Leicester Tigers 24 Newcastle Falcons 13: The dress rehearsal goes well, now for the real performance

As the Leicester players left the pitch at Welford Road on Saturday those not involved would have had mixed emotions. Several of the club’s younger players – Andy Forsyth, Alex Lewington and Dante Mama in particular - were impressive in the defeat of Harlequins last week, but Forsyth was the only Development team player to play any part in the 24-13 victory over Newcastle that secured Leicester’s passage into the semi-finals of what all in rugby are now labelling a ‘development competition’: the LV= Cup. The emotions would have been mixed, however, because that victory was in bitterly cold conditions that would have the most hardened Geordie shivering...

(Source: Leicester Mercury)

The team that Richard Cockerill picked was only a few players short of being full-strength, taking into account the Six Nations, and it felt like a return to the familiar for Leicester fans with those players on the fringe of the first XV performing at a level that will leave their Director of Rugby with some tough selection decisions over the coming weeks. Leicester have been famous for this in past seasons; it is one of the many reasons that the club have reached 7 consecutive Premiership finals but after the World Cup it was difficult to claim that the second XV was anywhere near the quality of the first XV.

Ben Woods is starting to reach a similar level of form to that which ultimately helped the club feel comfortable enough to let Tigers legend Lewis Moody go to Bath two seasons ago. For two weeks running he has stopped everything that’s moved, making 24 tackles over the two games and carrying well.

Sam Harrison, after starting the season as 4^th choice scrum-half, is now arguably the form no.9 at the club. He is not one for the highlights reel; he isn’t as quick as Ben Youngs, as extrovert as Austin Healey, as ferocious as Harry Ellis or as flamboyant as Julien Dupuy, but he takes a little bit from each of them. He is toLeicester as the great Raul was to Real Madrid: a 7/10 type of player, difficult to articulate the value of, but nonetheless 7/10 in every area.

Niall Morris, having not started in the league since the 18-32 loss to Harlequins back in round 6, is still the club’s joint-top try-scorer and, of those backs regularly involved in the first-team squad, only Geordan Murphy has made more metres on average with the ball. He is still something of a rough diamond but it is perfectly feasible to imagine that the club will hand him back to an Irish province in a few years time on the cusp of international recognition, as they did with Johne Murphy.

The most interesting selection decision will come at fly-half after an assured performance from Jeremy Staunton, who kicked at 83% accuracy. He has rarely been a favourite amongst Tigers fans who have objected to the paths of Billy Twelvetrees and George Ford being blocked by the steady Irishman and t is widely rumoured that he will be leaving the club at the end of the season. Yet when viewed as a 3^rd choice fly-half he appears more desirable. It will be interesting to see whether the public spat between Cockerill and Twelvetrees results in Staunton getting the nod as back-up to Toby Flood for the rest of the season.

Finally, the form of one player not on the fringes of the Leicester first XV has been nothing short of exceptional. Thomas Waldrom has been instrumental in nearly every victory Leicester have had this season and was a colossus against Newcastle, making 19 carries. He makes more metres with the ball than any other player (52 on average), makes more carries (15 on average), is one of the top 5 tackling forwards (6 on average), is second on the try-scorers list (3) and has beat nearly double the amount of defenders of his closest team-mate (34). He may not a line-out option and his line breaks may result in turnovers if not supported by his team-mates, but the Kiwi’s performances this season have been totemic. That there are three no.8s rated above him by Stuart Lancaster (Phil Dowson, Ben Morgan and Luke Narraway) is perplexing.

And so, after 3 subdued fixtures in a row against Aironi, Harlequins and Newcastle, Leicester return to the Aviva Premiership with a tough trip to Sandy Park. Indeed this promises to be the toughest of all the club's games during the Six Nations as Exeter will only be missing Welsh prop Craig Mitchell through international call-ups.

The Chiefs put in a powerful performance to overwhelm French giants Perpignan in their last meaningful game a few weeks ago, making the front row battle fascinating. This could be a huge moment in Logovi'i Mulipola's fledging career at Leicester if he gets the nod ahead of Julian White at tight-head.

With a heavy pitch and cold weather likely, it is doubtful we will see another high scoring game like the 28-30 loss on the first day of the season. This one may come down to a shoot out between Igancio Meires and whoever Cockerill decides to play at 10. The dress rehearsals have gone well over the past couple of weeks but now is the time for the fringe players to perform as they have shown they can.