Depleted Leicester shock South Africa

PA Sport - Fri, 06 Nov 23:20:00 2009

Leicester produced one of the great upsets in tour history by humbling world champions South Africa 22-17 with a fearless display in front of a record crowd at Welford Road.

Leicester Tigers' Manu Tuilagi (2nd left) is tackled by South Africa's Meyer Bosman (left) and Juan of Jongh - 0

A Tigers XV shorn of five England players and eight others through injury and unavailability was expected to provide cannon fodder for a rampant Springbok squad, who arrived for the start of their European tour on a golden run which included a 2-1 defeat of the British and Irish Lions and a commanding Tri-Nations series.

But Leicester opened up a surprise 16-8 lead in the first half on the back of sure kicking from their 20-year-old scrum-half Ben Youngs and a superb try from Argentina winger Lucas Amorosino.

The Guinness Premiership champions were able to weather a belated Boks response late in the game.

Within 10 minutes the Springboks had the first try of their tour. An apparent obstruction from an up-and-under went unnoticed, and Ruan Pienaar gathered to send a perfectly weighted grubber kick which fell into the hands of Jongi Nokwe. Pienaar missed the conversion.

Youngs kicked a penalty to cut the deficit to five, but a second score appeared inevitable when full-back Earl Rose beat two opponents and kicked into open space until Johne Murphy rushed back to mop up.

Then the match turned after 27 minutes on an uncharacteristic moment of carelessness from the Springboks, seized upon by two of Leicester's young starlets.

Teenage centre Manu Tuilagi, the latest member of his family to gain exposure at the top level, was allowed to run through unchallenged, and off-loaded with Amorosino in support. Amorosino still had much to do from just inside the 22, but he jinked past two tacklers to go in under the posts.

Youngs converted from in front to open up a two-point lead at 10-8.

The infringements racked up for a frustrated South Africa, allowing Youngs to kick two further penalties, the first a fine goal from dead on halfway. Pienaar repaired some damage with three points to end the half, but Leicester still held a useful lead at 16-11.

That was restored to eight points two minutes after the restart when Youngs profited from South African hands in at the ruck to kick a fourth penalty.

After Youngs found the posts again from the 10-metre line, Pienaar had to kick from very wide out to bring the deficit back to eight.

Pienaar had nerves jangling when he reduced the gap to five from in front of the posts, setting up a five-minute period of intense South African pressure.

PA Sport

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  1. sa cant be beat tigers second team

    From L, on Sat 7 Nov 9:39PM

  2. Well done Tigers, great game and it was a great­ atmosphere in the stadium. Ben Youngs was awesome and­ played like a true pro despite his youth. Regardless of­ whether any of the teams were first choice, second­ choice or last choice, surely if they wear the kit they­ get the support of the fans. I know this was the case­ for the majority of the Tigers fans, not sure the Bok­ fans were quite so accommodating.
    Great game, great­ intensity and best of all a Tigers win!!

    Go­ Tigers.(Whoever you are!)

    From alanstonesjnr, on Sat 7 Nov 7:05PM
  3. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    But it's only Rugby. It's sh it

    From Delbut,Dirk,Plank,Delboy et al., on Sat 7 Nov 4:24PM

  4. I am a South African and can say that this was the­ worse ever perfomence by any South African rugby team­ in history.They were digusting,well done Leicester you­ guys did well.

    From Ingram, on Sat 7 Nov 4:13PM

  5. So, both teams were understrength, but that doesn't­ detract from the fact that it was a FANTASTIC game and­ what an atmosphere! The Tigers players played out of­ their skins, with no exception. Go, Tigers,­ go................

    From tyn, on Sat 7 Nov 3:47PM

  6. hahaha figirini comment 19 , your bitterness makes me­ proud to be a Leicester tigers and England fan

    From Jamie, on Sat 7 Nov 2:03PM

  7. Gotta say as a welshman i was cheering like a loon for­ the tigers last night-not usually a fan of tigers play­ but they were simply amazing. Castrogeovani and the­ newest tualangi bullied the boks and they simply­ did'nt know what to do-well done tigers....

    From Simon W, on Sat 7 Nov 12:03PM

  8. In the future I can tell my grandchildren that "I­ was there" just as I was when Bridgend beat­ Australia back in the 80s. Well done Tigers. The­ depleted SA team must of least been up to the standard­ of a decent Super 14 so it was definitely a shock. It­ was great to see all the players and fans cheer and­ celebrate the win at the end, there was real pride.

