Leicester’s strength in reserve should sound ominous note for rivals
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Version 0 of 1. Three title contenders, three left wings, three hat-tricks. It has been a mystical weekend for those who like the number, er, 11. If only it had been three tightheads claiming their respective match balls, but we will settle for three left wings – and the third of them was last term’s player of the season at Welford Road, Niki Goneva, the Fijian who loves Leicester. He did not have to show much of the genius through which he claimed that gong in May – just a flop on a loose ball for the first, a little step, after Freddie Burns had ghosted through, for the second, followed by an interception and straight 90-yard gallop for his third, all of it done inside 15 minutes of the second half. But a hat-trick’s a hat-trick, and, if Northampton’s George North suggested last Friday that he is ready to take his form of last season to another level, Goneva reminded him that his is already up there. All of which should make the English grateful these players see fit to grace their league. Goneva was very close to following the euro to France this season but elected to renew his contract with Leicester. “The grass isn’t always greener on the other side,” said Leicester’s director of rugby, Richard Cockerill, who helped convince him to stay. “France isn’t sometimes what it’s portrayed to be. Niki is happy here, which counts for a lot, but like with everything you have to make it work financially.” In other words, he’s on quite a bit – and why not? Goneva looked happy. Cockerill cited the arrival of his compatriot Seremaia Bai, who made his debut here, as a contributory factor to that happiness (could it even be his signing was part of the deal?), and Mr and Mrs Goneva were over from Fiji to watch their son play overseas for the first time. Leicester looked happy. Playing well within themselves they managed to handle a Newcastle side who seem markedly improved on last season. As so often, Leicester were missing a host of players, yet came away with the full five points. One of those absent was Tom Croft, who felt a shoulder twinge in training the day before, but his long-awaited comeback from injury should not be delayed by more than a week. Anthony Allen, too, is very close, while a host of others nursing minor knocks are poised for action in the next few weeks. In other words, as injury crises at Leicester go, this is nothing. One man who was definitely not happy, though, was Dean Richards, once the rock on which Leicester was built, now starting to make something of his Newcastle side. He felt the Falcons were whistled out of the game before they had a chance to get into it. “Seven penalties or free-kicks from scrums,” he said, “and you look at the angle of their loosehead every time. We got nothing from the referee and it had a massive impact. Unless you can get that first-phase dominance that we were looking for — and we felt we could have had — you’ll not a win a game. We weren’t given a chance today. “The feeling in the dressing room is one of frustration. You set your stall out and go out to do things and it’s taken out of your hands. We have to understand what the referee is looking for better than we did; we could never quite get on the right side of him.” Leicester Morris; Scully, Tuilagi (Smith 67), Bai (Loamanu 75), Goneva; Burns (Williams 69), B Youngs (capt; Mele 58); Mulipola (Bristow 67), Ghiraldini (T Yougs 46), Balmain (Pasquali 74), De Chaves, Kitchener, Gibson, Salvi, Crane (Barbieri 60). Tries Goneva 3, Mele Cons Burns 2 Pens Burns 4 Newcastle Hammersley; Sinoti, Powell, Socino, Cato (Tuilagi 51); Godman (Tiesi 51), Blair (Tipuna 51); Vickers (Rogers 12), McGuigan (Lawson ht), Tomaszcyk (Brookes ht), Green (Barrow 63), Furno, Mayhew (Saull 63), Welch (capt), Hogg. Tries Mayhew, Saull Cons Socino 2 Pen Socino Attendance 22,639 Referee Luke Pearce. Big season for Freddie Burns A decent debut, the highlight was a show and go for Leicester’s second try, the lowlight a missed touch that led to Newcastle’s first. He landed all but the hardest of his kicks at goal and kept the Tigers moving. But Owen Williams’s ban has now ended, so the fight is on for Leicester’s No10 shirt |