Wasps vs Quins (Incl. Team news)

What do you think? You can have your say by posting below.
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.

HARLEQUINS HAS ANNOUNCED THE SQUAD TO PLAY WASPS AT THE RICOH ARENA ON SUNDAY IN ROUND 5 OF THE AVIVA PREMIERSHIP, KICK-OFF 14:30.


There are four changes to the starting team that beat Saracens last weekend.

Marland Yarde has recovered from a throat infection and is named on the wing.

Alofa Alofa will make his first start of the season, partnering Jamie Roberts in the centres.

Karl Dickson starts at scrum-half, replacing Danny Care who sustained a rib injury last weekend.

In the forwards, Mark Lambert starts at loosehead prop. Joe Marler has successfully completed the concussion protocol and is named among the replacements.

In the absence of Care, James Horwill will captain the side.
George Naoupu and Charlie Mulchrone will look to make their first senior appearances for the Club from the replacements.

Speaking ahead of the fixture, Harlequins Director of Rugby, John Kingston said: “We are under no illusion about the challenge that Wasps present this weekend. They are the form team of the Aviva Premiership.

“There is a great history between the two clubs and despite the geographical difference, these matches still feel like derbies."

Harlequins Squad
15. Mike Brown
14. Marland Yarde
13. Alofa Alofa
12. Jamie Roberts
11. Tim Visser
10. Tim Swiel
9. Karl Dickson

1. Mark Lambert
2. Joe Gray
3. Will Collier
4. George Merrick
5. James Horwill (c)
6. Chris Robshaw
7. Luke Wallace
8. James Chisholm

Replacements
16. Dave Ward
17. Joe Marler
18. Kyle Sinckler
19. Sam Twomey
20. George Naoupu
21. Charlie Mulchrone
22. James Lang
23. Winston Stanley

Bloody hell our bench is, as my kids say, 'sick'

I'm loving the way we're rotating the forwards.

If Eastmond can start making an impact with some more game time from the bench, we'll soon be able to perform the same rotation across half our backline too.


I've almost forgotten that we're without Haskell and Beale, and that we've lost George Smith and the Piutau's.

Happy!!

It will be interesting to see who can back up their performance this weekend. Both had big defensive displays and will have taken mental and physical tolls on the players. Predict we will have enough to bag 4 tries.

Quote:

StevieWasp
I'm loving the way we're rotating the forwards.
If Eastmond can start making an impact with some more game time from the bench, we'll soon be able to perform the same rotation across half our backline too.


I've almost forgotten that we're without Haskell and Beale, and that we've lost George Smith and the Piutau's.

You forgot LeRoux too!

And launch....

That is quite some bench.....all would start in most premiership teams - bet Briz would like then all......

still looking forward to a front row of Matt Mullan, Tommy Taylor and Matt Moore it would be like a comic book team - MM, TT, MM

Sorry ;-)

Blimey ! ... certainly not taking our foot off the gas with that side !!

Should be a cracking game, I'm confident of a win although I do feel Quins could give us a run for our money with confidence being very high after their win last week !

I'm getting slightly concerned that Launch's slight groin strain is something more serious after all.

But a great side nonetheless.

Josh seems to be grasping his opportunity with both hands...defo picked on merit

Also...Guy and Cips will hopefully want to show Eddie Jones he is wrong omitting them this week!

Amazing strength in depth. Scary team and scary bench. Would have preferred one of Eastmond or De Luca to start and give Gops a break or bench as he's so precious to us . Talking of centres - what is issue with Armitage - injured?

Armitage played in the A-league game against Sale the other week.

I think he played most of the 80 as well.

Like most our championship boys, I'd guess he'll be undergoing some serious s&c work to get him upto AP speed. Lots of A-league and LV, and then maybe next season we may start to see more of him in the AP/Euros, much as we've seen from Bassett, Thompson etc

Hopefully Launchers will be ready for selection next week. Let's see if he is part of the pre match interviews in the bars etc on Sunday. Our bench looks super strong and maybe over half of them will start against Sarries next week. Sarries play tonight so have 2 extra days recovery.

Looks a fair team and bench!
Good rotation in the pack.
Just a tad concerned re: Alapati Leiua. Or have I missed something.

I believe that he is now back in training.

Quote:

kentwasp1
Amazing strength in depth. Scary team and scary bench. Would have preferred one of Eastmond or De Luca to start and give Gops a break or bench as he's so precious to us . Talking of centres - what is issue with Armitage - injured?

The way I view Gops is we have tomorrow's game and Sarries. He can then take a well earned rest. We really need to get as many points as possible. Come the 6N we might lose even more players if other EPS squad players get injured.

