Is it safe to come out yet? Are the angry post-mortems still in circulation? Have the pitchforks been put down and out of harm's way? Defeats for Leicester Tigers always sting, especially when you lose at home. Then throw in that the home game in question was lost against old rivals Northampton Saints, and you can now see why there is such an inquest happening. But once you cut through the emotion and the hysteria, was yesterday such a disaster? Well, disappointing yes, but disaster, no.
What hurt many the most about yesterday, was the actual realisation that the dream of top 4, however irrational, improbable and unlikely it was to hold those thoughts, lay broken and shattered on the Welford Road turf. The fairytale of turning an 11th placed finish (twice) into a top 4 turnaround inside 12 months, would have been a huge success story, but it was ultimately just that - a pipe dream, a fairytale, a story to tell and to shout about. And it is that taking away of a dream that hurt many fans yesterday, the fact it was that lot up the road that inflicted it makes it sting a little bit more. But ultimately, the reality, harsh as it is, is that Tigers never really were serious top 4 contenders. It was a possible, but not a probable. But then again, that is ok. That does not demean us, nor is it a criticism, it is just the reality of where Tigers are at in their development. It is also great that we all had dreams of top 4 - the last week in football has shown us that it is these dreams that we all hold onto dearly, that make us love sport. Take that away, and it is no longer sport, it is merely a business - and where is the fun in that?
Ultimately, yesterday was a bit of a reality check for many a fan, player and coach. It also showed two sides that are at different points in their development, or "journey" as it is known. And that again is fine. We probably all knew that deep down, but again, it hurts more to acknowledge that because it is Saints. The noisy neighbours are currently ahead of us, and that stings. But the truth is, we're probably not that far off, and it is that in which we should take comfort. Prior to the Bath game last week, the agreed wisdom of Pundits, Journalists - national and local -and fans, was that the fixtures against Bath, Saints and Ulster were the true test of where Tigers were at as a side, and an opportunity to gauge how far we had come and how far still to go. Well as we sit, two weeks on with two defeats in a row, what is striking, is that Tigers are genuinely not far off being a pretty decent side. Whilst two defeats in a row are the horrible headlines, the reality is that fine margins in both games decided the winner. Unfortunately, on both occasions, it was Tigers' opponents that claimed victory. But that's the truth - we're now at fine margins stage. When we started the season, the idea of top 4, felt a huge way off - a mountain to climb. Well as we sit, two thirds of the season completed, the top of the mountain no longer feels that far away anymore. Whilst there is a lot of work to do, a lot of the foundation work is now done, what we are now looking to do is find those extra 1%'s that make such a big difference. Add up all those marginal gains and implement them to what we currently have, and the end result will be a very good rugby team. The top of the mountain is in sight, we just need to build again.
The game against Saints was decided, as said, on fine margins. But the main cause of defeat, is actually a bit easier to identify. 8 times Tigers made a visit to the opposition 22, 8 times they were turned over. Add in all of the wayward passes and dropped balls that also undermined each 22 visit, and suddenly there is a very clear picture of why defeat occurred. Quite simply, you are not going to win many games of rugby if you do not convert your pressure and opportunities into hard points. This is not the first time that Tigers have not been clinical enough. 2 bonus points from 8 victories, tells us that story. There has been many an occasion when Tigers have been profligate from their good positions that their forward dominance has earned them. Tigers have left many points out on the field all season, and in some games they have got away with it. In the big, close games like yesterday, that comes back to haunt you, and so it proved. Improving this area of the game by a small amount will provide huge dividends, and it is something that I am sure players and coaching staff will be working hard at getting better.
What will hurt Tigers most about yesterday bar the result, was they just did not play to the very best of their abilities. Of an 80 minute game, it was only for a 20 minute spell in the second half, did Leicester really hit their straps and show their full capabilities. For the other 60 minutes, Tigers played like a team in 3rd or 4th gear, looking a team 75-80% of their best. Handling errors, silly penalties, another couple of yellow cards, all punctuated their performance and helped put a stop on any momentum they were building up. Discipline again let them down, with points given away, field position squandered, and 20 minutes without a full compliment of men.
And yet, even with all that, they could have won. Just like last week agains Bath. They were that close. And both games show that Tigers are not that far away. A bit of luck or a different bounce of a ball, or just simply better execution and decision making, and I'm writing about a famous Derby Day win or maybe another league win in a row. Heavy defeats against Bath and Saints would have been a disaster, it would have meant a return to the drawing board, a worry that the foundations maybe weren't as solid as we thought. Instead, they are narrow defeats. Narrow defeats against sides that are ahead of us and are genuine top 4 contenders. It is very rare in sport, that going from the bottom to the top is linear, most often there are bumps on the road, making the graph look so jagged. We have hit that bump, so now we need to keep calm, consolidate our good work and build upon it, and improve and cut out the bad bits. Top 4 no longer feels a world away. Provide Borthwick and his men with a full pre-season and 11 weeks to properly get to work - something we have not had for 4 years now, and we shall reap those rewards.
Putting our finger on why we were so unlike ourselves yesterday is the killer question. For me, we just beat ourselves. For all the talk in the week about it being Derby Day, and what it means, and what a special day it is, we forgot the basic but unescapable truth - it is just another game of rugby. 80 minutes, on grass, against 15 opponents. Whilst all the pre-match words of respecting the occasion is great, I'd rather we spoke a bit more about catching the ball, not giving silly penalties away and implementing the game plan. For all that was spoken about before the game, it meant we overthought it, we made the game bigger than what it actually is and it had an impact. Too often we stuttered, not quite making a definitive choice each time. It meant we came away from our game plan, and played in the hands of a Saints side who lapped it up. The reality is that whilst Saints deserved their win, they are not a vintage team. A good one nonetheless, and one that are hunting a top 4 spot, but they are not a top tier team by any stretch. It is that point that again underlines how close we are - if that is the standard of a top 4/6 team, we really are not that far away.
Yesterday and last week against Bath were bruising encounters both for the players and fans alike. But what the last two weeks have shown is that Tigers are knocking on the door of the top 6, and the margins between a mid-table side like Leicester and the upper echelons of the league are a lot closer than we think. There is an awful long way to go and a huge amount of work still to do, but Leicester can take comfort from the reality of knowing they are not a million miles away. It may be too early for this season, but as we go into the summer with new signings to arrive, more work on the training paddock to be improved upon and building upon the foundations already set, then the next couple of seasons already look positive. Just trust the process, keep the faith and keep calm. It will all be ok.
(The cover photo is taken from the Leicester Tigers twitter page, and all credit should go to them).