What Will Leicester Try Next?

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What Will Leicester Try Next?

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It is the question on many Ospreys’ fans lips (and Welsh rugby fans’, maybe) – just what will Leicester try next to get themselves into the quarter finals?

After failing to get in through their rugby ability – coming third in the group in which the Ospreys qualified in 2nd they turned their attention to other matters. First was the official complaint by the Tigers board about the Lee Byrne, 16th man disaster… it was fairly obvious form the comments being made by the board they hoped to get the Ospreys kicked out and Leicester instated.

But that failed… as I said at the time I would have happily have allowed it if we also got to remove the England 03 world cup win – after all they did the same. So what did they do? Give up? Admit the better team qualified?

Well, no, not exactly. Instead they went running to the ERC about the Ospreys loan of South African scrum half Ricky Januarie not being legal. I know it was officially a PRL complaint, the umbrella organisation that manages all the GP clubs. But guess what organisation is represented by them? That’s right, Leicester Tigers. And guess who the PRL chairman supports? Got it again, Leicester Tigers.

Only that gambit has also failed. With the ERC ruling today, after reviewing all the paperwork, that there was no case to answer. Not that they had done wrong and hadn’t meant it, not that there was an honest mistake, but that there was no case to answer. Or in other words, the official complaint had no basis whatsoever.

So what is next? Maybe they could argue the Ospreys intentionally had the pitch 5mm smaller than approved guidelines? Or that the Ospreys’ socks weren’t regulation? I know, they could argue that you need to have a full front row and Cai Girffiths isn’t really a prop. Might have more legs than most of their complaints.

Mind you then we get tit for tat, should the Ospreys demand an investigation into the Tigers salary cap, for example? It could all get very messy.

Hopefully now the Tigers will admit that they failed on the pitch, maybe now they will let the Ospreys actually prepare for the quarter final without acting the sore loser, yet again. Or maybe not, I’m certainly not holding my breath.

Leicester an example of how a rugby club should be run? I bloody well hope not.

p.s. Picture and caption stolent shamelessly from http://www.nowrugby.com/mb/showthread.php?t=62502

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