So glad that we never signed 'super sicknote' Manu Tuilagi on big money! Is he ever fit??

A BP win tomorrow and a losing bonus in a low scoring game at the Allianz and we'll be joint top with sarries having played them away already.

Great position to be in so I'm definitely of the mind that gopps and co are vital to these next two games.

Zebre is an obvious 2nd string game and a game for guys like swainston, cruse, Bristow, rowlands, myall, young, reider, Nathan, Hampson, probably cips, eastmond, armitage / Macken, Bassett, Howe and maybe oconnor to either get exposure, match fitness, match sharpness or just work on new 10/12 combinations.

Toulouse away needs a big effort. Then our next prem tranche should allow for a bit of rotation as well.

Gopps and Elliot have some serious work ahead of them dealing with the Doctor and his new centre partner, but at least this new pairing should give us some opportunities as they wont be totally bedded in yet. Swiel is looking quite useful but he's no Nick Evans, and Queens losing their Skipper can only be good for us. Visser is the biggest threat I feel, he's on very fine form, and Chris and Bertie are going to have to watch him like Hawks. Fingers crossed for a 5 from 5. Do that and I reckon we can really take on Sorries with a lot of confidence next weekend.

Hi all, any ideas what time the players arrive? I'm guessing about 12.45 onwards tomorrow?

Quote:

Bridgnorthwasp
Hi all, any ideas what time the players arrive? I'm guessing about 12.45 onwards tomorrow?

12.45-1 according to the info on the offy.

Many thanks.

[www.telegraph.co.uk]

I thought this was a really good article. Everyone now talking about what we have known for a while.

Doesn't mention Symons who i think is very important. Massive bloke that has given the team some grunt to support the flair of the back row and backs.

Hope all goes well tomorrow and the team can fire some shots.

Totally agree about Symonds. I didn't have much of an opinion about him before he signed for us but wow, what a start. He is defo giving us some grunt and nous in the tight. Bit like Kruis in his effectiveness. As decent a player as Cannon was, Symonds is a step up. I'm sure EJ has him in mind too if there's any injuries in the Eng squad.

Try after 4 mins!!!! Sitting here by my trusty radio almost whacked it out the window in celebration. Keep us posted on the game Waspies at the Ricoh

Can anyone tackle Guy Thompson???

wow - All Blackesqe retort from Wasps from KO after Quins try. Seems Quins trying to put high balls on Wade - Visser towering over him

Wow wow. Stunning try - wish I could get transported to the Ricoh

BT picked a winner then! Worcs 0 - 0 Falcons and it doesn't look like improving any time soon.

TBP before half time. 26-11.

“This machine kills fascists�
Woody Guthrie's guitar.

My radio is almost melting with 6 tries. Watching Worcs v Newcastle on silent on TV and the contrast is 200%. COYW - Lets stop the defensive errors and keep the brilliant attacking going

Torture. Now 5LSX has lost the link - just BBC life text now. Must learn how to get live streaming

BBC saying Wasps have had less then 1 min in Quins 22 in TOTAL during our 4 tries. Hard to believe. Seems all Quins possession and dominance?

Great break from Jones, but what hands from Johnson to release him!

Why did I make a coffee during Wades try???

Stunning performance. 4o points on a team who beat Sarries. We're in dream territory. Don't wake me up. Amazing lads

Brilliant defensive play from Daly, great carry from Hughes and a good finish from Eastmond.

But oh, Joe, don't go back to just flapping around the base. Just move the ball!

Wow.

Being a little nit-picky, we seemed to go to floor very quickly when defending the kicks into our 22, but really, what a performance. Excellent defence and clinical attack, on occasions.

Josh has really addressed his defensive challenges and we looked solid all-round.

Well played. Bring on Sarries.

If anyone hasn't noticed the full match replay is available on the AP site

Thanks for the heads up ukms - just finished the first half and half time is filled with all of the tries from the different camera angles which is quite interesting.
Still trying to decide which of our first half tries was my favourite - Guy's in real time at the game today looked very impressive but even better played back from multiple angles!

One of my favourite moments was Wade literally going through someone's legs, sadly it was a Wasp (Gaskell?). I thought to myself that must be his secret, just been too quick to see before!

Miller playing well and deserves his place...however

Just imagine if we had kept Charles

Wadey inadvertently going through Gaskell's legs was very funny - it's a shame it wasn't shown on the ITV highlights.

Thought Sam Jones absolutely proved his place his in the England squad is well deserved. For all the talk about Guy (and we're right to be talking him up), Jones was everywhere and with his increased bulk from the past couple of years really can and does physically dominate.

