The Michael Cheika hairdryer was, according to the man himself, on one of its more gentle settings at half-time. Nevertheless it had the desired effect, blowing the cobwebs off a dozy Leicester side to overcome an 11-point deficit against Gloucester and maintain their strong early season form.
In common with many of their performances this season, Leicester’s attack was clunky and their defence at times suspect. But after five rounds they sit alongside the far more lauded Bath and Saracens as the only sides with four victories. That is the art of coaching and part of the reason that Leicester were prepared to hitch their wagon to Cheika, if only for a single season: he gets results.
This was the type of match Leicester would have lost last season. Indeed they did lose 27-25 to Gloucester at Welford Road in March, which may well have been the beginning of the end for Dan McKellar. Now they are once again the proud owners of the Ed Slater Cup.
Following the fire and fury of last week’s derby defeat of Northampton, the Tigers came into this match devoid of any intensity. Gloucester’s first two tries, scored by Max Llewellyn and Freddie Thomas, were the result of defensive doglegs engineered with no little difficulty by fly-half Charlie Atkinson and second row Arthur Clark. Their third score owed to Ollie Hassell-Collins slipping off Llewellyn, although that did follow a sumptuous interchange between the outstanding Tomos Williams and Santi Carreras.
Hassell-Collins did score himself, handing off Josh Hathaway and stepping his way past Carreas, but Gloucester were well worth their 19-8 half-time lead.
Judging by the controlled explosions from the coaching box, Cheika’s impatience was mounting, although he pushed back on Freddie Steward’s description of his half-time team talk as a full-on hairdryer.
“I think that’s an exaggeration,” Cheika said. “If it was a hairdryer it was on the very lowest setting. There are a couple more settings in me. I think you have to tell the truth to the boys at half-time about where we were mentally in the game. There were some tactical issues that we needed to address but that was secondary to the idea that we maybe thought we were going to be handed victory. That doesn’t happen ever in this game.”
Winger Josh Bassett’s smile when asked about Cheika’s choice of language told its own story. “A controlled fury, not too much, but just enough,” Bassett said. “He’s a character, he’s got that passion, that desire, he wants us to do well. We deserved it. I think there’s a few more settings, I’m not looking forward to seeing them. He was just honest where we were in that first half, it allowed us to go out there in the second half.”
However, if the spicier aspects of the Australian vernacular were deployed it had the desired effect. Within 10 minutes, the hosts had the lead, Handre Pollard scoring from a tap penalty before full-back Steward broke down the right to feed Bassett. A bonus point was sealed by centre Dan Kelly on 65 minutes following some close-range pressure.
“I was proud of the fact they understood that message and they were able to then get back on cue,” Cheika said. “We would have liked to have kicked on once we got 10 away but they showed good character in the end. Sometimes those situations are difficult to get out of and we didn’t go quiet in that adversity. We stood up.”
Leicester’s calling card remains their set-piece and Ollie Chessum and company made life particularly uncomfortable for Gloucester at the line-out. However, they are fast developing a party piece with their short-range tap penalties after Steward scored in similar fashion against Northampton. This time it was Joseph Woodward who pulled the ball back for Pollard, who finished with 14 points, to glide through.
“I’m claiming responsibility,” Cheika says of the tap penalty. “I get all the bad stuff, I’m taking the good stuff. Let’s say it’s a collaboration, but I end up paying for it.”
Llewellyn, who is expected to be named in Wales’ squad on Monday, did secure two bonus points for Gloucester with his third try, taking advantage of Jamie Shillcock jumping out of the defensive line. It also means that Gloucester have secured a try bonus point in every game this season. But they just have one victory to show for that attacking revolution, much to the chagrin of director of rugby George Skivington.
“Frustrating, the first 10 minutes of the second half killed us,” Skivington said. “Tigers came out firing and we made our own mistakes. I am pleased with the way the boys fought back but I think we were better than leaving with just two points. There were a couple of individual errors that put us in that position. We have got a game plan that demands a lot of the players and we are not quite there yet.”
