Leeds Carnegie vs Bourgoin: The Verdict

Leeds Carnegie 9 - 18 Bourgoin
Amlin Challenge Cup

Electrifying.  Dazzling.  Dynamic.

The last three words I would pick to sum up this game of rugby. 

Wake me up when it's over

To say this game showcased Leeds' worst performance in a considerable time is an understatement.  Never mind ten man rugby, Leeds resorted to playing eight man rugby at times, with a backline lacking in any form of cohesiveness or invention.  During the first half, Ceiron Thomas ran around in indecisive circles whenever he got the ball, before passing it to the static backline who had about as much guile and penetration as a flaccid sausage.

It didn't take Leeds long to be on the wrong end of a 12-0 score line.  Bourgoin's wing Jean-Francois Coux went over in the corner for their first try, before Leeds' calamitous centre Henry Paul coughed up the ball in midfield which allowed Bourgoin's full back, Anthony Forest, to hoof the spilled ball down the pitch where wing Albert Vulivuli outsprinted the dawdling Leeds defence and touched down  The boot of Ceiron Thomas kept Leeds in touch at half time, as he slotted over a couple of easy penalties from pretty much in front of the posts to end the dreary first half with Leeds trailing 6-12.

I don't know how they did it, but after the break Leeds somehow managed to make their first half performance look absolutely scintillating, thanks to a second half performance which almost resulted in the crowd slipping into a collective coma.  In what I can only describe as the most tedious forty minutes of rugby I've ever had to endure in my entire life, Leeds treated the freezing Headingley crowd to a smorgasbord of handling errors and about as much vision as a blindfolded bat.  In fact I wish I had been blindfolded, because then I wouldn't have been forced to witness Leeds' lazy tackling, ridiculous offloading and general ineffectiveness.

The only points of note within the second half were a couple of drop goals scored by the Bourgoin fly-half, Benjamin Boyet and another penalty from Ceiron Thomas.  This was despite Leeds having the majority of the possession thanks to their hard working forwards.  Did I already mention just how boring it was?

Headingley Carnegie must exist in its own space/time continuum, as the last ten minutes of the match seemed to stretch out for several light years.  With the crowd pleading the referee to blow the final whistle with five minutes remaining, when he finally ended the torture the entire 2,698 crowd let out a simultaneous sigh of relief.

Still, there were a few good things to come out of this game:

• The Leeds scrum looked strong and functioned well for the vast majority of the game.  It was a pity that nothing much came from this solid platform.
• The forwards mauled their way up field almost effortlessly on several occasions, again sadly with no points materialising as a result.
• Now that Leeds are out of this competition they can fully concentrate on the Guinness Premiership.  Based on today's performance they're going to have to concentrate really hard to avoid the spectre of relegation that is currently hanging over them.
• I now have a sure fire way of beating insomnia, as if I'm ever struggling to drift off to sleep then all I have to do is remember this rather snore-inducing game and I'll be whisked off to the land of nod in seconds.

I also had the following things confirmed:

• Henry Paul is about as useful as a chocolate fireguard and should be put out to pasture where he can throw as many passes to nowhere as he likes.  If he is the answer at number 12 then I dread to think what the question was.
• Calum Clark looks really pretty in a headband.

In conclusion, that was eighty minutes of my life that I won't get back.  Still, it could be worse.  Leeds could be playing a good team next week.  Oh, they're playing Saracens in the LV= Cup.  Great.

Leeds Tame the Tiger Cubs

LV= Cup First Round
Leeds Carnegie 28 - 17 Leicester

The Absolutely Worthless Cup, the Anglo-Welsh Cup or to give it its proper title the LV= Cup, is seen by many as an unwelcome addition to a season filled with fixtures.  If any team believes this then I'm sure it's the Leicester Tigers.  With the Guinness Premiership, Heineken Cup and their high profile match against South Africa to concern themselves with it was no surprise that the Tigers fielded a bunch of cubs against Leeds Carnegie, especially at a time when the majority of their first team is either away with the England squad or annoying the rehabilitation team. Well I say they fielded a team of cubs and it is mostly true, although Ben Kay did his best to increase the average age of the team by ten years.