Not quite sure how Hughes got MoTM today, still don't feel is fully firing although showed glimpses of his form last year.

Daly's try where he ran between 4 players and just split them was beautiful to watch. Not sure i'd want to be in that Quins video session come Monday.

Still difficult to gauge where we're really at. Saints have looked physical, but far from clinical, Exeter still not hit their straps after their performances last year. Bath look good in stages, but we've not played them yet and Leicester pumped them after we comfortably beat Leicester.

Next week will be the real acid test, although Sarries still far from being in top gear just yet. Will Farrell out, Kruis only just back and Ashton out I think we're in a good place to go and get a result.

We'll be full of confidence that we can score from anywhere, Sarries will be confident having been the only team to keep a clean sheet against Bristol so far.

It's too tight to call.

One of the reasons that Wade could do that is that Cipriani took the ball while going at 100mph and the Quins defenders (which included some lumpy forwards) just froze.

I love watching a team score through pace rather than grunt. It's getting like the old days of Cipriani's first stay at Wasps.

Check out the stats IBW.

Hughes had the 2nd most defenders beaten (Brown got one more), joint highest clean breaks, joint highest offloads and most tackles (17 with just 1 missed), of anyone on the pitch.

He also made the most meters and most carries for Wasps.

Those are MotM stats for me.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016:10:03:08:58:06 by Raggs.

Quote:

Halld1
Miller playing well and deserves his place...however
Just imagine if we had kept Charles

If we had kept Charles, he would probably be playing Inside Centre, and then we'd never learnt about the Danny/Jimmy combo

Quote:

Raggs
Check out the stats IBW.
Hughes had the 2nd most defenders beaten (Brown got one more), joint highest clean breaks, joint highest offloads and most tackles (17 with just 1 missed), of anyone on the pitch.

He also made the most meters and most carries for Wasps.

Those are MotM stats for me.

and, although probably not included in any stats, he secured ball at the back of a scrum a few times when we were under intense pressure.


The problem that Hughes will have is that everyone is expecting him to break every tackle like he did at the start of last season.
I think opposition defense coaches have gotten wise to him, and you often see their best tacklers lined up near him, or you see multiple players targetting him.
He really isn't going to have the same impact under those circumstances.

It should however create space elsewhere for our other ball carriers. When teams start to focus on everyone else as much as they do on Nathan, I expect to see those highlight reel runs coming back.

I thought Elliot was absolutely outstanding yesterday.

He really is becoming the complete center, some of his defensive work in the 13 channel yesterday was a joy to behold.

As a side our understanding of space & attacking lines is incredible. All 10's should be made to sit down and watch Danny's work for our last try. Hit the line at incredible pace, ball in two hands & then the way he delayed the pass as long as possible to draw Yarde was textbook attacking rugby.

Equally so much of yesterdays success was built off forwards being comfortable with the ball in hand, drawing men & having excellent attacking lines run off them. I think our return on the George Smith investment is still bearing fruit as it was something he did so well.


The fact that you need to put Launch, Hasks & Beale into that side is frightening.

Quote:

StevieWasp

Quote:

Halld1
Miller playing well and deserves his place...however
Just imagine if we had kept Charles

If we had kept Charles, he would probably be playing Inside Centre, and then we'd never learnt about the Danny/Jimmy combo

Possibly...I dont think Cips-Gopps was an accident though, I think Dai & LB had this in mind from the off

Charles was/is the best full back playing in the UK

Quote:

StevieWasp

Quote:

Raggs
Check out the stats IBW.
Hughes had the 2nd most defenders beaten (Brown got one more), joint highest clean breaks, joint highest offloads and most tackles (17 with just 1 missed), of anyone on the pitch.

He also made the most meters and most carries for Wasps.

Those are MotM stats for me.

and, although probably not included in any stats, he secured ball at the back of a scrum a few times when we were under intense pressure.


The problem that Hughes will have is that everyone is expecting him to break every tackle like he did at the start of last season.
I think opposition defense coaches have gotten wise to him, and you often see their best tacklers lined up near him, or you see multiple players targetting him.
He really isn't going to have the same impact under those circumstances.

It should however create space elsewhere for our other ball carriers. When teams start to focus on everyone else as much as they do on Nathan, I expect to see those highlight reel runs coming back.

+ 1

Thought Eastmond went really well, not just because of the try, seems to be settling in well. Seems busy and a few times I have seen him organising defences, sort of re-assuring when he comes on. He got a big cheer for his first Wasps try.

