are most improved this year is at the breakdown. As against Clermont Auvergne, Northampton and Gloucester, they tackled powerfully, were disciplined in defence and committed numbers to rucks only where needed. They have lessened the cynical killing of the ball that has been their trademark over the years and concede fewer penalties. For this, the coaching staff should be commended. They will, of course, have seen the success Saracens have been having domestically with a similarly disciplined approach and they have adapted the team's play to the ever-changing interpretations of the law.
And if becoming whiter than white isn't good enough then they also have two outstanding individuals who help achieve this style of play: Tom Croft could play with any number above 4 on his shirt and provides huge assistance in essentially playing as an extra back at times; Manu Tuilagi plays as an extra forward with his huge tackling and rapid scavenging in the tackle area.
Where Leicester have been poor all season is with their kicking game. Anyone who watched Peter Stringer box-kicking for Saracens against Harlequins or Ryan Lamb chip-kicking against Bath will know that Cockerill's side are a long way from being the best, but at Sixways the grubber kick was used to greater effect by Toby Flood and Ben Youngs.
Leicester gave a glimpse of what could be possible in another area of weakness: the interplay of their back three. In the 78th minute, Scott Hamilton, Matt Smith and Horacio Agulla all skilfully combined to secure the bonus-point. These moments have been rare for Tigers fans who can only look on lustfully at the way Chris Ashton and Ben Foden at Northampton or Jonny May, Charlie Sharples and Olly Morgan at Gloucester can counter-attack.
With the 32-13 victory at Sixways, Leicester are now within touching distance of the play-offs and have clawed back their points difference into the positive for the first time this season.
Next up are Sale Sharks at Welford Road on New Year's Day. Leicester were comprehensive winners in the reverse fixture earlier in the season and a win could see them move up into the play-off positions.
It looks like Manu Tuilagi will be missing due to his hamstring strain so Leicester will need to work much harder to create space in midfield without his rampaging ball carrying to rely on. There will be extra emphasis on Billy Twelvetrees and Matt Smith to punch holes in Sale's big midfield of Sam Tuitupou and Johnny Leota, Twelvetrees pass is so quick, so flat and so accurate that it can almost be as damaging as Tuilaig's running game, if used.
Sale have a much meaner back than in previous years and their back row of James Gaskell, David Seymour and Andy Powell will be very mobile and will put Ben Youngs and Toby Flood under great pressure. They will challenge Leicester's recent superiority at the breakdown but if a rested Salvi can perform to his usual standards then Welford Road should expect another win.
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