Loffreda eyes improbable title
May 18 2008
Leicester Tigers boss Marcelo Loffreda completed mission improbable after Tigers' stunning 26-25 victory over Gloucester, and then issued a warning to Wasps, their Guinness Premiership title rivals.
The Argentinian's job was seemingly on the line just two weeks ago as Tigers struggled to secure Heineken Cup qualification.
But despite finishing fourth after the 22-game regular season, they reached their fourth successive Premiership final by securing a first away win for any club in six seasons of play-offs.
Fly-half Andy Goode's injury-time drop-goal took Leicester into a May 31 final against Wasps, securing a showdown between England's leading clubs of the professional era.
"Newspapers can say what they want, but I coached with a lot of confidence in what I believe, and these are the things I will keep on doing," said Loffreda.
"Sometimes it goes well and sometimes it goes bad. In the last few weeks, everyone was trying to work in the same way and that is what makes me happy.
"The squad and the staff have been very supportive, also the board.
"It was important so I could work more relaxed, but we are still in the race and that is all that matters.
"I have said a few times before that we are not going to give up."
Goode's drop-goal clinched a dramatic success after full-back Willie Walker had inched Gloucester ahead.
Gloucester, despite topping the regular Premiership season for a third time in six seasons, once again blew it.
While Leicester can now look forward to meeting Wasps, Gloucester must reflect on another campaign that saw them fall painfully short.
Ryan Lamb looked to have put himself in pole position to replace Danny Cipriani on England's New Zealand tour next month by guiding Gloucester into the final.
Lamb kicked 17 points, while Tigers lost the plot to such an extent that they were reduced to 13 men in the first-half after number eight Jordan Crane and scrum-half Harry Ellis were sin-binned in quick succession.
But second-half tries from wing Alesana Tuilagi and centre Aaron Mauger ensured the Tigers made it an uncomfortable afternoon for the home side.
Although Gloucester were some way below their best, Lamb - on his 22nd birthday - appeared to have done enough.
He kicked four first-half penalties, and then landed another after the break before converting Simpson-Daniel's slick 57th-minute try.
Simpson-Daniel's impressive effort - he rounded off superb approach work by axed England wing Lesley Vainikolo - seemed enough to end Leicester's reign as Premiership champions.
But Leicester showed their resilience to prevail amid overwhelming odds and leave Gloucester wondering just what they have to do join an elite Premiership title-winning club of Tigers, Wasps, Sale Sharks and Newcastle.
Gloucester head coach Dean Ryan could not mask a sense of fury as the dust began to settle on his team's demise.
Ryan said: "It is not my emotions that are important now, it is about how we take responsibility. We committed suicide in the second half.
"Whether we hide behind what we did in the last two minutes, or that we didn't have [injured] Mike Tindall there, those things are irrelevant.
"We could, and should, quite easily have won.
"I've lost a bit of enthusiasm myself. For a side to move forward, you cannot continue to be a side being told what to do.
"It either stays okay for nine months of the season when the team is being told what to do, or it takes responsibility for its actions and delivers on the big day.
"That is what we have done for the last two weeks. We have been on script and very accurate [against Wasps and Bath]. Today, we had none of that.
"This isn't a learning curve, it is about people fronting up. If we do that, we just might move on."