Here we are, the knockout stages of the Heineken Cup, and Leinster are set to play against the one team that I really wanted them to avoid. Leicester Tigers.
One reason that I wanted Leinster to avoid them is because Leicester travel well. They've had two games away from home in a row and won both. In one of the games they inflicted Bath's worst ever home defeat.
Another reason is that even if they play badly they're so big and powerful that they can just beat the crap out of you and hold on to the ball and squeeze out a victory. If this happens, Shane Jennings is a massive loss. As a supreme pilferer he could have had a go at stopping them. Let's hope that it doesn't come down to that.
Nathan Hines is going to have to be at his irritating best at ruck time to keep Leicester busy and hopfully suck in some of their big runners to the breakdown.
Leo Cullen's knowledge of the enemy camp could be priceless. He played under Richard Cockerill for a couple of years so he know's him quite well.
Manu Tuilagi is talked about in a big way with his big hits and powerful runs. But, he is also a bonus for Leinster. Tuilagi can get caught up in shooting up and trying to smash people and leaving a big gap in the defensive line behind him, and the best man to exploit that is the man directly opposite him. Brian O'Driscoll. I'm sure O'Driscoll has been watching videos and has thought about ways to take advantage of it.
For Leinster to come out on top they have to stop Leicester's big power runners from gaining ground and getting the team on the front foot. Also, Eoin Reddan has to keep Ben Youngs in his pocket and not let him get his strut going.
This will probably be a very tight one with the winning margin being only a couple of points. I know that Leinster are more than capable of pulling it off and I really hope that they do!
COME ON LEINSTER!!!!
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