Match details
Scoring sequence: 3-0 Pollard pen; 3-5, Llewellyn try; 3-7, Carreras con; 3-12, Thomas try; 3-14, Carreras con; 8-14 Hassell-Collins try; 8-19, Llewellyn try; 13-19, Pollard try; 14-19, Pollard con; 19-19, Bassett try; 22-19, Pollard con; 27-19 Kelly try; 29-19, Pollard con; 29-24, Llewellyn try; 29-26, Carreras con
Leicester Tigers: F Steward; J Bassett, D Kelly, J Woodward (W Wand 52), O Hassell-Collins; H Pollard (J Shillcock 71), J van Poortvliet (B Youngs 61); N Smith (J Cronin 57), J Montoya (C Clare 71), J Heyes (D Cole 52), H Wells (T Manz 61), O Chessum, H Liebenberg, T Reffell (E Ilione 72), O Cracknell.
Gloucester: S Carreras (L Hillman-Cooper 76); J Hathaway, M Llewellyn, S Atkinson, I Jones; C Atkinson (C Englefield 71), T Williams; C Knight (V Rapava-Ruskin 52), J Singleton (S Blake 58), K Gotovtsev (A Fasogbon 58), A Clark (M Alemanno 62), F Thomas (A Tuisue 78), J Clement (H Taylor 62), L Ludlow, Z Mercer.
Referee: H Smales.
05:12 PM BST
Michael Chieka speaks to TNT Sport – ‘We upped the physicality’
On the poor first-half display…
“We came out thinking we were going to win. You have to earn wins. We had a frank discussion at the break.”
On how they turned things around…
“We didn’t play good and got into a difficult situation but got the win. [We upped our] physicality. We ran hard, tackled hard. They can play footy if you give them the room to do so, so we had to ruck harder and do the simpler things [well] we were able to get on the scoreboard.”
05:09 PM BST
George Skivington speaks to TNT Sport – ‘We made too many mistakes’
On the defeat…
“They scored twice in the first 10 minutes of the second half, that was a massive momentum swing and that hurt us for at least the next 15. I am proud the lads found a way to get back into the match to give us a chance of victory at the end.”
The reason for the shift in performance in the second 40…
“We made too many mistakes in the second half. [If there is a positive to take it’s that] with all the mistakes we made in the second half were still two plays from winning that match. Our accuracy was poor in the second half and that’s what we’ve got to get better at.”
05:03 PM BST
Player of the match Ollie Cracknall speaks to TNT Sport
On the game plan…
“This season we’re trying to make incremental gains every match…to come out the way we did after the break was really good.”
On the change after half-time…
“He had to lift the intensity and the energy after half-time.”
On home advantage at Welford Road…
“Yes, it’s amazing, it was bouncing after the break.”
04:51 PM BST
FULL-TIME: Leicester 29 Gloucester 26
The hosts battled their way back to earn the win and claim the Slater Cup. Gloucester were well on top in the first half, but after the break Leicester dominated and just about edged it.
04:50 PM BST
78 mins: Leicester 29 Gloucester 26
Scrum time – Leicester penalty (Gloucester went too soon) and is that game over?
04:48 PM BST
76 mins: Leicester 29 Gloucester 26
The visitors have the ball in the Tigers’ half, can they create something here? They now have a scrum just inside the Leicester territory, they go wide before coming back into the midfield. Atkinson (Seb) breaks through the defensive line. They are slowly, but surely, getting over the gainline. BUT then Hathaway cannot take a Williams pass and the moves comes to nothing.
04:42 PM BST
74 mins: Leicester 29 Gloucester 26
Little over five minutes to go, expect a cagey finale.
04:40 PM BST
TRY FOR GLOUCESTER!
Leicester 29 Gloucester 26
Gloucester have a tap-penalty from five metres – they have to get something from this. After four phases they get the try they so need. They go this way and that before Llewellyn goes over from short rage by the posts. That’s his first hat-trick. That came from a scrum turnover and it’s set up a grandstand finish. The conversion is added and it’s a three-point game.
04:33 PM BST
68 mins: Leicester 29 Gloucester 19
Dare I say it, but the way the wind is blowing (both literally and figuratively) the match is all but done and dusted for the Tigers. Gloucester just haven’t had a foothold this half and it’s hard to see how they can get back into this.
04:32 PM BST
TRY FOR LEICESTER!
Leicester 29 Gloucester 19
Not to sound like a bore/broken record but it’s been all Leicester since the break and their domination tells once again as Kelly goes over from close range after big work from the forwards. Pollard adds the extras.
04:26 PM BST
59 mins: Leicester 22 Gloucester 19
Gloucester have lost four line outs out of 11 on their own throw – the set piece isn’t great and they are starved of possession as a result. They’re in the Leicester half at the moment, though…as soon as I typed that there was a turnover…
It’s not going the visitors’ way…
04:21 PM BST
56 mins: Leicester 22 Gloucester 19
Gloucester hare finding hit hard to get out of their half – the wind isn’t helping, but the real reason is the hosts who are dominating all collisions.
