Knockout Rugby - Bath Rugby vs. Leicester Tigers

The second Semi Final of the day will be held at The Recreation Ground between Bath Rugby and the Leicester Tigers. It will be the first time in a long time that The Rec has hosted domestic knockout rugby and with blissful sunshine predicted by the ever reliable Met Office the place will be rocking. The Leicester Tigers are very familiar with this stage of the season, this being their 11th consecutive playoff encounter and the question is will this experience pay off against the red hot form of Bath Rugby?

The fact of the matter is that they have both won an extended run of matches going into this knockout clash; Bath have secured their last six Aviva Premiership matches in succession and delivered four of them with try scoring bonus points. The Leicester Tigers, believe it or not, have lost just one of their last nine Aviva Premiership games however it is fair to say that performance wise their journeys have been at opposite ends of the spectrum. 

Bath are flying high with confidence playing arguably the most fluid attacking game in the Aviva Premiership thanks to the invention of George Ford at 10, their pocket rocket Kyle Eastmond and the feet of Jonathan Joseph and Anthony Watson. Bath’s and indeed Ford’s flat to the line approach in which he making decisions right in the faces of defenders as opposed to three steps behind them gives them an edge. The memories of their 45-0 victory against Saturday's opponents back in September should boost them, for eight months on they are a much stronger outfit than they were then. That said, staying calm under pressure will be critical for now is not the time for choking and any over excitement must be curbed. In the forward pack they have the tremendous luxury of being able to bring on replacements that are equal to their starters particularly in the front row and it will be critical that their bench deliver against's Leicester's wily pack. 

In a stark contrast to confident and fluid rugby Leicester have forced their way through their matches and ground out their results the hard way. This season the phrase ‘winning ugly’ has been synonymous with Cockerill’s side and they have come under a great deal of criticism. Truthfully Leicester’s backs haven’t sung, injuries have prevented their desired, first choice, back line ever being picked and this will be the same this weekend however they have gained victories and caused teams issues. 

Positively Freddie Burns is growing into their ten shirt with every game that he is playing and starting to deliver to his potential. Ben Youngs isn’t England scrum half for nothing, his game management and experience is vital and Matthew Tait has enjoyed his most robust and powerful season to date. Leicester’s key asset remains their pack, they are as dogged and determined as ever and the experience of their starting front three Ayerza, Youngs and Cole will be vital. The losses of Logovi'i Mulipola and Geoff Parling will be tough to take. Mulipola positional impact and bulldozing runs have lifted the side this season and the experience of Geoff Parling during big games is second to none. That said, their remaining pack still know what it takes to win at this level and are forceful operators; Thorn, Salvi and Crane in particular.  Ed Slater is back from injury and in Stuart Lancaster’s words ‘has a lot of ground to make up’ having missed a season, from an individual perspective this Semi Final is the perfect place to do so. 

The question is how will the game pan out? Will Leicester raise their game again, for against Wasps and the Northampton Saints we started to see their true Tigers’ colours come through and things were starting to click more out the back. Will their experience at this point in time carry them through? Or will Bath push themselves to another level? We saw the manner in which they accelerated into fifth gear during second half against London Irish in Round 20, imagine if they deliver that for a full eighty? 

This isn’t just another game, this is knockout rugby and anything can happen… no-one ever truly writes off the Leicester Tigers but from where I’m sitting you’d be a fool to bet against Bath’s form. All I’ll say is that this is going to be an enthralling game of Aviva Premiership Rugby. 

Team Stats & Facts

• The Leicester Tigers have lost on their last four visits to the Recreation Ground in Aviva Premiership Rugby  
• Bath haven't won seven Aviva Premiership matches in a row since the 2009/10 season. 
• The Recreation Ground will become the tenth different venue to host a Premiership Rugby semi-final 

Player Stats & Facts

• George Ford has scored 191 Aviva Premiership Points this season with a 82% accuracy off the tee [75 of 91]
• Freddie Burns has 148 points and a 71% strike rate [53 of 75]
• Jordan Crane has made 225 carries to date in the competition & Julian Salvi a cool 251 tackles, just 4 short of Mark Wilson who leads the way in the Aviva Premiership with 255

In total there have been 21 previous Premiership Rugby Semi-Final matches with only 4 being won by away sides, a tiny 19% success rate.