    From jonghughes, on Sat 7 Nov 11:39AM

  9. Well done Leicester!!!! No matter what disgruntled­ South African fans reel off as excuses, the team that­ takes the field is the team that is chosen to represent­ that nation or club. END OF. History books will­ represent the facts only. The facts are that South­ Africa were humbled by a gutsy Leicester­ performance.Credit where credit is due. As a welshman­ and Ospreys fan I would be grateful, however, if­ Leicester dont show quite as much grit and­ determination in our January Heineken cup tie!!!! ;-)

    From Lee R, on Sat 7 Nov 11:22AM

  10. Im a South African, and can honestly say that the­ Tigers deserved to win last night. Good defence and an­ awesome scrum. It hurts, thats no lie, especially when­ you consider the players that were playing for both­ teams. Yes i know the Tigers were without key players­ through injury and international call ups, which­ probably made their victory even more sweeter. Pieter­ dV can u see now that Ruan Pienaar is not a flyhalf....­ and why choose players that or 3rd and 4th choice­ players for the provinces....wake up and smell the­ coffee!!!!!!!!!!!

    From superchief3, on Sat 7 Nov 11:10AM

  11. it may have been a second string team, but the tigers­ had academy players playing, so not even a second­ string,
    and even if the SA team are second string they­ will see the best of the SA teams and players, SA­ number one in the world.... think not, you just got­ beaten by a weak and inexperienced tigers. maybe there­ should be a competition with SH club teams vs NH club­ teams, now that would be good,

    The futures bright,­ the futures green, red and white. COME ON TIGERS.

    From samthomas85, on Sat 7 Nov 9:50AM

  12. So neither team fielded their first choice fifteens,­ but they are all Professionals and all aspire to play­ International Rugby, so no excuses ! Leicester deserved­ to win, they made less errors. Maybe the South African­ youngsters will learn from this

    From mjwelch01, on Sat 7 Nov 9:34AM
  13. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Please, all you people saying the boks are going­ down............GET REAL! We are the world champs,­ tri-nations champs and the Super 14 winners were­ also.............SOUTH AFRICANS!! And I mean it's­ not like any of the Northern Hemisphere competitions­ and teams can be compared to anything in the SH.­ We'll see who's laughing at the end of this­ tour when the #1 ranked team in the world and all the­ other SH teams on tour show everyone just what a sorry­ state NH rugby is in. Come on the Bokke!!!!!!!!!!

    From shaunf721, on Sat 7 Nov 9:06AM

  14. Come on !!!! not all us saffas will play it down that­ the tigers obviously deserved to win,by a greater­ margin in fact.I dont think we should play down the­ fact that Wales have not hacked against the SH teams­ much.But i think Wales have under performed in that­ regard.Hopefully they can get a few scalps before the 6­ nations.Come on Wale bring back the 70`s.

    From pfi100, on Sat 7 Nov 8:40AM

  15. Yeah right...so when the pommys get their backsides­ kicked with 50 points this afternoon please dont write­ about your list of injured players...its very obvios­ that this writer is not used to writing about a english­ team winning anything...and this team was picked less­ than a week ago...and our second stringer coach is like­ your first team coach...a dreamer...at least so far­ after the worldcup SA has a nearly 100% record...what­ happened after your great luck of the century...total­ demise...and still going down...

    From figirini, on Sat 7 Nov 8:38AM

  16. DEPTH!!!I think the local curry cup competition this­ year,has shown there is some depth
    But you still have­ to play well no matter how talented your team is.Nice­ international and muddy wake up call for the slightly­ less experienced second stringers.Hope it isnt to wet­ for the Ireland v boks game.

    From pfi100, on Sat 7 Nov 8:34AM

  17. yeah good points ,the Bokke do need to wake up.Nothing­ like the underdogs to do so.Its true the kiwis are­ probably still the most consistent over a long period­ of time.eventhough, lately they havent got the kind of­ results that they are used to.These Bokke still havent­ achieved the run of wins that Nick Mallets team­ did.That was consistent.

    From pfi100, on Sat 7 Nov 8:29AM

  18. s a are not the champs

    From dizztowse, on Sat 7 Nov 8:03AM

  19. 7, Ads A, noone's disowning the team. They're­ our beloved Bokke, but I think the reporter could at­ least have at least mentioned the fact that this is­ definitely a second string side. The same way he­ emphasised how 'depleted' the Tigers were. Most­ of the regular 1st team stayed behind to attend the SA­ rugby award ceremony earlier this week. This defeat­ might actually be a good thing in that the coaching­ staff will tear a couple of strips off and get­ everyone's heads straight. Let's wait and see­ how you Northerners stand up when the Boks come at you­ with all their might!

    From rilez, on Sat 7 Nov 7:24AM

  20. Leceister played the game with passion and great­ energy. Well played Tigers, showed how the game should­ be played. I am a SAFFA IN THE STATES and watched the­ game. Happens every year with autumn S.A tour. The­ bokke think that they are on vacation and only need to­ perform at 1/2 pace. Regardless the bokke did not have­ the best 15 on the young Bokke.

    From john d, on Sat 7 Nov 7:00AM
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