04:19 PM BST
Gloucester in dire need of finding their spark
Whatever the contents of Michael Cheika’s half-time team-talk – which almost certainly included some choice Australian references – they have had the desired effect. Leicester have been transformed after sleepwalking their way through the first half. Suddenly they are winning all the collisions and are ahead on the scoreboard after tries from Handre Pollard and Josh Bassett. Gloucester will feel sick after dominating so much of the first half and desperately need to find a spark.
04:16 PM BST
56 mins: Leicester 22 Gloucester 19
While Leicester scored through Bassett, Gloucester coach George Skivington was doing a live interview with TNT…wonder if he’ll be so accommodating to the broadcaster next time out..?!
04:14 PM BST
53 mins: Leicester 22 Gloucester 19
The momentum is all with the hosts now, Gloucester are on the back foot and struggling to create anything. They’ve not had ball in hand much and not been able to strut their impressive attacking stuff.
04:13 PM BST
Pollard pounces
04:12 PM BST
49 mins: Leicester 22 Gloucester 19
TNT have just show a stat that may well worry Gloucester fans. They have conceded 17 tries in the second half this season. A worry that all their energy in attack is leaving their defence tired come the second 40 minutes.
04:11 PM BST
TRY FOR LEICESTER!
Leicester 22 Gloucester 19
The hosts have started this half in exactly the manner they had to. The Tigers cut through some poor Gloucester defence. There’s an initial crash ball in midfield before Steward breaks through the line, he then pops it up for Bassett who score unopposed. Pollard adds the conversion and the hosts are in the lead.
04:08 PM BST
45 mins: Leicester 15 Gloucester 19
An Atkinson pass is too high for Hathaway – a sign that things aren’t going as well this half as they did in the first 40?
04:05 PM BST
TRY FOR LEICESTER!
Leicester 15 Gloucester 19
Early line out for the hosts. It’s brought down quickly by Chessum, they have a penalty, and it comes back for that. They take a tap penalty and go to the right and it’s a fine decision as Pollard bundles over from five metres, having done a quick ‘show and go’, in front the of the posts. Easy peasy…The South Africa slots over the extras and it’s now a four-point game.
04:01 PM BST
40 mins: Leicester 8 Gloucester 19
Back under way at Welford Road, Leicester need to go up a gear or five this half.
03:59 PM BST
Llewellyn on form
03:58 PM BST
Tomas Williams, take a bow
The evidence for Tomas Williams being considered signing of the season is getting stronger by the day. The scrum-half plays with a confidence that is contagious to his team-mates. Gloucester’s third try was finished by Llewellyn but was all about Williams’ vision to chip into the space behind Leicester’s defensive frontline for Santi Carreras before exchanging passes with the Argentinean full-back. Gloucester well worth their 19-8 lead. Leicester, meanwhile, have been woeful.
03:46 PM BST
HALF-TIME: Leicester 8 Gloucester 19
What a 40 minutes for Gloucester who have been the better side by some distance. They’ve soaked up pressure well before looking easily the more incisive when in possession. Three tries to one, and the visitors are well worth the 11-point lead.
03:44 PM BST
TRY FOR GLOUCESTER!
Leicester 8 Gloucester 19
A kick over the Tigers defence is picked up by Carreras he’s got the hosts’ defence back-pedalling before he sets up Williams. It looks as though the Welshman is through, but he’s tackled. The threat is far from over, however, as Gloucester come again and move the ball right. It finds the hands of Llewellyn who is half tackled by Hassell-Collins before he runs over from all of 15 yards. Carreras misses the conversion.
03:40 PM BST
34 mins: Leicester 8 Gloucester 14
A lot of the game is currently being played in the middle third.
As I type that, Gloucester move the ball through the hands before Atkinson kicks for touch, pinning Leicester into their own 22. The vistors are looking by far the more purporseful in possession.
03:37 PM BST
30 mins: Leicester 8 Gloucester 14
After the flurry to tries the match has turned into a bit of a kicking battle.
03:34 PM BST
27 mins: Leicester 8 Gloucester 14
Gloucester’s Mercer reads a tap from Leicester’s Van Poortvliet well but the visitors cannot capitalise on the interception. Gloucester are looking good at the moment, and, dare I say it, comfortable.