The Tigers sharpen their claws

The Leeds twenty two was a mixture of youth and experience, academy players and a smattering of first team talent.  However it was the teenage Tigers that started the brightest.  In the opening ten minutes they passed the ball well and pressurised the Leeds line.  Tigers scrum-half James Grindal almost replicated the guile of Wallabies' scrum-half Will Genia's try against England yesterday, when he plucked the ball from the breakdown five metres from the try line and almost had enough space to dart around the fringe and touch down.  Luckily the Leeds defence held strong, and not long after debutant fly-half Joe Ford was able to put the first points on the scoreboard with a coolly taken kick from forty metres when Leicester were penalised at the scrum.  Ford exchanged kicks with his younger brother George who was playing ten for Leicester, leaving the score with Leeds 6-3 up after sixteen minutes.

Both sides were playing very positive rugby, and Scott Mathie had an excellent game as starting scrum-half with his vision from the base of the scrum leading to the first Leeds try.  The flowing locks of the nippy South African were given an airing when he carved out an arcing run, before offloading to an athletic Rhys Oakley who timed his pass perfectly to put Ford in at the corner.  11-3 after Ford pushed the conversion across the face of the posts.

Leicester weren't convincing at the line out and throughout the first half they were consistently pinged at the breakdown.  With ten minutes remaining in the first half Leeds scored an excellent team try.  They worked the ball out wide though several sets of hands until it reached Scott Armstrong on the wing who scorched over for an impressive score.  Joe Ford slotted the conversion to take the score to 18-3.

In a final flourish to the first half, Scott Mathie took a quick tap penalty deep inside the Leicester twenty two, leaving the entire Tigers side frozen like statues as he raced under the posts.  Ford easily converted the score in front of the posts to end the half on 25-3.


The second half began and once again the it was the youthful Tigers that stormed out the blocks and played some free-flowing rugby to pressurise the Leeds line.  Happily the Leeds defence held strong again, although not for long as Alex Moreno was sent for a ten minute rest in the sin bin after repeatedly getting penalised.  Leicester took advantage of the extra man as they drove over for their first try.  George Ford added the conversion.  25-10 to Leeds.

Leeds soon extended their lead once again as Leicester were penalised for holding on in front of the posts.  Joe Ford kicked the points.  28-10 to Leeds.

Another free kick won at the scrum

At twenty two minutes to go, Big Mac aka Mike MacDonald took to the field for the first time this season just before the Leeds sin-bin fitted a revolving door:  Moreno's ten minutes lapsed just as Calum Clark was yellow-carded for slowing the release of the ball.  If I'm honest from where I was standing it looked like Clark was playing the ball on his feet, but not according to referee Sean Davey.  In fact, I think Davey must have put his contact lenses in the wrong way round at half time, as the next ten minutes saw him miss a whole host of Leicester knock ons and started to gift the Midlands side a series of mystery penalties. 

Unsurprisingly this led to a period of pressure from the Tigers.  Try scoring hero from Friday night's game against South Africa, Lucas Amorosino came close to scoring a try, before offloading to Ben Kay who nearly powered over.  In the end the Leeds scrum disintegrated and a Henry Paul missed tackle allowed Tigers wing Will Hurrell to force his way over next to the posts.  George Ford converted with the final score of the game to take the total to 28-17.


In conclusion...
There are quite a few positives for Leeds to take out of this game, along with a couple of yellow-coloured negatives.  Fly-half Joe Ford linked up well with Scott Mathie and displayed his skills with some solid place kicking and good tactical awareness which won him the man of the match award.  Mathie turned in a sparky and impressive performance at fly half and helped the young fly-half in bossing the game - maybe mentor Andy Gomersall has been rubbing off on him - although hopefully not literally...

Apart from his sin-binning I thought that Calum Clark had a good game, and once again Leeds were excellent at the breakdown.  Bad news for Leeds was the early injury to hooker Phil Nilsen, which is worrying as there is little cover at number two with Rawlinson and Freer recovering from injury.

Overall it was a much more convincing performance from an improving Leeds Carnegie side.  I know the Tigers fielded a team of youngsters but Leeds can only play the team put out in front of them.  Even though the LV= Cup might be seen as the equivalent of the Johnstones Paints trophy in the footballing world for the scant amount of prestige it holds, on the plus side today it allowed Leeds to try a few combinations out, blood a few youngsters and as much as I hate to say it, build some winning momentum for when the serious business of the Guinness Premiership resumes in two weekend's time.