Quins seek to tether falcons

Tethered
By KevT
January 2 2004

NEC Harlequins take on Newcastle Falcons at Kingston Park on Sun 4th Jan (ko 2.30pm) in a match which Quins and Newcastle will be hoping to win to keep in touch with the third and fifth placed sides. Quins and Newcastle are 7th and 8th respectively only five points behind the final play off place

This must be Quins’ strongest selection of the season. The excellence of Ceri Jones at the break down and with ball in hand sees him keeping Mike Worsley out of the team. The long awaited move for Simon Keogh to scrum half and return of Monye and Harder on the wing gives the Quins’ backs significant pace. The Quins’ forwards showed last week that they were a match for perhaps the strongest pack in the league and this selection gives me real optimism for Sunday’s match.

Newcastle have selected 27 year old Ian Peel at loose head prop. Peel is a Newcastle stalwart who is not the most high profile of props but does a solid job. At hooker, 21 year old Academy player Matt Thompson starts. Thompson has represented England at Under 18 and Under 21 level and is highly thought of at Kingston Park. At 6’ 2”, he is on the tall side for a hooker. At tight head, Mickey Ward has been keeping out the more experienced South African international Marius Hurter. This is a pretty inexperienced front row and with two props at 5’11” and a hooker at 6’2”, I wonder whether the Quins front row will have the opportunity to disrupt the Newcastle scrum.

In the second row, Newcastle field Scottish International Stuart Grimes. Grimes is less aggressive than the injured Gareth Archer but is athletic and is perhaps more of a factor in the loose. Partnering Grimes is the excellent former South African Captain Mark Andrews. He helped rescue Newcastle’s season last year and always reminds me of Martin Johnson. He is the type of player who is always in the face of the opposition as Pat Sanderson found at The Stoop earlier in the season. Andrews was sent off for stamping on Sanderson, and is always on the edge disrupting opposition rucks and mauls.

In the back row, Rob Andrew has been selecting Epi Taione at blind side flanker. Taione is an awesome ball carrier (remember the whole Quins back row trying to bring him down last season) but is not perhaps as good at the dirty work that is required at Blind Side flanker. Phil Dowson has been playing open side flanker in the absence of the injured Andrew Mower. Dowson is another number eight and an excellent prospect who Rob Andrew has been playing at open side flanker. Dowson is 6’ 3” and and 16 stone. He has been selected for the England Under 18, Under 21’s and went to Hong Kong with the England Sevens team which shows that he must have some pace. Hugh Vyvyan completes the back row trio. Vyvyan has been made captain and represented England in the match against the Barbarians. He is useful with the ball in hand and provides another target at the rear of the line out.

At scrum half, the under rated Hall Charlton starts. Charlton is 24 and came through the Falcons’ academy. He provides a reasonable service for his Fly Half and is a forceful presence at the edge of rucks and mauls. Injury in Newcastle’s 23-19 victory over Northampton means that Jonny Wilkinson is absent and is replaced by Dave Walder. He is an excellent back up and would make his way into many premiership sides. He is perhaps more of a factor with ball in hand than Wilkinson and provides excellent options for his midfield but perhaps does not have Jonny’s pass. His boot and his tackling are okay. Rob Andrew has chosen to break up the midfield partnership of May and Noone this season by playing ex All Black Mark Mayerhofler at inside centre. Mayerhofler provides more experience and is a good tackler but perhaps robs the Falcons’ back line of the “off the cuff” brilliance that they have shown in previous seasons. Leicester’s Ollie Smith seems to be flavour of the month in the press at the moment for the England outside centre berth, but for me, Jamie Noone is as good as any player in the country. He is strong, runs a great line and has real pace. If there is one player Quins must watch it is Noone. On the wings, Tom May and Michael Stephenson play. They are excellent footballers who will provide Quins with a real threat out wide but also look for ball through the middle. At Full Back, 23 year old Joe Shaw starts. He is a former England Sevens player and with May and Stephenson, Quins will do well not to give away possession to them in space.

The match at The Stoop earlier in the season can politely be termed as one for the purist. Newcastle’s pack is abrasive and they contest the tackle area fiercely. They play right on the offside line and make it very difficult for the opposition to play. With ball in hand they try to bash holes using their big back row who they hope will commit opposition defenders and create holes for their pacey backs. The threat from their dangerous back line (perhaps the fastest in the league) will mean that Quins are likely to play quite a tight game. Quins are only likely to unleash their backs deep in opposition territory or from turnover ball. Newcastle can be pressurised in the set piece and Quins’ will try to spoil and turnover Newcastle ball at which point they can release Monye and Harder.

This is a pivotal match for both teams at this stage of the season. A win would push either side into play off contention, a loss would see them detached from the chase. Quins have shown that they can compete with the best in the past couple of matches and will be really up for this match. They should show superiority at the set piece and through their in form back row and I take them to edge a very close match.

NEC Harlequins: 15. Gavin Duffy; 14. George Harder; 13. Will Greenwood; 12. Mel Deane; 11. Ugo Monye; 10. Andy Dunne; 9. Simon Keogh; 1. Ceri Jones; 2. Tani Fuga; 3. Jason Leonard; 4. Bill Davison; 5. Jim Evans; 6. Pat Sanderson; 7. Andre Vos; 8. Tony Diprose

16. Ace Tiatia; 17. Jon Dawson; 18. Laurent Gomez; 19. Karl Rudzki; 20. Roy Winters; 21. Scott Bemand; 22. Adrian Jarvis

NEWCASTLE: 15. J Shaw, 14. T May, 13. J Noon, 12. M Mayerhofler, 11. M Stephenson, 10. D Walder, 9. H Charlton, 1. I Peel, 2. M Thompson, 3. M Ward, 4. S Grimes, 5. M Andrews, 6. E Taione, 7. P Dowson, 8. H Vyvyan (capt)