Twelvetrees miss allows Perpignan to salvage draw against Leicester
Billy Twelvetrees goes by the name of '36’, and has put in a number of match winning performances for Leicester. Everything was going good for him, until he missed two pretty straight forward penalties. This allowed Perpignan to draw the game, or else the
facts could have been different. However Leicester's Irish Captain Geordan Murphy was philosophical after the draw, and said it’s not the end of the world.
It certainly was an annoying day for Leicester, who have a track record of not losing to any French team at home. After winning the Heineken Cup in 2001 and 2002, Leicester has shown consistency and kept their record intact. At Welford Road against their
latest European opponents they failed to maintain their winning run.
Later Leicester took control from a set piece, as Twelvetree kicked them into a 22-19 lead. But Perpignan then had Rimas Alvarez Kairelis sin-binned, and then had two shots in the last nine minutes. That was the turning point of the match.
Basic Statistics:
LEICESTER - Try: A Tuilagi. Con: Twelvetrees. Pens: Twelvetrees 5.
PERPIGNAN - Try: Mele. Con: Laharrague. Pens: Laharrague 4. Drop: Laharrague.
Cockerill's fury at officials
Leicester's director of rugby Richard Cockerill gave few strong statements against the Heinken Cup referees. He claimed they were allowing cheats to prosper after Perpignan snatched a 22-22 draw at Welford Road. He could be in trouble after making such statements.
Brendan Venter was fined 25,000 Euros last month for making similar claims last month. Cokerill said, “It is not the referee's fault we drew today, we have to deal with the issues - but clearly the lawmakers have some issues to deal with because today was
a complete mess at the breakdown.”
Cokerill claimed that the opposing team came with a plan to not let Leicester play. He also spoke to Donal Courtney, the ERC match official’s performance manager. According to Cokerill, Donal Courtney assured zero tolerance at the breakdown. “Clearly there
wasn’t zero tolerance” , said Cockerill. He further added, "Every time we got to the 22 they killed the ball, they didn't roll away, they were in at the side whereas we are told it is zero tolerance. You try to play and you can't. You can't ruck, you can't
use physical force. So how are you meant to play the game?”
The frustration and anger in his words was somehow justified, but he will surely be hit with a fine for his comments. There have been a number of responses Cockerill's comments, but the fact of the matter is that there are some laws, which need to be revised
and should be given serious consideration.
Cockerill said that he doesn’t want to blame Peter Fitzgibbon (the referee) for the result, instead he believes those in charge of the sport are responsible. "The lawmakers are the people that impose the laws, who come out with these mandates and week on
week its very different.” added the director of Leicester’s Rugby.
Holding back the ball might not be illegal, but it kills the meaning of Rugby. How many penalties, does a referee have to give before he shows the card? Questions will be raised, but then again this probably isn’t the first time. Rugby has a bright and a
prolonging future, amendments will be made and the game will improve with every tackle we make.
The draw has been good news for the Scarlets, who now hold top position in their group, and have a two point advantage over Leicester and Perpignan. Scarlets Supremo Nigel Davies was pretty satisified, and said he was targeting the quarter-finals.
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