Treviso this weekend

[damian]

Totally enjoyed the trip to Treviso this weekend to watch what I though was a good game. Well we won - We we fortunate to be sitting with the Italian fans, why ? Well apart from the filthy looks when we scored our first try and I started getting rather animated, we got to meet the Benneton player, Brendan Willams and his wife who were standing next to us. Enjoyed chatting with them, and the well done hand shake and Happy Christmas after the final whistle went down rather well. What a grea venue, city and atmosphere all in all brilliant and enjoyed meeting Tigers fans from all over.

Damian and Chris from down south....

[old one eye]

We have been to Treviso twice before. It is a wonderful city with lots of really nice people.

[yellow_balaclava_hunter]

Well dome to all of the supporters who travelled to Italy. I could hear you very clearly on the TV.

Also well done to the players for sticking at it for the full 80 minutes this weekend. Particular congratulations must go to Castro and Mulipola for making the difference. One wonders what the score might have been if those two had been selected to start.

Commiserations to Mr Rolland, as Brian Moore once said 'Speaking two languages doesn't automatically make you a good ref'.

[Tomvarndell]

Give over bud. Castro and Muli were fresh on an energy sapping pitch. Had they started, then dan and Marcus would have been equally effective coming on late doors against tiring opposition.

[BJ.]

We got home around 7pm yesterday.

Apart from the weather, it was a lovely weekend. We managed to walk round Venice for nearly five hours on Friday and didn't see one other Tigers supporter, not even in Piazza San Marco.

[TigerCam]

Great trip as usual. Hotel Carlton made us very welcome just like our previous stays with them. Usual good food at the Celtic Bar. Stocked up on parma ham and sausages from the deli in town - what a shop! Shame about the Tiger's standard of play but that what is to be expected of late tho' the rain and Rolland certainly didn't help. Fingers crossed that the Tigers draw Treviso in the next HC - just love the place and the people

[G.K]

So BJ not meeting any other Tigers supporters made it a loveley weekend then?

[BJ.]

So BJ not meeting any other Tigers supporters made it a loveley weekend then?

More for them than me.

[Panda]

Some Pictures from this weekend
http://www.flickr.com/photos/16429543@N ... 266804037/

[yellow_balaclava_hunter]

Give over bud. Castro and Muli were fresh on an energy sapping pitch. Had they started, then dan and Marcus would have been equally effective coming on late doors against tiring opposition.

I am basing my comment on the fact that Castro clearly had a better game for the full eighty minutes against Treviso the weekend before than Cole had in 55 minutes in Italy. Then Castro came on and suddenly the scrum was dominant where beforehand the ref was looking to penalise Tigers.

[TigerAlex]

I am basing my comment on the fact that Castro clearly had a better game for the full eighty minutes against Treviso the weekend before than Cole had in 55 minutes in Italy. Then Castro came on and suddenly the scrum was dominant where beforehand the ref was looking to penalise Tigers.

You're hardly comparing apples with apples there. The conditions were completely different in the two games. As for the scrummaging, I thought Cole had the Treviso prop all over the place, but for some reason (and not necessarily Cole's fault either), Rolland had it out for Cole.

[yellow_balaclava_hunter]

Are you suggesting that the weather gave Treviso an advantage? I would expect that Leicester would be more used to playing in those conditions, nevertheless the conditions were the same for both teams and cannot be used as an explanation as to why Castro performed better over the two legs.

There is something very wrong with the way that Cole scrummages which means that referees get the idea that he is cheating, it would help if he didn't bind on the opposite players arm.

[Cagey Tiger]

Are you suggesting that the weather gave Treviso an advantage?

I don't personally know what TigerAlex was suggesting. However, from my own perspective, I would say that rather than giving Treviso an advantage, it was a disadvantage to Tigers. While the two packs are of a relatively similar strength, the difference in the quality of the backs is definitely in Tigers favour. The rain and pitch conditions nullified that advantage.

[DickyP]

Are you suggesting that the weather gave Treviso an advantage? I would expect that Leicester would be more used to playing in those conditions, .......

If you think that winter weather in Italy is better than UK you obviously never read about and looked at pictures and films of the Italian theatre in WW2! I never dared get my uncle started on the rain and mud in Italy.

So yes, they probably are more used to really, really wet and muddy weather.

[fleabane]

We had a fabulous 4 days. Special thanks to the Tigers supporters who managed to get a taxi at the airport which they invited us to share, and to the couple who asked us to share theirs to the match. Also to BJ (again) for the Venice info. And to the supporters of both sides for braving some dreadful weather to provide vociferous support for their team. Both teams were relentless and neither deserved to lose - or to win. The Leoni defence was immense, their 8 indomitable in attack, and Tigers demonstrated the kind of never say die attitude so often associated with Johno.

Memorable weekend - and then there was Treviso itself, and Venice, and . . .