Tigers take win, Red Bulls disappointing.

Last night saw Prem Cup action at Kingston Park as Newcastle Red Bulls entertained Leicester Tigers. I said in my preview that these games are difficult to call but I did feel there was enough in this Red Bulls side to win. I'll steer away from my predictions in the future!

Solid start

In a cagey match dominated by the defences Red Bulls had the best of the majority of the first half but only had one try to show for it. Following a tap penalty including a strong carry from Freddie Lockwood who worked hard all night, captain Ollie Fletcher drove over from close range. Oscar Usher, who I thought had a good game and was busy all night had a good carry down the West Stand side of the pitch but it came to nothing.

Red bulls weather the Tigers attack

Towards the end of the first half, Leicester had a lot of possession but to their credit Red Bulls held out. Crucially too, they kept their discipline and kept fifteen men on the pitch as the pressure was certainly building from Leicester. So they went in with a 5-0 half time lead where in all honesty the highlight was probably the fireworks display just before kick off.

Second half hope

After the first half, I was hopeful that the game might open up a little bit and be a bit more entertaining, again I was wrong. Throughout the game there was too many errors in execution from the lineout which was a lottery to knock ons. I get it to a point as some of these players coming in haven't played any competitive rugby for a while so it must be difficult. But ultimately the quality of play was poor and I'll come onto my thoughts on this competition in its current format later on.

Action from the second half.

Tigers win

Leicester scored an interception try through George Pearson which was converted by Orlando Bailey. This was then followed by Connon and Bailey exchanging penalty kicks to take the score as it remained till the end to 8-10. With about five minutes to play we finally saw some passion on the pitch when it kicked off and Sammy Arnold was shown a yellow card. The game nearly had an undeserved grandstand finish, when Leicester gave away a penalty for a ruck infringement in the last platy of the game when they were trying to run the clock down. How often does that happen by the way?!

Red Bulls kicked to the touchline, the Leicester supporters next to me and I agreed that the game didn't deserve a grandstand finish and the feeling was the lineout wouldn't be straight or there'd be a knock on somewhere, fitting with the previous eighty minutes. Red Bulls did have some possession from the lineout but there was a knock on and the game ended. Leicester were jubilant and Red Bulls perplexed.

The good

As I said above it wasn't all bad, I thought the back row worked tirelessly. Freddie Lockwood carried hard in the absence of Mafi at number eight. Oscar Usher had a good game in the second row and will be pushing for a start. The scrum was fairly dominant. For Leicester, the experience of Harry Wells was invaluable.

Stefan Coetzee does look like a player, he started at full back and moved to the wing. There's definitely some power there. The other one who added some energy and put himself about was Hame Faiva on debut.

The bad

I was underwhelmed if I'm honest, the attack never got going and there was more experience in that Red Bulls team that should've been able to do something. Nathan Greenwood never really got a chance to be put in space to showcase his pace. The lineout was a lottery again, not really giving any platform to do anything. I was in the North Stand and the sound quality from the speakers isn't great there. I think everything just felt a bit flat last night unfortunately.

Prem Cup doesn't work for me

I much preferred last year's format but on the basis that all Champ clubs are involved. For me and I said it when Gloucester played in The Prem Cup up at Kingston Park last season, it felt like an A Team game with a slightly bigger crowd. I'd get The Champ clubs back involved, either do it as a group phase or if the league grows go to a straight knockout.

You could have six groups of four with the ten Prem Clubs seeded and the top two Champ clubs from the previous year. Then go the group winners and best two runners up or the top two and the four best third place teams if you wanted to go to a last sixteen. Prem fans would be more interested in games against Champ clubs than watching glorified A team games.

Next up

There's a week off before back to back away Prem Cup games at Northampton and Saracens before the Tigers are back in toon at the end of November in the league. Hopefully the attack is worked on in that time!