RugbyRebels

Leicester Tigers

15 Freddie Steward (115)
14 Adam Radwan (16)
13 Izaia Perese (16)
12 Solomone Kata (48)
11 Ollie Hassell-Collins (53)
10 James O’Connor (2)
9 Tom Whiteley (45)
1 Nicky Smith (29)
2 Jamie Blamire (5)
3 Joe Heyes (166)
4 Cameron Henderson (68)
5 Ollie Chessum (71, Captain)
6 Hanro Liebenberg (136)
7 Tommy Reffell (140)
8 Olly Cracknell (71)

Replacements

16 Charlie Clare (129)
17 Tarek Haffar (3)
18 Will Hurd (55)
19 Harry Wells (219)
20 Emeka Ilione (53)
21 Ollie Allan (6)
22 Billy Searle (5)
23 Orlando Bailey (3)

Starting XV:

15. Luke James, 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Rob du Preez, 12. Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 11. Tom O’Flaherty, 10. George Ford, 9. Gus Warr; 1. Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. James Harper, 4. Ernst van Rhyn ©, 5. Ben Bamber, 6. Jacques Vermeulen, 7. Tristan Woodman, 8. Sam Dugdale.

Replacements:

16. Nathan Jibulu, 17. Tumy Onasanya, 18. Patreece Bell, 19. Tom Burrow, 20. Dan du Preez, 21. Raffi Quirke, 22. Marius Louw, 23. Arron Reed.

Reed dropped and Sale go to a better back three under the high ball this weekend. Hopefully Tigers have been practising the crossfield kicks because we've done none so far despite having aerial dominance in most if not every game so far.

AOF plays loosehead! No Rodd which is probably helpful for Sale as Heyes had him in his pocket in the playoff game.

Annoyingly no Woodward for Tigers. He was our best player last week and the Kata/Perese combo doesn't normally generate much in the way of passes for the back three. The slightly odd Searle and Bailey combo on the bench again, I'd prefer one or the other with a carrying threat as opposed to both.

What do you guys think of Tristan Woodman?

twitchy wrote: ↑Fri Oct 24, 2025 12:48 pm What do you guys think of Tristan Woodman?

Looked an interesting prospect caught between a 7 and an 8 at under 20s level. Didn't quite excel at either. Can't say I noticed him at all for Sale last weekend.

Yes, I will admit I wasn't familiar with him which is why I asked. Seems to be getting a run of games though, which is impressive in this sale pack.

Sale have shown a bit of faith in Woodman so maybe they think there's a bright talent there. Got to admit Ive not seen anything that has been eye catching.

twitchy wrote: ↑Fri Oct 24, 2025 3:52 pm Yes, I will admit I wasn't familiar with him which is why I asked. Seems to be getting a run of games though, which is impressive in this sale pack.

Both Currys injured certainly frees up space but he must be highly rated as Dan du Preez is on the bench as an impact option. Now I've given him a meh review he'll probably have a storming game. Big carries and jackles all over the place.

Must be uncontested scrums from the off then if AOF is at LH.
Either that or someone’s jogged his memory this week.

Beasties wrote: ↑Fri Oct 24, 2025 7:02 pm Must be uncontested scrums from the off then if AOF is at LH.
Either that or someone’s jogged his memory this week.

Or somebody has filled in the right paperwork because admin is preferred to commonsense.

One day Dickson will develop into a good ref. Today is not that day. You have a TMO Karl, use him.

FKAS wrote: ↑Sat Oct 25, 2025 5:48 pm One day Dickson will develop into a good ref. Today is not that day. You have a TMO Karl, use him.

No. No he will not.

Was a good game anyway. Sale got a rocket up the backside at halftime and came out firing after being a distant second in the first half. Tigers defence wasn't up to much but the attack was pretty good for a change.

Notable highlights for an England perspective were the Ilione line for his try and the massive carry through three Sale tacklers that left Bamber spinning though the air.

Think they've missed off the best angle off for that one.

First half Tigers defence really got stuck into Sale and particularly Ford. second half they struggled to get close and Sale seemed to stop placing their best player in the firing line. Unsurprisingly that led to a comeback.

Only watched the highlights but did enjoy James 3 tries.

Ilione looks ready to make the step up. He's surely going to get capped over the next month.