Quote:

brandnewtorugby
Thought Eastmond went really well, not just because of the try, seems to be settling in well. Seems busy and a few times I have seen him organising defences, sort of re-assuring when he comes on. He got a big cheer for his first Wasps try.

+1

I know its hard to change a winning formula, but it must be awfully tempting to give Kyle a start...midfield opportunities will become harder to come by when Beale is fit

I'd say he's perhaps better in defence than Gopps too, certainly throws himself into it!

My worry with Sam is that he is,potentially, one head bang from a very long time off given the number of times it has already happened
Be our luck to occur while away with England.

Quote:

ukms
If anyone hasn't noticed the full match replay is available on the AP site

How can you get a decent quality full match replay? I've managed to get the AP website link to finally work on my tablet/phone after more than a year of trying but now I have I'm underwhelmed. I've linked it to my TV and the resolution is unwatchable. Can the settings be altered or are you just stuck with a low res replay?

Quote:

Beasties

Quote:

ukms
If anyone hasn't noticed the full match replay is available on the AP site

How can you get a decent quality full match replay? I've managed to get the AP website link to finally work on my tablet/phone after more than a year of trying but now I have I'm underwhelmed. I've linked it to my TV and the resolution is unwatchable. Can the settings be altered or are you just stuck with a low res replay?

The quality is fine for me, may be based on internet connection speed?

You can use this channel for wasps games though: [www.youtube.com]

Quote:

Raggs

Quote:

Beasties

Quote:

ukms
If anyone hasn't noticed the full match replay is available on the AP site

How can you get a decent quality full match replay? I've managed to get the AP website link to finally work on my tablet/phone after more than a year of trying but now I have I'm underwhelmed. I've linked it to my TV and the resolution is unwatchable. Can the settings be altered or are you just stuck with a low res replay?

The quality is fine for me, may be based on internet connection speed?

You can use this channel for wasps games though: [www.youtube.com]

Well ours is a 10MB connection which could easily stand 1080p so that's not it. What are you watching on? I've had a look at the Youtube link at it's giving 360p as the only option for the Quins match, which looks pretty much the same quality as on the AP website.

Quote:

Bracken&Macken
I thought Elliot was absolutely outstanding yesterday.
He really is becoming the complete center, some of his defensive work in the 13 channel yesterday was a joy to behold.

As a side our understanding of space & attacking lines is incredible. All 10's should be made to sit down and watch Danny's work for our last try. Hit the line at incredible pace, ball in two hands & then the way he delayed the pass as long as possible to draw Yarde was textbook attacking rugby.

Equally so much of yesterdays success was built off forwards being comfortable with the ball in hand, drawing men & having excellent attacking lines run off them. I think our return on the George Smith investment is still bearing fruit as it was something he did so well.


The fact that you need to put Launch, Hasks & Beale into that side is frightening.

Agree on Elliot, very good to see as I've had the feeling he stagnated a bit the last couple seasons. Give him space on the outside and he's always been lethal, but it does seem this season he's now developing a more rounded game whilst not losing his acknowledged abilities.

Also agree on Cips who in my view has had 5 excellent games. He's developed into a very accomplished rugby player, who as you say has a great understanding of space, running angles and timing of passes. Apart from that try, there were several examples yesterday of very smart delayed passes and also times when he shaped to give and then didn't as he realised it wasn't on. He's a major reason for our improvement. I think the challenge will be to maintain that form when he plays a few games where he's place kicking. Over the season, he's going to have a game or two where he misses shots at goal and it may be hard to keep his confidence up. That will really show how he's matured.

I have looked at this youtube video.

It seems to default to 360, but can be watched at 480, which, although not the 720/1080 that some others are at is better, and just about watchable on the TV (I have to download to watch - otherwise it takes about 5 hours to watch a full match)

The video on the Aviva site looks like it is designed to be watched on a phone - in fact the link for the actual video is that.

I gather it was televised in some countries (not the UK!), so hopefully HD versions might appear on YouTube some time.

Roger

Quote:

Beasties

Quote:

Raggs

Quote:

Beasties

Quote:

ukms
If anyone hasn't noticed the full match replay is available on the AP site

How can you get a decent quality full match replay? I've managed to get the AP website link to finally work on my tablet/phone after more than a year of trying but now I have I'm underwhelmed. I've linked it to my TV and the resolution is unwatchable. Can the settings be altered or are you just stuck with a low res replay?

The quality is fine for me, may be based on internet connection speed?

You can use this channel for wasps games though: [www.youtube.com]

Well ours is a 10MB connection which could easily stand 1080p so that's not it. What are you watching on? I've had a look at the Youtube link at it's giving 360p as the only option for the Quins match, which looks pretty much the same quality as on the AP website.

