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| (Source: Leicester Tigers) |
Leicester are back, they are the form team in the Premiership and they are once again despised by those around them. Though it may seem strange, this is the exact niche in the market that the club aim for. Over the years they have been disliked because they have been successful and so never was a barb from their local rivals more well-received than after they had demolished them 21-35 on their own ground.
The catalyst for the end of season push has been provided. In the build-up to the game Jim Mallinder, in trying to avoid confronting the issue of his relationship with his abrasive opposite number said more than enough, "I don't really want to say [what] the differences [are]. The outside world can see the differences." After the game, Saints fans online were suggesting that the superior squad depth that provided the platform for this victory was in fact paid for in-part by Caterpillar. And the Telegraph accused Richard Cockerill of being loutish, of challenging decisions with monotonous regularity and of being guilty of a, “one-eyed, oafish rant.” Leicester are disliked and Leicester are winning. The two are natural bedfellows.
The performance from Cockerill's team was first-class. They had an air of superiority and quiet confidence about them that winded Northampton; the Tigers themselves were barely panting before they were 6-14 ahead. It was that same crushing efficiency that has made Toulouse feared for so long in Europe and, at to this extreme, was probably last seen in the 44-16 win against Gloucester in the 06/07 Premiership final. There was an effortless balance between the forwards and the backs; the forwards bludgeoned and the backs made their incise precisions.
In green, white and red, Toby Flood's season has been almost entirely positive. For the red rose he is still required to prove himself against Owen Farrell and Charlie Hodgson and, whilst Hodgson did kick faultlessly this weekend, Flood was sublime in every facet of the game against Northampton.
Indeed the distribution through 9, 10 and 12 was slick enough to create holes consistently. Anthony Allen, the third man in that triumvirate, is another constantly judged against his exploits for the national side, and had arguably his best game in a Tigers shirt, making 46 metres with the ball and beating 6 defenders. The quality ball offered up found two hungry wingers in Alex Tuilagi and Horacio Agulla who were willing to work, really work, for their supper.
But this was not a game won on attack alone. The defence that earlier in the season conceded tries at will was disciplined and often gained the momentum with some big hits. Roger Wilson, normally so important for Northampton, carried the ball 12 times but made a paltry 8 metres with the ball. Thomas Waldrom, in contrast, carried 16 times for 62 metres and Julian Salvi 4 times for 40 metres. They targeted the half-back channel and Lee Dickson and Ryan Lamb duly obliged by missing 5 tackles. When they broke free there was, unusually for Leicester, invariably a support runner on the should and so one line break quickly became two.
A surprise source of metres was in the scrum, an area where Leicester were utterly dominant. Yes, Northampton were missing the talismanic Dylan Hartley, but it still looked at times as if Leicester were playing Wanderers rather than Saints. They won a scrum against the head on Northampton's 5m line and had a resulting try disallowed; they then immediately won another against the head and took the 3pts; Dan Cole had Soane Tonga'uiha jogging backwards at one point, and; when Mallinder tried to change things, Castro took apart Alex Waller. This was dream-like for Leicester fans.
In the face of a mean defence and a powerful scrum, what could Northampton do? Kick for touch? When they did they found England's answer to Victor Matfield - Geoff Parling - rising imperiously in the line out and stealing ball, or delegating that destructive role to George Skivington and Tom Croft with no less success. Losing 6 line outs on their own ball gave Northampton absolutely no platform to build from.
And away from the set-pieces, Leicester had two disruptive influences at the breakdown that meant Northampton had nowhere left to turn. A dedicated open-side continues to be worth its weight in gold and Julian Salvi reminded us of this yet again; Saints broke 40 metres off the base of a scrum at one stage and the Australian somehow managed to get back in position to get over the ball and win a penalty. But perhaps of more value was Dan Cole. The England tight-head has been hugely underrated at the breakdown all season and showed excellent technique in disturbing Northampton's flow.
There were a few negatives, but only a few. George Chuter's throwing was patchy, but the line out stats were still pretty good (13 won, 2 lost); Ben Youngs' box-kicks were unreliable again, but he combined so fluidly with his half-back partner that it didn't matter, and; there were moments of nervousness when Scott Hamilton was put under pressure, but somehow he managed to pull through.
For Saints, it is difficult to know where to start. Jim Mallinder may be thinking the same thing, for he has already redesigned this squad once by bringing in the likes of Doran Jones, Manoa, Pisi, May and Lamb to try and provide the depth needed to win big games, yet they've almost blown the lot again.
Almost, but not quite. For in the hype of this performance it is easy to forget that Leicester were one result away from staring into the abyss themselves. And Northampton will surely be happier with their fate entirely in their own hands than hoping someone else can beat Exeter. Leicester's nemesis and their archenemy have been toppled and they are revelling in the disdain.
I remember winning 47-0 there once, that was quite good, but losing in the cup when Saints were still in the 2nd Division wasn't!
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