Leicester may be in a period of transition, adding an expansive style to their traditional grunt, but it is clear that some things never change. Defensive frailties have been too evident in an inconsistent start to the season and last week Scott Hansen, the defence coach, was shown the door. The result was a dominant bonus-point victory over Worcester with, in truth, plenty to spare and a pointed response from the director of rugby, Richard Cockerill. “I’ve always believed that, if players want to tackle, they’ll tackle.”
The second half, in which Worcester markedly improved from 20-0 down, was the kind of fare the Welford Road crowd is so used to. Two tries – one each for Lugovi’i Mulipola and Graham Kitchener – came from bashing away until something finally gave but it was the first half, with Owen Williams catching the eye at fly-half and Telusa Veainu scoring a remarkable try, sashaying his way in from his own half, that commanded more interest.
Leicester’s ambitions to expand their style have been clear since Aaron Mauger was appointed head coach for the start of last season but it still remains a work in progress. Matt Toomua’s arrival – a ball-playing inside-centre – may just be the missing link, however, and his debut is imminent, perhaps even during their Champions Cup double header against Glasgow and at home to last season’s beaten finalists, Racing 92, as Leicester aim to return to the European elite.
“Every year we want to win every game and we want to compete hard in every competition,” said Kitchener. “Over the last few years we haven’t managed it but credit to the other teams, they’ve improved. Saracens, Wasps, Racing are all great teams but we believe that this year we can match them. We want to play 15-man rugby. There was a little bit more evidence, that first-half display was getting to where we need to be. Perhaps not quite there in the second half but again it’s making sure we’re doing our basics right.
“It was an intense week. We probably needed it. Our performance last week was not where it needed to be. We were told on Monday morning and we worked hard during the week. It was constructive but you don’t want to have to get the rocket every week”
The Leicester chief executive, Simon Cohen, made it abundantly clear in his programme notes that the Tigers’ ambitions stretch beyond reaching the play-offs, as they have done for the past 12 seasons, but, if that seems like heaping the pressure on Cockerill, he could hardly have wished for more obliging opponents. Cockerill could even leave out Dan Cole and Ben Youngs – rested rather than further victims of Eddie Jones’s training camp – and still seal the bonus-point win against Worcester that consolidates their place in fourth. Mike Williams’s arm injury, suffered in the warm-up, is a cause of concern for club and country but better for Jones was the return of Ben Te’o, whose introduction from the bench coincided with Worcester improvements.
“You can see what a great athlete Ben is,” said Worcester’s head coach, Carl Hogg. “He’s always willing to carry and he always gives gainline presence and takes one or two defenders with him. It’s great to get him back. He’s had a disruptive start with a concussion against Gloucester but we’re looking for integrating him further.”
Worcester will welcome the forthcoming break for Europe – their South African scrum-half Francois Hougaard is due back from international duty this week and it gives Hogg time to reflect on the opening block of six Premiership matches, in 11th place but already with nine points.
“We look a reasonable side when we’ve got ball in hand but that’s not the game of rugby. Rugby is about doing the simple things very well and we need to get better at that,” added Hogg. “I think we’ve shown that we can be dangerous with ball in hand. At times we’ve shown huge amounts of resilience. All the component parts are there, it’s just about knitting it together over the 80-minute window.”
Leicester Veainu (Roberts, 68); Thompstone (Smith, 53), Betham, Tait, Brady; O Williams, Kitto (Harrison, 77); Genge (Ayerza, 53), T Youngs (capt; Thacker 68), Bateman (Mulipola, 53), Barrow, Kitchener, Fitzgerald, O’Connor (Evans, h-t), McCaffrey (Hamilton, 63).
Tries Brady, Veainu, Mulipola, Kitchener. Cons: Williams 4. Pens: Williams 2.
Worcester Shillcock; Hammond, Olivier, Willison, Humphreys (Te’o, h-t); Lamb, Arr (Baldwin, 62); Rapava Ruskin (Leleimalefaga, 25; Schonert, 63), Bregvadze, Schonert (Johnston, 62), O’Callaghan (Scotland-Williamson, 65), Barry, Fa’osiliva, Kirwan (Cox, 60), Dowson (capt).
Try Bregvadze. Con Lamb. Pens Lamb 2.
Referee Tim Wigglesworth. Attendance 20,854.
