Quins v Chiefs preview
black_otter
By Black_Otter
October 24 2011
Black_Otter looks forward to Exeter Chiefs forthcoming visit to The Stoop
Quins v Chiefs
Premiership action resumes this weekend, with the Chiefs travelling up to Twickenham to take on (the undefeated in all competitions so far this season) Harlequins. With 6 wins from 6 in the AP, 2 try bonus points, an impressive 20 tries for, Quins have been in blistering form. Their opening fixture of this season saw them just pip London Irish 24-29 as part of the London double header, before they comfortably dispatched Saints 26-13 at the Stoop. Glaws didn’t get much of a look-in next up, going down 42-6, tho Wuss made a game of it for Harlequins up at Sixways, losing just 17-15 in the last mins of the game. Next up were Sale in a high-scoring match, with Quins running out 48-41 winners, and lastly they joined the growing list of teams to have beaten Tigers at Welford Road this season, with a 27-18 victory to continue Leicester’s hapless start.
One version of history suggests that Harlequins was formed in the late1860s/early 1870s when Hampstead (Rugby) Football Club splintered into factions, one becoming Wasps, a second founding Quins and the remainder staying with the original outfit (still going strong in London 2 North-East!). In order to keep the HFC monogram, legend has it that a dictionary was consulted, with Harlequin being the next name after Hampstead that the Quins group could agree upon. The club has gone on to enjoy many successes (and the odd low) and can boast famous ex-players such as Jason Leonard, Brian Moore, Will Greenwood, Peter Winterbottom, Will Carling, Paul Ackford, Mickey Skinner, Keith Wood, Zinzan Brooke, Gareth Llewwllyn, Eric Peters, Thierry Lacroix and Andre Vos to mention just a few (also Douglas Bader, perhaps less well-known for his oval-ball talents tho).
The current roster is a mixture of experience and youth - Quins enjoy a very strong academy set up with young players being brought thru and given opportunities on a regular basis. It is predominantly English-qualified with a handful of key players being imported, and currently has 2 players in the England elite (Easter and Care) and a further 5 in the Saxons set-up (Brown, Marler, Monye, Robshaw and Robson).
It’s been a fairly settled XXIII for the AP so far, with principally just Nick Easter away on RWC duty, although Danny Care suffered a broken toe in the RWC warm-ups and has been absent since. In the back three, Mike Brown has been on excellent try-scoring form, and the wingers have been dotting down for fun (if B&I Lion Ugo Monye is still out injured, watch out for the attacking flair of Sam Smith and Seb Stegman). The midfield pairing of young George Lowe and Jordan Turner-Hall combines solidity and creativity, but it is arguably half-back that is the key to Quins’ success. Despite the eventual outcome, I have no doubt that All Black coach Graham Henry was wishing that he could call upon Quins 10, Nick Evans, when Dan Carter went down injured, and Karl Dickson has been doing an excellent job of filling Danny Care’s 9 shirt.
The front row has suffered a little from injury and bans, but we should expect to see the up&coming Joe Marler at loosehead, probably Joe Gray hooking, and either Samoan James Johnston or Kiwi Tim Fairbrother at tighthead. Ollie Kohn and George Robson make up the boiler-room, with many pundits expecting to see the talented Robson promoted to the EPS this year. The backrow has been interesting, with Chris York covering admirably for the injured Tom Guest (Easter’s natural replacement), but I would expect to see NE back in harness this weekend. Many folks’ next England captain, Chris Robshaw, has been doing his usual stuff on the blindside, and youngster Luke Wallace has been a revelation at openside, since he replaced the injured Will Skinner. Wallace is a natural 7 and there are big hopes for his future.
Quins’ front row has looked perhaps the only area of vulnerability this season, with both Saints and Tigers giving the scrum a hard time. Robson has dominated the lineout and will have to be watched, while the breakdown battle between Scays-Baxter/Phillips-TJ and Skinner/Wallace-Easter/York-Robshaw should be outstanding. We won’t be able to give any kicking opportunities to Evans as he misses only rarely, and our wide defence will have to be strong to stop the back three. Rob Baxter will be very keen to continue the series of improvements that Exe have made so far this season, and will no doubt be hoping that the harsh lessons around game management and playing to the referee’s interpretation given out last year in this fixture will have been firmly taken on board. Hopefully Budgie and Tui will be available to return to the fray and there will be a full complement of backs (including former Quin Gonzo Camacho) to choose from.
Oggy, oggy, oggy
Chiefs, Chiefs, Chiefs
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We were down to our 4th choice No8 last week, Joe Trayfoot, but he made a massive impact. Expect to see him on the bench for Nick Easter.
Nunquam Dormio
Look forward to hearing the tomahawk chop again, and downing a few friendly pints with the chiefs fans.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:10:26:20:14:17 by black_otter.
Just write from the heart and it will be welcomed by all of us. In fact I'm going to put my name down for one of the home matches just to show how jolly hard I work
Safe journey up for all who are travelling. The weather forcast looks good possibly 16C & bright so could be a nice dry pitch.
Really looking forward to another chance to see the Quins in action against a strong Chiefs
Apart from that a good start. LOL
just joking
LMC, Sioux Chief and others as BO quite rightly says variety is the spice - have a crack, i enjoyed doing mine the other week - it does encourage you to pay even more attention (for the reviews) to the rugby !!!! and for the previews it is amazing what info there is out there
different views from like minded folk are always interesting and eweshually the spellering is quiet gud as wall
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