Bench tactics leave game in a state of constant flux

Leicester 52 Newcastle 9

The scoreline had a decisive look about it, but scorelines mean diddly-squat when two former England notables are playing their little games with the public's hard-earned cash. The real cut and thrust was to be found in the rival dug-outs, and it went right the way down to the last six minutes before Leicester's Dean Richards, director of rugby and ruler of all he surveys, played a late trump card in the unfamiliar shape of Joe Naufahu and levelled a tight contest at seven apiece. Rob Andrew, his opposite number, had nothing left in the locker so all-square it stayed.

We are talking substitutes here, and the substitution game at Welford Road on Saturday was an absolute epic. Andrew opened the scoring by swapping Sua Otuvaka for Epi Taione at half-time, and went two up when he withdrew Steve Brotherstone in favour of Matt Thompson five minutes short of the hour. Richards, a formidable dealer in human traffic on his own territory, was in no mood for liberty taking and hit back magnificently with a quadruple whammy. On came Steve Booth, Glenn Gelderbloom, George Chuter and Franck Tournaire, bridled together like the four horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Suddenly 4-2 adrift, Andrew needed something good and found it in Mickey Ward and Rob Devonshire, introduced in tandem. He even made it to 7-6 with a crafty move involving a 22-year-old prop by the name of James Isaacson – the tension was overwhelming at this point – but Naufahu's appearance robbed him at the death. Exciting? Phew, what a scorcher.

Joking aside, this pratology is wrecking the game and wrecking it in double-quick time. Very nearly 16,000 locals raided their wallets to watch Leicester's second home game of the season and while the vast majority of the faithful would happily spend a moonless night in a graveyard if they thought such sacrifice would earn their beloved Tigers another three Premiership points, few relish the prospect of watching 13 substitutions in 19 minutes – or, to put it another way, one every 87.69 seconds.

This column has been harping on about the substitution scandal for years now and the International Rugby Board, which generally moves with the speed of an arthritic slug, has at last taken a step towards dealing with the issue. In November, delegates will discuss cutting back the bench-bunnies from seven to four, which is at least one too many but better than the five favoured by Richards. The southern hemisphere countries are not remotely happy with the proposal and may well succeed in blocking it, but the very fact that the subject is up for discussion at all is a major-league triumph.

At the weekend, Richards blithely admitted that the rash of replacements disrupted the pattern of the game; in fact, he tacitly blamed the desperate quality of the rugby in the last half-hour, during which an entirely superior Leicester managed the grand total of seven points, on the constant interruptions from the sidelines. But quality is an optional extra in the hothouse of Premiership competition and coaches could not give a tinker's about the spirit of their sport. Fearful that his pack would cop some terrible flak from the Leicester unit, Andrew stacked his bench with six forwards purely as a means of damage limitation. It was negative, bordering on the cynical.

Fortunately, it was not a case of a classic spoiled. Leicester were far too good for their depressingly weak visitors – frankly, the brilliant Lewis Moody was too good for Newcastle on his own – and if the Midlanders made hard work of securing the bonus point that was theirs for the taking throughout the second period, there was never the slightest doubt they would get there in the end. "We were awful," lamented Andrew. "We didn't put Leicester under any pressure, or test them in the slightest. In fact, we didn't turn up."

He might have identified a couple of honourable exceptions. Richard Arnold fought, literally as much as figuratively, for the Newcastle cause, turning in a characteristically gung-ho performance that saw him fall out with both Leicester flankers in the opening 90 seconds, earned him the wrath of half the Tigers pack shortly before half-time and deposited him in the sin-bin for 10 minutes of penance early in the third quarter. This last incident, in which he went eyeball-to-eyeball with that celebrated pacifist Martin Johnson, proved once again that Arnold is as indomitable as he is irritating. What a star.

Then there was Jamie Noon, who played the bravest of hands in adversity. While his fellow backs – Liam Botham, Joe Shaw, even Jonny Wilkinson – were taking harebrained options inside their own 22 and paying through the teeth for their folly, Noon was tackling himself to a standstill and beating the first tackle with remarkable regularity. Outside centre is one England's problem positions, not least because Gloucester seem to be actively avoiding giving James Simpson-Daniel a run there. Both Noon and the error-free Leicester contender, Ollie Smith, might fancy their chances of progress over the coming weeks and months.

As should Tim Stimpson, who enjoyed one of his world-beater days at full-back. He kicked 32 points from all angles and ranges, thereby equalling the Premiership record but, as Richards pointed out, there was more to his game on this occasion than the cannon concealed in his right boot: he caused all manner of mayhem with his running from deep, and his try-saving tackle on the mountainous Taione in first-half stoppage time had more than a whiff of gallantry about it. Had Leicester substituted 14 of their players, Stimpson would have been the odd man out. He was that good.

Leicester: Tries Kafer, Back, Smith, Rowntree. Conversions Stimpson 4. Penalties Stimpson 7. Drop goal Stimpson. Newcastle: Penalties Wilkinson 4.

Leicester: T Stimpson; H Ellis, O Smith (J Naufahu, 74), R Kafer (G Gelderbloom, 57), F Tuilagi; S Vesty, T Tierney (S Booth, 57); G Rowntree, D West (G Chuter, 57), D Garforth (F Tournair, 57), M Johnson (

; P Short, 62), B Kay, L Moody (J Kronfeld, 69), N Back, M Corry.

Newcastle: L Botham; J Shaw, J Noon, P Godman, M Stephenson; J Wilkinson (capt), J Grindal (H Charlton, 67); I Peel (J Isaacson, 72), S Brotherstone (M Thompson, 55), M Hurter (M Ward, 60), H Vyvyan (C Hamilton, 68), S Grimes, E Taione (S Otuvaka, h-t), R Arnold, P Dowson (R Devonshire, 60).

Referee: S Leyshon (Somerset).