Quins v Chiefs - Same again?

black_otter
By Black_otter
February 28 2013

Can the Prems top try scoring sides dish up a feast of running rugby? Saturday's game at the Stoop promises much, let's hope it delivers.

Harlequins v Exeter Chiefs

Back in October, as Devon enjoyed the last of an Indian summer, these two sides came together:
Chiefs: L Arscott (S Naqelevuki 28); I Whitten, P Dollman, J Shoemark (I Mieres 77), M Jess; G Steenson, H Thomas (W Chudley 58); B Sturgess (B Moon 70), S Alcott (N Clark 62), C Rimmer (C Budgen 79); D Mumm, J Hanks (A Muldowney 62); T Johnson, B White (D Ewers 68), R Baxter (capt).
Harlequins: M Brown (O Lindsay-Hague 70); S Stegmann, M Hopper, J Turner-Hall, U Monye; N Evans (R Clegg 45), K Dickson (D Care 59); M Lambert (J Marler 49), J Gray (R Buchanan 68), J Johnston (W Collier 68); O Kohn, G Robson (C Matthews 28); T Guest (M Fa’asavalu 46), C Robshaw, N Easter.

A powerful Chiefs display saw them dispatch the then league leaders with a 5-try TBP display, courtesy of messrs Sturgess, White, Shoemark (x2), and Naqelevuki. Quins fought bravely on that day, with their own 3 tries coming from Evans, Monye and Dickson, but the ‘total rugby’ perfected by the Chiefs was too much for them to handle.

Roll forward the clock to this weekend, and 8th place Exeter travel to the Stoop to once again challenge table-topping Harlequins. In our last premiership outing against London Welsh, the Chiefs also ran in 5 tries, to end an unfortunate losing spell of several consecutive games in the prem. Last weekend, a somewhat changed side from the last one to face Quins ran out in black: Chiefs: L Arscott; J Nowell, S Naqelevuki (P Dollman 59), J Shoemark (I Mieres 60), M Jess; G Steenson, H Thomas (W Chudley 70); C Rimmer (B Moon 63), J Yeandle (N Clark 63), H Tui (A Brown 41); T Hayes (capt), D Mumm (D Welch 42); B White (D Ewers 63), J Scaysbrook, R Baxter

But this weekend we will likely be without the bedrock that is Hoani Tui, athletic lock Dean Mumm, and the glue of the backline Jason Shoemark, none of whom appear to have recovered from knocks picked up against the Exiles. Will Rob Baxter leave Carl Rimmer on the loosehead side, or move him across to cover tighthead, perhaps giving a start to Ben Moon or even England U20 international Luke Cown-Dickie? Instead, he might want to leave Rimmer where he is, and throw Wales’s Craig Mitchell, on a week off from international action, into the fray. With James Hanks and Aly Muldowney seemingly both carrying knocks, will we see Damien Welch gain just his second prem start in the boiler-room alongside captain fantastic, Tommy Hayes? Does that mean that the giant Will Carrick-Smith comes on to the bench as 2nd row cover for possibly his first introduction to premiership action, or will another backrower cover instead? Phil Dolman seems a like-for-like replacement for Shoey, with Ian Whitten filling in on the bench, or perhaps we might see the return of Josh Tatupu into action? Has Gonzo Camacho sufficiently recovered from the injury he picked up against Clermont all those weeks ago to come back into consideration?

A win was clearly important to get Exe’s season back on track, but perhaps the manner of the performance was even more pleasing for the coaching team – clearly lessons had been taken on board from recent encounters, with the Chiefs showing greater composure when scoring opportunities were available. It may have taken a full half-hour of chess-like nip&tuck as the two sides probed for weaknesses, but eventually Exe were able to cut loose in some style. But going away to the home of the reigning champions will be another step-up altogether. Quins show-cased the depth of their squad in a hard-fought 25-21 win away to bottom club Sale Sharks last weekend. Despite missing their collection of England internationals, they could still field a side that looked like this: Harlequins: Chisholm (Lindsay-Hague, 51); Williams, Hopper, Turner-Hall, Monye; Botica, Care; Lambert, Gray (Buchanan, 51), Johnston, Easter (capt), Robson, Fa'asavalu, Wallace, Guest (Trayfoot, 60).

Let us assume that those internationals remain absent, so Quins will almost certainly be missing their inspirational captain and flanker Chris Robshaw, fullback Mike Brown, loosehead prop Joe Marler, and scrumhalf Danny Care. The Twickenham-based outfit will be looking to consolidate their lead at the top in the run-in to the play-offs, and seeking to maintain their record against Exeter on their home ground.

Here’s hoping that we upset that record and that the team can produce a display to delight the Sandy Park Stewards on their day out!