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Leicester Tigers 24 Gloucester 10: Matt O'Connor admits relief after opening Premiership victory strewn with errors
Leicester Tigers, finally, are off the mark. Yet there remains little evidence from this error-strewn performance to suggest Matt O’Connor’s side have the makings of a top-six side, never mind title contenders.
The potential humiliation of becoming the first Leicester side to lose their first three Premiership matches - after defeats by Bath and Northampton Saints - was at least avoided with this win that moved them up to ninth in the table.
There were impressive individual performances too by England half-back pairing Ben Youngs and George Ford. Youngs, who was in scintillating form, scored twice in the first-half while Ford’s immaculate kicking - he landed a penalty and three conversions - and gain-line game management were critical to inflicting a second successive defeat on Gloucester.
Yet, worryingly, Leicester’s line-out problems that were so evident in the defeat at Franklin’s Gardens continued on Saturday, with the rookie second-row pairing of Harry Wells and Joe Maksymiw - deputising for the injured Dom Barrow and Graham Kitchener - both struggling, not helped by some occasional wayward throwing by Tom Youngs.
Gloucester, too, were able to exert considerable pressure on the Leicester scrum and, without set-piece dominance, Leicester increasingly found themselves on the back foot during a high-octane second half that promised so much but ultimately delivered so little.
O’Connor’s side could not secure a bonus point even with a late surge of pressure - it should really have been wrapped up before the end of the first half - and although the victory gives Leicester a foothold in the season, O’Connor admitted his side remain a work in progress.
“The main reaction is probably relief,” said O’Connor. “You are never happy with the performance. To do what we did without any line-out ball is pretty impressive. There are not many teams in the league that could malfunction at line-outs but still come away with the points and put yourself in a position to probably get a bonus point.
“There are a lot of positives in that and a huge amount of growth in us at the same time.”
Gloucester, themselves disrupted by the loss of Billy Burns to a knee injury before kick-off which forced a back-line reshuffle, with Billy Twelvetrees starting at 10, were blown away by the high tempo of Leicester’s game plan in the opening half hour and the concession of three tries in that period, including an impressive finish by Nick Malouf that left Johan Ackermann's side with too much ground to make up.
Gloucester at least threatened a second-half revival - scoring a try by prop Josh Hohneck after just 100 seconds of the restart - and the south-west side, who had been undone by an 11-1 penalty count against them in the first half, created a number of chances to play themselves back into the game.
A penalty by Twelvetrees brought Gloucester to within 11 points but it was as close as they would get, with their lack of precision in the final quarter allowing Leicester to close the game out comfortably.
“I thought we were very good in the first half, but we let ourselves down a little bit in the second,” added O’Connor, whose side travel to Harlequins next weekend.
“We weren't physical or accurate enough against Northampton last week, and we were pretty good in the first half today.
“I knew they were going to come back at us quite hard - they were playing for pride at that point - and it was very disappointing that we let them in for a soft score at the start of the second half.
“We knew we had to be really good today - Gloucester play a lot of rugby, and if you inaccurate, you get exposed.
“The reality is you can't lose at home. You can lose one of your first three if they are two away games, but if you lose two home games early on you make it really hard on yourself.
“We knew the importance of it today and what the stakes were. We came out of the blocks, were very accurate, and our intensity in that first 25 minutes were phenomenal. That is what we have got to get more of.”
“It is a combination of things - you are losing a couple of experienced locks and have young blokes in their calling it. I thought our scrum was okay. That is a heavy Gloucester pack and they put us under pressure late in the game due to injuries but I thought we dominated the scrum for the vast majority of the game.”
As for Gloucester, the opening-round victory over champions Exeter now feels like a long time ago after successive defeats by Harlequins and now Leicester.
There were times when they produced some breath-taking moments, with Henry Trinder and Matt Scott both impressing, but overall their game was also handicapped by too many errors. They have now won just once on the road in the league in the last 12 months and have won just one of the last 10 meetings against Leicester.
“Momentum was with Leicester in the first half, and then we played a bit better in the second,” said Ackermann, who only joined the club in August. It was just that last pass and maybe a lack of patience that cost us.
“The tries we conceded were very soft. There was nothing special that Leicester did. It was just missed tackles or a simple pass.
“I also felt there were some decisions from the officials that didn't help us. But you have to live with that.”
Ackermann at least drew solace from his side’s ability to stand and fight back from a position that looked desperate after the concession of three tries in the first 20 minutes.