03:30 PM BST
25 mins: Leicester 8 Gloucester 14
Hassell-Collins needed a good game and that was a brilliantly taken try, and it came at just the right time for the hosts.
03:29 PM BST
TRY FOR LEICESTER!
Leicester 8 Gloucester 14
Line out for the hosts. They ship the ball into the midfield, before working through the phases and moving it left. A lovely long pass finds Hassell-Collins, the winger still have plenty of work to do but boy does he do it well, fending off the tackle of Hathaway before cutting inside and scoring.
Pollard misses the conversion, so it’s a six-point game.
03:24 PM BST
Leicester need to get a grip
After the thunder and fury of the East Midlands derby last week, both Leicester’s players and supporters have started this game very flat. You would not argue that Gloucester had to work tremendously hard for either of their tries with Freddie Thomas and Max Llewellyn both taking advantage of defensive doglegs. Surprisingly Gloucester are also dominating the kicking battle with two 50-22s. Unless the Tigers wake up soon then Michael Cheika’s half-time team talk will make for X-rated viewing.
03:23 PM BST
Here’s how the second try was scored
03:22 PM BST
17 mins: Leicester 3 Gloucester 14
Gloucester are in the Leicester 22 for the third time, their previous two visits they scored. They are playing cute, clever rugby at the moment. Socking up the pressure before pouncing.
03:20 PM BST
15 mins: Leicester 3 Gloucester 14
Gloucester are hardly committing any men to the breakdown, they are happy to soak up the pressure, keep as many men on their feet as possible and, so far, the tactic is working. They’re defending very well and, as a bonus, have two tries as well.
03:18 PM BST
TRY FOR GLOUCESTER!
Leicester 3 Gloucester 14
Stunned silence at Welford Road as in quick succession the visitors have another! It’s the big men who create this try, Arthur Clark bursts through the defensive line before popping the ball to his fellow lock Freddie Thomas who charges over the whitewash.
Again Carreras adds the two and in the blink of an eye the visitors are 11 points up.
03:15 PM BST
TRY FOR GLOUCESTER!
Leicester 3 Gloucester 7
From the line out the visitors bore a hole in the Leicester defence before they go wide. Atkinson throws in a lovely pass, as Pollard and Hassell-Collins fluff their defensive lines before Llewellyn goes over unimpeded.
Carreras adds the extras and Gloucester take the lead with their first attack of the game.
03:12 PM BST
7 mins: Leicester 3 Gloucester 0
Leicester are still in the Gloucester half, they’ve dominated territory so far…as I typed that Atkinson launches a huge kick down into the Tigers’ 22, it’s a 50-22 and from there they have a line out. A decent attacking platform this….
03:08 PM BST
PENALTY FOR LEICESTER!
Leicester 3 Gloucester 0
The early pressure pays off as Pollard slots over the penalty from 30 yards out in front of the posts.
03:08 PM BST
4 mins: Leicester 0 Gloucester 0
There’s a fair bit of breeze, the Leicester club flag is being given a workout above the stand.
The hosts are in the opponent’s half they move the ball left, before coming back into the midfield. They’re working through the phases and have an advantage, it’s free ball for Leicester until the advantage is ruled over. Still the Tigers are patient and ultimately they earn a penalty.
03:03 PM BST
1 min: Leicester 0 Gloucester 0
They’re under way at Welford Road. It looks like a nice autumnal day there. The hosts are in their green number, and Gloucester in all white.
03:02 PM BST
Ed Slater’s two children
Bring on the trophy named after their dad onto the pitch. The whole ground, and the players, stand and applaud.
Ed is in the stands with Billy Twelvetrees keeping him company.
03:00 PM BST
The two teams are out on the hallowed East Midlands turf
And we’re moments away from kick off.
02:59 PM BST
Ollie Hassell-Collins in need of a big game
One player I will be keeping a close eye on today is Ollie Hassell-Collins. It was not too long ago that he was on the cusp of breaking through into the England team having been signed for Leicester by then head coach Steve Borthwick. He has all the tools you would want in an international wing from speed, size and power. However, at the moment his confidence is in pieces after dropping the ball over the line against Bath and then getting skinned by Tommy Freeman last week. Michael Cheika has kept faith with him so it will be interesting to see how he responds.
02:56 PM BST
Today sees…
…One of the Premiership’s best attacks (Gloucester, as if you didn’t know…with 128 points) against the top flight’s most parsimonious defence (the Tigers have conceded just 52 points, the next best (Quins) have conceded 95, the rest are in triple figures…).