Beasties - have you tested your speed lately ? ..... i've just watched it back on youtube and its fine for me on a 30" monitor

Quote:

neils
My worry with Sam is that he is,potentially, one head bang from a very long time off given the number of times it has already happened
Be our luck to occur while away with England.

My understanding is that Sam was diagnosed with migraine during his time off for concussion related injuries and therefore this is less a issue than before .....

Not a Doctor and not a troll!!

Yes the speed's fine. I tried watching the AP replay on a 50" TV and it was shocking. I've also tried watching the Youtube link on a 19" 4:3 monitor and it too is horrible. If I try it at half size on the monitor it's just about watchable but then I don't really want to squint at a small viewing window. I know that's my choice but I just wondered if others were enjoying a half decent picture and I needed to alter some settings.

Looks like I'll have to wait for Johnny Foreighner to upload an HD version on Youtube?

I watch on chrome 100m fibre, but. probably less due to Wi-Fi. It's decent enough watchable on tv. My standards are probably lower due to often watching poor streams.

We are on Sky Fibre, and I played the AP full replay via alaptop connected to a 26 inch tv, it looked as good as my bigger TV with BT sports on (non HD).

Quote:

westwaleswasp
We are on Sky Fibre, and I played the AP full replay via alaptop connected to a 26 inch tv, it looked as good as my bigger TV with BT sports on (non HD).

Thanks for the replies guys, I suppose it's all relative. I'm so used to watching matches in HD on a 50" that any resolution below HD I find difficult to watch. I've watched the first half on a 32" screen via the Youtube app. Gotta be honest, it's not great, but then I won't watch an SD broadcast on my 50" because I don't find it watchable. Having seen the BT highlights show in HD last night I'm not sure I'm gonna go back to watch the 2nd half on Youtube now. Maybe these low def streams aren't for me. Anyway, thanks for your help everyone.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016:10:04:10:48:52 by Beasties.

Do you let it run for a few seconds on premrugby tv? With me it takes 10-15 seconds sometimes to go from low res to decent res.

Quote:

Raggs
Do you let it run for a few seconds on premrugby tv? With me it takes 10-15 seconds sometimes to go from low res to decent res.

Yes I've tried that. I'm just not that keen to watch a game where I can't quite make out players' faces in the wide shots. I'm sure HD will come eventually. It's only this season that we've actually got a decent highlights programme on BT now at long last.

Ah, very picky then, fair enough if you can be so I've got better at identifying players based on pixel shade, rough height and build .

I clearly need to expand my skillset.

Just starting to go through this game again slowly, and Cips penalty to touch early in the game was amazing. From the halfway line he slots it 6m out from the tryline. Who was it saying he doesn't get distance on his kicks? Chris? Compare and contrast to Loz's attempts for Sarries against Bristol, where kicking to touch duties were taken away from him by the end of the game.

I get the feeling that with all the issues they are having with Owen Farrell and his phantom injury (they simply can't work out why he can train, but can't kick yet), I reckon they are protecting Loz in many ways.

Making sure he doesn't over-commit to too many tackle areas and to share the kicking where possible.

I have no idea what Sarries would do if they lost Farrell, Goode and Loz at the same time.

I think he was just dropped from going for kicks to touch, considering he took them all at the start.

I think it's a confidence thing. I remember against Toulon he had some good kicks, then missed touch with one pen, and started going for just 15-20m to ensure touch, we brought Goode on not much after that. He's got the boot, just needs to develop his confidence and ability (which will help the confidence), he is capable, just needs consistency.

Quote:

Raggs
I think he was just dropped from going for kicks to touch, considering he took them all at the start.
I think it's a confidence thing. I remember against Toulon he had some good kicks, then missed touch with one pen, and started going for just 15-20m to ensure touch, we brought Goode on not much after that. He's got the boot, just needs to develop his confidence and ability (which will help the confidence), he is capable, just needs consistency.

Is that something that should be said about a fly half in the England squad?!

About a flyhalf in the wider 45, sure, why not? He's there for development purposes only.

Quote:

Raggs
About a flyhalf in the wider 45, sure, why not? He's there for development purposes only.

Exactly - the wider squad is there to get development and exposure to the national setup for players that Jones sees potential in.

It's why the likes of Ellis Genge were called up.
Jones has no intention of them getting game time in the Autumn, but expects that they're likely to be in with a shot of a full callup within the next year or so.
Therefore, by letting them see what it's all about now, it'll be easier to integrate them in a year or 2 if they fulfill their potential in that time