Rugby Update: Hosts thrash the guests, Leicester Tiger vs. Sale Sharks 54-21
Leicester Tigers killed Sale Sharks with their 54-21 victory over the visiting team. Without their half-back Ben Youngs and Toby Flood, and significant forwards Jordan Crane and Tom Croft, Leicester Tigers were leading with 21 points in the first 13 minutes.
Leicester bombed eight tries on the Sale’s side. Manu Tuilagi and Scott Hamilton executed two tries each. 27th December was a nightmare for Sale Sharks’ coach Pete Anglesea. Pete Anglesea, former captain for Sharks replaced Mike Brewer who got sacked
before Christmas.
Leicester Football Club is an English Rugby union club that takes part in Aviva Premiership. They are the defending champions of the tournament. It is considered as the most professional club of this era. The club has an honour of winning two Heinekens Cup
and five leagues under the Martin Johnson’s Captaincy. Tigers are one the four clubs that never got relegated from Top division and they never ended a league with a position below 6th. They happen to be the only English team to get qualified for
every Heineken Cup. Leicester Tigers is the only English club to have a record maximum turnover of 18.5 million. Being a traditional club, Leicester have cunning rivals like Northampton Saints and London Wasps. The clash between Saints and the Tigers is commonly
known as East Midlands Derby.
Leicester Football Club is actually a merger of three smaller teams that agreed upon forming a club in 1880. The three smaller teams were known as Leicester Societies AFC, Leicester Alert and Leicester Amateur FC. The suffix to the name ‘Leicester Tigers’
was given five years later. Leicester Tigers were famously known as ‘The Death or Glory Boys’. Tigers have a record of making it to the finals constantly for the last six seasons, from which they were three times at the top of the table. Leicester currently
stand at second position with 31 points, from the six victories they had this season. On the other hand, the traditional rivals Northampton top the table with 37 points, from the eight victorious matches. Sale Sharks surprisingly are the bottom third team
with 14 points only, out of the three matches they won this season.
In the recent match, Leicester took the lead from the guest team in first four minutes, which was maintained till the last second. Sale went astray with the possession in their own half, when tigers counter-attacked on the double through Geordan Murphy.
Tiger’s full-back kept on taking the game to the opposition 22, whereas Jeremy Staunton kept on sending Anthony Allen for a try under pressure. Within next two minutes, some convoluted passing from Tigers which was concluded by Alesana Tuilagi across the line
pushed Sharks further behind. Third try was cleverly executed by Rob Hawkins in 13th minute. Later on Staunton made magnificent conversion from the touchline.
This was a critical moment for Sharks, as their nerve was tested. Later in the match, they started to get hold of the ground, before they could have been completely overrun by the Tigers. But then again Leicester came back with their fourth try in that match
just two minutes before the half time. Manu Tuilagi ran an unopposed 20 meter, which Staunton converted leaving Sharks helpless at 28-7 before the interval. The second half unsurprisingly was dominated by the Tigers too. From the very beginning of the second
half, Staunton yet again converted with the assistance of Hamilton. Tigers kept on extending the lead and made a try six from six with conversion. Manu Tuilagi came forward with aggressiveness and this time covered thirty meters for try with Jeremy Staunton.
When there was 30 minutes of play left, Sale pushed back before they would have lost a record crushing defeat. At the score of 42-7, Dwayne made full use of Mark’s pass and undertook three defenders. Macloed converted this effort. Tigers came back with another
try from Hamilton and brought up their 50. In the last minute, Sharks scored but it was overshadowed by the Tiger’s splendid game.
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