02:53 PM BST
Talking about Leicester returning back to their DNA
Here’s a good read on just that, the return of mauling at Welford Road.
READ: How Leicester Tigers developed mauling DNA with help from judo and training scraps
02:50 PM BST
The two coaches speak to ITV…
Michael Chieka on…
…last week’s 24-8 win over Northampton…
“I have already forgotten about it to be honest with you. You have to think about the next game – it’s corny but it’s true. I don’t know a lot of these teams so I have to think about them as soon as possible.”
On reverting back to the club’s DNA…
“History of the club is very important.”
George Skivington on…
…Gloucester being free-running entertainers…
“I am asking the players to be brave and they are. We saw agaisnt Bath that if you push your luck too far you can get punished. ..but I am proud of the lads so far, we have put something new in place and it’s good.”
On heir new style and trying to move up the table…
“We had a poor campaign last year and had to work out how to get better. We recruited so we could have a good running game…make up of our squad suits our game.”
02:23 PM BST
Stat attack
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Leicester Tigers’ only loss in their past five Premiership Rugby encounters was 15- 20 at home to Bath in Round 2.
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Gloucester are out to achieve back-to-back wins over the Tigers for the first time since 2018 whilst the Cherry and Whites have not won on successive visits to Mattioli Woods Welford Road since 1987.
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Overall the two clubs have met on 235 occasions with Leicester holding the upper hand, winning 116, Gloucester winning 111 with eight encounters drawn.
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As many as 115 of those clashes have been at Mattioli Woods Welford Road, where the Tigers record is won 81, drawn four, lost 31
02:06 PM BST
How they lineup
LEICESTER XV TO FACE GLOUCESTER: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Josh Bassett, 13 Izaia Perese, 12 Joseph Woodward, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Jack van Poortvliet; 1 Nicky Smith, 2 Julián Montoya, 3 Joe Heyes, 4 Harry Wells, 5 Ollie Chessum, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Tommy Reffell, 8 Olly Cracknell [46]
Replacements:16 Charlie Clare, 17 James Cronin, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Tom Manz, 20 Emeka Ilione, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Jamie Shillcock, 23 Dan Kelly
GLOUCESTER XV TO FACE LEICESTER: 15 Santi Carreras, 14 Josh Hathaway, 13 Max Llewellyn, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Ioan Jones, 10 Charlie Atkinson, 9 Tomos Williams; 1 Ciaran Knight, 2 Jack Singleton, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 4 Arthur Clark, 5 Freddie Thomas, 6 Jack Clement, 7 Lewis Ludlow (C), 8 Zach Mercer;
Replacements: 16 Seb Blake, 17 Val Rapava-Ruskin, 18 Afolabi Fasogbon, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Albert Tuiuse, 21 Harry Taylor, 22 Caolan Englefield, 23 Louis Hillman-Cooper
01:45 PM BST
Points (and an important prize) up for grabs
When these two powerhouses of English rugby get together the stakes are never anything but sky high. But today the match has been given added significance as they are playing for the Ed Slater Cup.
Slater, the former captain of both of domestic rugby’s aristocrats, is suffering from motor neurone disease, and so in his honour the clubs have played for a trophy named after him every time they’ve faced each other since December 2022.
So while the search for valuable league points is key for both teams (the Tigers lie in fourth, and the Cherry and Whites in eighth at this early stage of the season) Michael Cheika admits his side have another incentive to win this afternoon.
“We don’t have that cup, which means we have to bring our player, bring Ed back to us,” Cheika told BBC Radio Leicester.
“I’ve never met Ed, but I can see when we have talked about it and discussed it during the week that it is an important thing for the lads here.
“When it has that little bit of extra meaning and our ability to have that emotion and control that emotion in the game will be really important.”
The Ed Slater Cup has been played for four times, but with Gloucester winning the last time the pair faced each other they hold the trophy.
In a bid to win it back Cheika has named an unchanged pack for the first time this season, with two changes coming in the backs.
Gloucester start with former Tiger Charlie Atkinson at fly-half, replacing the injured Gareth Anscombe.
Atkinson is one of three changes to the starting XV for the visitors, who also welcome in prop Kirill Gotovtsev and wing Ioan Jones, whilst powerful Fijian backrow Albert Tuisue returns to the bench.
Kick-off is set for 3pm so stay here for all the pre-match build-up and action.