BY TOM JEFFREYS
Leicester Tigers………………..47
Tries: Reffell 15, 34, 53; Scott 30, Wiese 43, Hassell-Collins 65, Brown 80+1
Conversions: Pollard 16, 31, 44, 54; Shillock 66, 80+2
Newcastle…………………………3
Penalties: Connon 12
Tommy Reffell’s hat-trick helped a clinical Leicester Tigers side to a thumping win against Newcastle Falcons, who succumbed to an eighth-straight defeat at the start of the season.
On a day where it rained for the full 80 minutes, the difference was always going to be the lineout. Indeed, it was reported that centres Dan Kelly and Matt Scott joined maul practice this week.
A relatively successful Newcastle lineout percentage fails to reflect its blunt threat to the whitewash, which is a telling contrast to the profligacy of Tigers’ close range attack that maintained a 100% try rate through the first half.
It was a perfectly executed gameplan according to scrum half Ben Youngs, who said: “The forwards loved it, we got those guys in the right areas of the field and the boys went to work.
“The gameplan changed because of the weather, and I thought the forwards were brilliant”.
Tommy Reffell was the primary beneficiary, sandwiching a simple finish down the left flank with two tries at the back of the maul. Matt Scott, Jasper Wiese, and Ollie Hassell-Collins were also able to make the most of the front foot platform produced by a near perfect lineout, whilst Mike Brown was able to put the cherry on top with a tidy finish soon after a powerful scrum.
The early territory and possession statistics, however, reflected Newcastle dominance. Nonetheless, as has so often been the case this season, their maul struggled to turn pressure into points.
With scrum half James Elliott forced to extract the ball as a result, a five-metre lineout became hopeless phases for the visitors outside the Tigers 22 within seven phases. Despite the defensive go-forward, Tigers infringed, and Newcastle were able to go three points ahead.
What immediately followed was a damning indictment of the Falcons’ struggles as Matias Moroni strayed offside from their clearance kick, giving Tigers a penalty straight in front of the posts on the 22. Pollard, however, kicked to the corner and Reffell finished the maul easily.
From this point, Tigers never looked back. Both teams kicked over 20 times out of hand in the first half, but the home side’s chase was noticeably superior.
One such chase produced one of five first half turnovers for Leicester, and consecutive lineout penalties gave Leicester possession ten metres out. Matt Scott then ran a superb line off Ben Youngs to storm through and dot down to make the score 14-3.
Seemingly within seconds, Leicester were back in the Falcons 22. This time, they built patiently for 16 phases before Ben Youngs classily put Reffell over in the corner untouched.
With an increasing sense of deja vu, Leicester found themselves in the Falcons 22 on the stroke of half time with Ollie Chessum surging towards the line. The ball was dislodged but Wiese was the grateful recipient, dotting down to take the scores to 26-3.
The trend continued after the break and though Tigers’ perfect conversion rate was broken, it wasn’t long before Falcons were defending another close range lineout attack produced by their ninth consecutive penalty.
Then came a moment of history, as Reffell toppled over at the back of the maul to become just the second Leicester openside to score a hat-trick, following in the footsteps of Neil Back.
With the bench unloaded Newcastle were finally able to gain an attacking foothold after 45 minutes of passivity. Phil Brantingham pushed Tigers’ scrum off their own ball but yet again, their set piece attack was muted.
Brantingham was involved soon after, making an exemplary chop on Jasper Wiese; Pedro Rubiolo in support, however, added his help illegally warranting the game’s only yellow card.
The consequent phases were textbook: Tigers boxed from the maul, won in the air, kicked again, chased vigourously, forced the turnover and gave Solomone Kata the chance to offload to Ollie Hassell Collins who picked up nicely to touch down.
Tigers scored their seventh and final try in the final phase of the game through Mike Brown, who made the most of front foot ball provided by the scrum and Kata, making the score 47-3 at the final whistle.
Speaking after the game, Newcastle head coach Alex Codling was clearly emotional, feeling that Leicester’s 14 internationals were always too big a challenge for his young side.
His message, in light of reports that the salary cap is increasing next year, was clear.
“I’m pretty emotional to be honest. Fundamentally we don’t have the experience, we don’t have the size profile”, he said.
“We’re up against it every week and it’s incredibly difficult. We’re number one in the league in the first ten minutes but when we lose momentum, we just don’t have the size and experience.
“These are decisions out of my hands, but there are decisions to make to move this club forward. The challenge we have compared to other teams is we don’t have the competition in training”.
Leicester Tigers: Brown; Steward, Scott, Kelly, Hassell-Collins; Pollard, Youngs; Van Wyk, Montoya (capt), Cole; Wells, Chessum, Liebenberg, Reffell, Wiese.
Replacements: Clare, Whitcombe, Hurd, Carter, Rogerson, Whiteley, Shillcock, Kata.
Newcastle Falcons: Obatoyinbo; Radwan, Penny, Moroni, Brown; Connon, Elliott; Brocklebank, Blamire, Bello; Hawkins, De Chaves, Rubiolo, Cross, Chick (capt).
Replacements: Byrne, Brantingham, McCallum, Cardall, Lockwood, Stuart, Jennings, Spencer.
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