Wasps (A) - Sunday 9th January 2022 - 3pm

[Leicestertinytiger]

4 Vaea Fifita (10), 5 Elliott Stooke (11), 6 Alfie Barbeary (19), 7 Brad Shields (64) (c), 8 Tom Willis (50)
Massively trumps our back 5.

Really struggle to see us winning this one

Plenty of people were saying we’d struggle against the Falcon’s back row.

I’m completely relaxed about Sunday - it’s winnable but if it goes the other way I doubt that SB will be too concerned. From now on in its going to be about timing - and the beauty of winning 11 from 11 means Tigers can afford a few losses. It’s now all about ensuring the strongest 23 reach their peak for the playoffs, so there’s no point rushing players back. Especially in a fixture where current form suggests even a significantly weakened 23 is capable of winning.

100% agree - we’re in the driving seat. If we win then the streak continues and we all hail Borthwick as the messiah. If we lose it’s not the end of the world, especially given the amount of players missing.

[MrG2]

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/spor ... IfBVUrp9LE

Good little article in the Mercury. Kini just glad to be on the pitch whatever his shirt number by the looks of it

[mol2]

Looks like Dolly & Kini are the back row cover again.
STARTING XV
15 Freddie Steward [45]
14 Harry Potter [25]
13 Matt Scott [34]
12 Dan Kelly [31]
11 Guy Porter [30]
10 George Ford [117]
9 Jack van Poortvliet [32]
1 Ellis Genge (c) [99]
2 Julián Montoya [14]
3 Dan Cole [277]
4 Calum Green [73]
5 Eli Snyman [8]
6 Harry Wells [138]
7 Tommy Reffell [60]
8 Ollie Chessum [21]

REPLACEMENTS
16 Charlie Clare [37]
17 James Whitcombe [10]
18 Joe Heyes [85]
19 Kini Murimurivalu [30]
20 Nic Dolly [13]
21 Ben Youngs [273]
22 Freddie Burns [85]
23 Matías Moroni [23]

[Scott1]

Wells is a machine,Johnny Hill has grown on me lately but Wells is definitely ahead of Ewels for me,I don’t see the attraction in him at all. Anyone else?

[OakhamTiger32]

Looks like Dolly & Kini are the back row cover again.
STARTING XV
15 Freddie Steward [45]
14 Harry Potter [25]
13 Matt Scott [34]
12 Dan Kelly [31]
11 Guy Porter [30]
10 George Ford [117]
9 Jack van Poortvliet [32]
1 Ellis Genge (c) [99]
2 Julián Montoya [14]
3 Dan Cole [277]
4 Calum Green [73]
5 Eli Snyman [8]
6 Harry Wells [138]
7 Tommy Reffell [60]
8 Ollie Chessum [21]

REPLACEMENTS
16 Charlie Clare [37]
17 James Whitcombe [10]
18 Joe Heyes [85]
19 Kini Murimurivalu [30]
20 Nic Dolly [13]
21 Ben Youngs [273]
22 Freddie Burns [85]
23 Matías Moroni [23]

Its like Groundhog Day and It’s 12 o’clock all over again..

[OakhamTiger32]

Wells is a machine,Johnny Hill has grown on me lately but Wells is definitely ahead of Ewels for me,I don’t see the attraction in him at all. Anyone else?

Wells has really impressed me this season too. I guess the whole team have upped their game however Wells has been in excellent form. Definitely prefer him in the second row but needs must and I guess it shows his versatility if nothing else

[tigerburnie]

Great squad with no weakness, every players brings something to the squad, very happy with that.

COME ON YOU TIGERRrrrrsssssss

[RichieB]

No Nemsi again though. COVID, injury, illness, phasing him out, rotation - who knows, but he had a rest week last week so he’ll be ‘rusty’ before long!

[OakhamTiger32]

Great squad with no weakness, every players brings something to the squad, very happy with that.

COME ON YOU TIGERRrrrrsssssss

I admire your optimism! Will try and adopt the same philosophy and just enjoy the match rather than worry about back row options

[DeadlyDunc]

4 Vaea Fifita (10), 5 Elliott Stooke (11), 6 Alfie Barbeary (19), 7 Brad Shields (64) (c), 8 Tom Willis (50)
Massively trumps our back 5.

Really struggle to see us winning this one

I'd argue that the 2nd row isn't far off being equal for the game plan of each team and I'd rather have Reffell than Shields at 7.

Chessum at 8 will be interesting but i accept Willis is proven there and Barbeary is a talent and more than likely going to go better at 6 than Wells.

I'd say 3-2 in favour of Wasps at best - there is a lot of responsibility on Reffell to slow their ball if we are going to stop them playing a fast game with ball in hand. Also a big responsibility for Ford in terms of pushing Wasps back and forcing them to play from their own 22 where hopefully we can force errors.

I predict a lot of strategic kicking and squeeze on Wasps to force errors in their own half from which hopefully our set piece will be strong - we've certainly got some decent line out options with Chessum & Wells in the back row and a scrum that is operating well.

[TigerFeetSteve]

4 Vaea Fifita (10), 5 Elliott Stooke (11), 6 Alfie Barbeary (19), 7 Brad Shields (64) (c), 8 Tom Willis (50)
Massively trumps our back 5.

Really struggle to see us winning this one

I'd argue that the 2nd row isn't far off being equal for the game plan of each team and I'd rather have Reffell than Shields at 7.

Chessum at 8 will be interesting but i accept Willis is proven there and Barbeary is a talent and more than likely going to go better at 6 than Wells.

I'd say 3-2 in favour of Wasps at best - there is a lot of responsibility on Reffell to slow their ball if we are going to stop them playing a fast game with ball in hand. Also a big responsibility for Ford in terms of pushing Wasps back and forcing them to play from their own 22 where hopefully we can force errors.

I predict a lot of strategic kicking and squeeze on Wasps to force errors in their own half from which hopefully our set piece will be strong - we've certainly got some decent line out options with Chessum & Wells in the back row and a scrum that is operating well.

I'd also say their bench looks sparse, ok ours has players out of position, but if we can drain their players, the standards of the guys we have to come on is great, including 6 internationals

[mol2]

Letting Brink go early looks like a generous move.

[OakhamTiger32]

Letting Brink go early looks like a generous move.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing hey! But yes, absolutely terrible timing from our perspective!

[Cardiff Tig]

It depends if you think winning one or two matches is worth the thousands of pounds of salary, which could also be used later in the season if someone becomes available.

[OakhamTiger32]

It depends if you think winning one or two matches is worth the thousands of pounds of salary, which could also be used later in the season if someone becomes available.

I’m sure if SB had known we would end up in this situation he would have considered releasing Brink after the Wasps match. An extra 10 days I’m sure wouldn’t have broken the bank! That being said if we end up winning on Sunday then it’s clearly not done us any harm. I’m not aware of the full situation regarding Brink; might be some personal reasons behind the early release in Which case the aforementioned points become largely irrelevant. Either way it’s a moot point now