“I was never on honeymoon. I always knew it was going to be tough. I just want to see character, and that is what we saw today,” Ackermann added.
"From 21-0 (down), we possibly could have gone 40-0, but we didn't. There was a lot of fight.
"I haven't got a magic wand. It took four years with the Lions. I don't know if it is going take four here. It might take eight, or it might take one. We have got to keep pushing."
Match details
Leicester Tigers: T Veainu; N Malouf, M Smith, M Toomua (M Tait 34), J May; G Ford, B Youngs (S Harrison 73); E Genge (G Bateman 73), T Youngs (H Thacker 51), D Cole (L Mulipola 60), H Wells, J Maksymiw (V Mapapalangi 42), M Williams (D Ryan 68), L Hamilton, S Kalamafoni.
Gloucester: J Woodward, C Sharples, H Trinder, M Scott (H Purdy 67), O Thorley; B Twelvetrees, W Heinz (B Vellacott 55); J Honecke (V Rapava Ruskin 55), M Matu’u (R Hibbard 55), J Afoa (G Denman 67), E Slater, J Thrush (T Savage 65), L Ludlow (F Clarke 65), J Rowan, R Ackermann.
Scoring sequence: 5-0, Youngs try; 7-0 Ford con; 12-0, Youngs try, 14-0, Ford con; 19-0, Malouf try, 21-0 Ford con; 21-5, Hohneck try, 21-7, Twelvetrees con; 21-10, Twelvetrees pen; 24-10; Ford pen.
Referee: C Maxwell-Keys
Attendance: 20,008
Try, Nick Malouf! Leicester 21-0 Gloucester, 22 minutes
Slick from Tigers. The scrum is under pressure but Sione Kalamafoni gets the ball away. Matt Toomua hits up in midfield and, off the next phase, Telusa Veainu slides around the outside and puts right wing Malouf away. The Australian stays on his feet wonderfully to score. Ford converts.
Try, Ben Youngs! Leicester 7-0 Gloucester
Trademark Youngs. Matt Smith brought Tigers onto the front foot with a clever pick and go through the ruck. Jeremy Thrush was penalised for failing to roll away and Youngs darts over from a pick and go with Gloucester kipping. Ford adds two points from straight in front.
"If she’s good, I am pretty much good. If she is suffering, it will affect me"
Ben Coles also caught up with Tom Youngs. This puts plenty into perspective.
Recruitment drive
Earlier we mentioned the May-Slater swap. Well, our man Ben Coles has been in Leicester this week. He spoke to Matt O'Connor, who said that he tried to sign the rapid wing in his previous stint with the club.
Stat attack
We picked out Lewis Ludlow as a player we expect to make a breakthrough this season. He's a hugely industrious back-rower, as these numbers demonstrate.
Team news
There are no late changes to either side, so this is what we are working with.
Matt O'Connor has re-jigged his pack, deploying a couple of young locks and adding Mike Williams to the back row. He'll be desperate for his pack to win the breakdown battle.
Leicester: 15. Telusa Veainu, 14. Nick Malouf, 13. Matt Smith, 12. Matt Toomua, 11. Jonny May, 10. George Ford, 9. Ben Youngs; 1. Ellis Genge, 2. Tom Youngs (captain), 3. Dan Cole, 4. Harry Wells, 5. Joe Maksymiw, 6. Mike Williams, 7. Luke Hamilton, 8. Sione Kalamafoni Replacements: 16. Harry Thacker, 17. Greg Bateman, 18. Logovi’i Mulipola, 19. Valentino Mapapalangi, 20. Dominic Ryan, 21. Sam Harrison, 22. Joe Ford, 23. Mathew Tait
Onto the visitors, and Johan Ackermann has selected no fewer than three ex-Tigers in his 23.
Gloucester: 15. Jason Woodward; 14. Charlie Sharples, 13. Matt Scott, 12. Billy Twelvetrees, 11. Ollie Thorley; 10. Billy Burns, 9. Willi Heinz (captain); 1. Josh Hohneck, 2. Motu Matu’u, 3. John Afoa; 4. Ed Slater, 5. Jeremy Thrush; 6. Lewis Ludlow, 7. Jacob Rowan, 8. Ruan Ackermann
Replacements: 16. Richard Hibbard, 17. Val Rapava Ruskin, 18. Gareth Denman, 19. Tom Savage, 20. Freddie Clarke, 21. Ben Vellacott, 22. Henry Trinder, 23. Henry Purdy