Tom Varndell, slipped through Harlequins grasp...
Dean Richards entertained his old employers, did he get that
elusive first victory?
No he didn’t and he had to taste a lot of humble pie after
being overly critical of Marcelo Loffreda’s rotation policy this week and even
a couple of last minute personel changes for his Leicester team didn’t prevent
one hell of a hiding.
So what did Deano say?
“If you implode as badly as we did in those 25 minutes then
you don’t deserve to pick up any points.”
“The sad thing is, we competed to forty minutes and it’s how
we imploded that’s the difficult thing to comprehend. It’s disappointing that
it came the more experienced guys, who didn’t produce the goods, rather than
from the youngsters.
Marcelo seems to be settling in nicely, picking up another
bonus point. He must have been happy?
“It was good. We are very pleased with the game, we were a
bit inconsistent in the first half but in the second half, we changed our mind,
worked hard in defence, and frustrated anything they had. It was good game for
Leiceter.”
Tom Varndell was named Man of the Match, how come?
He helped himself to a hat-trick but Tom Croft deserves a
big mention. He worked tirelessly all afternoon and was superb at both the
breakdown and the loose. He also picked up a brace of scores. Both must have a
shout of an England call-up this week..
What does Loffreda think of their England
chances?
“Tom Varndell has all the conditions to be one of top
players in his position.”
“He has to try to work very hard in his mind and to be
consistently concentrating, which is what we’re working to do.”
And what about Crofty, is Richards a fan?
“He’s an outstanding talent, a really good player, he’s got
everything. The only thing he lacks is a bit of experience. But if you throw
both guys in the England team, it wouldn’t deter them too much.
Enough chit chat, what about the game?
Well the first half was about as enthralling as Radio 4s
shipping forecast despite the mild conditions and only a touch of class from
Andy Goode, whose delightful reverse chip off the inner part of his reliable
right boot just outside the ‘twenty-two’, which allowed Tom Varndell to run in
unopposed shook off the chill from my icing fingertips.
HALF TIME: Harlequins 6-10 Leicester Tigers
Well the second half must have been entertaining?
Almost immediately from kick-off, Geordan Murphy popped over
a sublime drop-goal from the 10m line and then it all became a lot like a
circus show. Quins must have had some seriously strong sleeping pills in their
half-time drinks as their defending symbolised the deepest of slumbers.
C’mon get on with all the tries?
A swift series of slight hands between Martin Corry, Johhne
Murphy and Ollie Smith down the short-side, created Tom Croft’s first as he
slipped out of Ugo Monye’s belated grasp to dive over.
Quins overplayed the tactic to feed Tom Varndell the high
ball all afternoon and it obviously wasn’t working even though they carried on
regardless. More suspect defending from the re-start allowed the pacy winger to
unload an almighty hand-off on Andy Gommersall before outpacing Simon Keogh and
kill off any remaining hope from the home supporters.
The Goode cross-field bomb reaped huge reward again with
Croft interrupting De Wett Barry’s afternoon doze to bring Leicester a richly
deserved bonus point.
And a bit of magic from the equally impressive, Aaron
Mauger, who wriggled a pass out of two tacklers dished up Varndell’s hat-trick
on a plate.
Andy Goode knocked over the sundries and completed his own
14 point haul.
Were their any positives for Quins?
David Stettle had a good afternoon and thoroughly deserved
his try right at the end. It is a bit hard when no one else around you has got
the foggiest.
Any last words of wisdom?
I predicted that Leicester would nick a tight one...show's how much I know...