QUINS PREVIEW, TEAM SELECTION & MATCH COMMENTS

We approach journey’s end on our road to redemption. As yet we cannot see where that will be. We have travelled along highways and country lanes, over hills and through valleys. We have crawled along in traffic jams and sped across motorways and now we have reached our final ascent. The summit is still hidden from us and the climb is steep but we are moving ever onward, ever upward together. Standing in our way are our London rivals, Harlequins. I doubt if any of us would have chosen them as semi-final opponents but that’s how the cards have fallen.

Quins are reigning champions and will not let go of that prize without one hell of a fight. Thy are comeback kings supreme - one has only to look at what happened to Bristol at Ashton Gate last year or to Exeter in the final. Quins never know when they are beaten. Sarries will need to play every one of the entire 80 minutes. If we are ahead there must be no easing off at the end, no mass substitutions. Quins are never beaten until the final whistle has blown. Sarries have won all 3 encounters between the 2 clubs this season, 2 in the league and 1 in the Premiership Cup. In fact Quins haven’t beaten Sarries since the 2 clubs met at The Stoop in January 2020. But history means nothing. This is a knock-out game and both teams start as equals.

Quins are a class outfit. In Esterhuizen and Marchand they probably have the best centre pairing in the Premiership complemented by the pace of Louis Lynagh on the wing. In Danny Care they have the form scrum half and of course in Marcus Smith, the “saviour” of English rugby. The match up between the half back pairings is one of many mouth-watering prospects to come. Quins have a strong pack anchored by the legendary Joe Marler at loose head and Wilco Louw at Tighthead. Sarrie-to-be Hugh Tizard packs down at lock and the under-rated Alex Dombrandt links up superbly with Smith.

The 2 DORs took different attitudes to match preparation. Neither side could realistically better their position last week so MMc went to Castle Grim with a second string side (honourable exception to Max Malins) and took a beating while Tabai Matson selected a stronger team which eventually lost to Exeter at Sandy Park in a 13 try thriller. Whose tactics will be correct?

Much has been made in the press that Quins are a good weather team, that their style of rugby suits summer pitches. They seem to forget that our pitch effectively allows Sarries to play ‘summer rugby’ whenever they want to. Quins have scored 2 more tries than Sarries (95 v 93) but Sarries are the top points scorers suggesting they have more of a pragmatic “all court” approach to rugby. Not always as flamboyant but effective.

Sarries have an almost fully fit and rested squad. However it can take a while for the team to gel in this sort of situation. That can’t happen on Saturday, Quins are far too good a team not to exploit that weakness. Sarries have a very good and experienced squad. Maybe there isn’t quite the backup on the bench as in days of yore but what we have is quality. In Max Malins we have the Premiership’s top try scorer. Theo McFarland is by far the best emerging talent in the league. Owen Farrell remains the current England captain and is the Edmund Hillary to lead Sarries up this particular Everest. Maro Itoje is just world class. Loz was in contention for the Golden Boot but probably won’t start and almost certainly won’t kick a ball. Quins may have a starry centre pairing but Tompkins and Daly run them close. Oh and not forgetting the Premiership Player of the season Ben Earl (well done him). I suspect this will be one of the easier team selections for MMc!

Sarries need to be mindful of Quins trickery. They will look to exploit Faz’s ‘suspect’ tackling, wind up Mako and Billy, use every one of the dark arts that lie buried in the scrum ( hopefully Vincent is now well versed in these after a season in the championship). Yellow or God forbid, red cards could be pivotal. Luke Pearce has the honour of keeping these 2 teams in check, assisted by Christophe Ridley and Anthony Woodthorpe. TMO is Ian Tempest. So good luck to them, then!

Let’s remember the words of Sir Clive Woodward. Before any game, when comparing the 2 teams, he said “there’s nobody I’d swap man for man” (OK we all know the Austin Healey/Jonah Lomu rider!) Seriously, is there a single Quin we would want in the Sarries 15 on Saturday?

And finally, it’s down to all of us to play our part: to be that 16th man we saw so effectively at the Stade Felix Mayol. Every one of those Toulon players grew 2” taller and 6” wider with that crowd behind them. We need to be behind our boys on Saturday like never before. Make home advantage pay. Be that extra player. Let’s push the boys up that mountain and on to Twickenham.