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Freddie Burns winces every time he thinks about the last time Leicester Tigers met Racing 92. - 20/10/2016 11:50
Freddie Burns winces every time he thinks about the last time Leicester Tigers met Racing 92.
The first shot of pain comes from the injury he picked up in the 30th minute of the Champions Cup semi-final at the City Ground, Nottingham last season The second rush comes from the fact the Tigers were beaten 19-16 by the TOP 14 side and failed to reach a sixth European Cup final.
There was another painful experience for Burns and his Tigers team mates last weekend when they were sent packing from Glasgow with a record 42-13 defeat to reflect on. Now the English international outside half insists that nothing short of a win will be good enough to keep his side’s interest alive in one of the toughest pools of the lot this season.
Home is certainly where the heart is for the Tigers, who have won their last seven straight European matches at Welford Road and lost only once in their last 32. They could certainly do with extending that record this weekend.
“We’re back at home so there’s a great chance for the crowd to be behind us in a massive game as we try to make sure we put ourselves back in the mix. We’re right as a squad and there is a belief that we can do something special this year,” said Burns.
“It’s been an up and down season, but it’s these games at home which can really kick-start the season for us. Teams are going to have to win their home games and do what they can when they go away.
“Unfortunately we didn’t pick up any points at Glasgow, and that means a win this weekend is all the more important. Every team is more than capable of taking points off each other home and away in this pool, but two defeats early on would make it very difficult to progress and qualify.”
Leicester have had defensive frailties this season, but Racing, who lost to Saracens in the Champions Cup final last season before going on to beat RC Toulon in the French Championship final, have had their own troubles on the road to date this season.
They have lost all four trips in the TOP 14 and will be kicking-off their Champions Cup campaign in the Midlands having had last weekend’s match with Munster Rugby postponed.
“Racing are a world-class team and we can’t afford to have errors against them. They have a big, physical pack and they’re going to need dealing with,” added Burns.
“They’ve got some generals in their side. Dan Carter is one of them and he’s probably one of the best in the world, but we have players like that too. We need to be physical and have that self-belief that comes with playing at home.
“If we get that right then a team of players is going to perform better than a group of individuals. We’re confident that a team performance, doing all the right things, can get us that result.”
Match Facts
- This will be just the second meeting between the clubs in the competition with Racing 92 winning the only previous encounter, a three-point victory in last season’s semi-final.
- Racing have lost just once in their last six away games (W3, D2), that defeat coming in Glasgow last season.
- Racing have lost just two of their six away games against Premiership clubs in the competition (W3, D1), and are unbeaten in the last two.
- Leicester have not lost at home to TOP 14 opposition in the European Cup since 2005 (v Biarritz), winning 13 and drawing one since then.
- Tigers totalled just 218 metres over the gainline against Glasgow in Round 1, the lowest of any side in the opening weekend.
Leicester Tigers gained revenge for their Champions Cup semi-final defeat by Racing 92 last season as they got themselves back into the equation in Pool 1. - 23/10/2016 19:30
Leicester Tigers gained revenge for their Champions Cup semi-final defeat by Racing 92 last season as they got themselves back into the equation in Pool 1.
A week on from their record beating by Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun, the Tigers turned in the kind of response that director of rugby Richard Cockerill was looking for against the French champions with second half replacement Freddie Burns contributing 16 points.
Burns picked up an injury in last season’s semi-final at Nottingham, but he returned to face Dan Carter once again and came out on top with a 70 metre interception try and 11 points from the boot. Those points came on top of a try after 2 min, 52 sec by Brendon O’Connor and two penalties from Owen Williams for the home side in the first half.
O’Connor’s try in the right corner gave the Tigers a flying start and the power of their scrum caused problems for Racing all night. The only other points of the opening 40 minutes came from a Dan Carter penalty and those two strikes from Williams.
Carter then bemused the hoe defence with a weaving, dummying run from just outside the Tigers 22 to cross for a wonder try at the posts that he also converted to cut the gap to a single point. Then it seemed as though it was anyone’s game.
But Burns came into the contest and made an immediate impact. He kicked two penalties in quick succession and then read a Racing move off the back of a scrum on the home 22 to intercept a pass from Maxime Machenaud intended for his midfield and raced 70 metres to score a try he also converted.
Carter was thwarted by a great tackle by Matthew Tait to deny him a second try. The referee went upstairs to the TMO, but the great Al Black was deemed to have put the ball down a blade of grass short of the whitewash.
Racing flexed their muscles again to create an overlap try for Imhoff five minutes from time and Carter’s touchline conversion brought his side into losing bonus-point territory. But then Burns took it all away fro them with his third penalty to take his match tally to 16 points.
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