Previes: Harlequins v Gloucester
By Worried of Whitton
February 29 2008
Quins are back at home at The Stoop this Saturday as they meet the current Premiership leaders Gloucester. Kick off is at 14.45, and Harlequins with their home advantage will be looking to chalk up their third Premiership win in as many weeks. This is set to be an exciting match as Gloucester who appeared to be running away with the title earlier in the season have been pegged back in recent weeks
For the second week running Harlequins will be televised live by Sky TV. Harlequins have to be targeting this as a home win this, and to build on the momentum of the improving performances over the past three weeks, the two week winter break has been beneficial. One has to assume, barring any injuries, that Richards will stick to the winning formula and keep the same line up this weekend; the only doubt is whether Easter will be included in preference to Guest who could find himself on the bench, a difficult call.
The open, expansive game that Quins have been playing in recent weeks has started to produce dividends and the 9 10 axis of Care and Jarvis is working well. No doubt Dean Ryan will be fielding as many of his internationals as possible, including Vainikolo, the metronomic Paterson, Bortolami, and Balshaw who will no doubt, be showing us why he is the highly favoured full back. His inclusion in the England squad seems to me to be like a latter day version of the “Emperor’s New Clothes” fairy story. As Danny Care said this week, “there isn’t a full back in the country that is playing better than Mike Brown at the moment”.
Gloucester will hold no fear for the Quins squad after they almost caused a big upset when the two sides met at Kingsholm back in November. Despite losing the match 27-25, Quins came away with two bonus points for scoring four tries in a sensational half hour spell of play, which silenced the Shed, in the first half and the losing bonus point.
We also remember the match at the Stoop in February 2005 when Quins sensationally defeated Gloucester, 38-9 after they fell apart against a Quins side that had been reduced to 14 men following the sending off of Ace Tiatia. This however is Quins only win against Gloucester in recent fixtures, although Quins “A” squad defeated Gloucester 59-0 earlier this season.
It was certainly comforting listening to the reports of the match against Saracens, “ a thoroughly deserved victory it was too”… “Quins responded with home quick thinking running rugby largely prompted by Danny Care, the live wire scrum half”…”Quins forged into a 15-3 interval lead with two tries that their incisive brand of attacking rugby fully warranted”… the first try was a cracker straight off the training pitch, simple and beautifully executed”… “Quins defended with no little courage and determination”.
In contrast, Gloucester had another torrid time at home to Newcastle, who made them fight hard for their win. In a match whose script seems to have mirrored that of the Glaws v Quins match earlier in the season, Newcastle, devoid of their England internationals, were 20-9 up after an hour of play, and actually looked like winners. Gloucester conceded a lot of points either side of half time, however they summoned up enough determination and rapid rugby to score three tries and take the match, leaving Newcastle with nothing. Gloucester won this match on the back of two consecutive losses in the Premiership
Quins will need to have their wits about them and may need to draw upon the support of the home crowd. With two consecutive wins one expects the home crowd to be in full voice urging the mighty Quins on. Gloucester will play for the full 80+ minutes, as it shown by the amazing statistic that they have picked up at least one point in very Premiership game they have played since December 26th 2006!
This is certainly set to be a cracking match, even Stuart Barnes is positive about the turn around in Quins play after a blistering attack a few weeks ago, when he suggested that even his cat had a better understanding of Quins’ weaknesses than the coaching team. This has the makings of being a fascinating contest that Quins can and should win. Gloucester will fight for the whole match. I expect that the visitors will leave with a bonus point. Richards was very pleased with last weekend’s first half performance “There is a huge amount of talent here and everybody is enjoying themselves.” He added “We still have a huge amount of confidence and there is a real buzz about this side”. We will need this confidence on Saturday, and despite being at home Quins are seen as the underdogs for this match, but playing the way they are, with that confidence you never know how the game will turn out. It should be a cracking match.
Sale and Saracens made the only changes in their Premiership positions after last weekend matches. Sale’s win away at Leicester and Saracens home defeat by the Mighty Quins lead to the two clubs exchanging league places.
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | PD | BP | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gloucester Rugby | 14 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 351 | 240 | +111 | 7 | 47 |
| 2 | Leicester Tigers | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 331 | 241 | +90 | 6 | 42 |
| 3 | Bath Rugby | 13 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 323 | 246 | +77 | 6 | 42 |
| 4 | Sale Sharks | 13 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 276 | 217 | +59 | 4 | 40 |
| 5 | Saracens | 14 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 306 | 270 | +46 | 5 | 37 |
| 6 | Harlequins | 13 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 278 | 273 | +5 | 8 | 36 |
| 7 | London Wasps | 13 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 312 | 273 | +39 | 6 | 34 |
| 8 | London Irish | 13 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 246 | 234 | +12 | 4 | 32 |
| 9 | Newcastle Falcons | 13 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 221 | 287 | -66 | 3 | 27 |
| 10 | Bristol Rugby | 13 | 5 | 1 | 7 | 231 | 274 | -43 | 4 | 25 |
| 11 | Worcester Warriors | 14 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 210 | 311 | -101 | 6 | 12 |
| 12 | Leeds Carnegie | 13 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 199 | 418 | -219 | 2 | 6 |
You’ve not seen nothing like the
Mighty Quins!
Other matches this weekend:
| Date | Time | Match |
|---|---|---|
| Round 14 | ||
| Fri 29th Feb 08 | 19:45 | Sale v Worcester Warriors* |
| Fri 29th Feb 08 | 20:00 | Newcastle Falcons v London Wasps |
| Sat 1st March 08 | 15:00 | Harlequins v Gloucester * |
| Sat 1st March 08 | 15:00 | Leicester Tigers* v Leeds Carnegie |
| Sat 1st March 08 | 15:00 | London Irish v Saracens* |
| Sat 1st March 08 | 15:00 | Bristol Rugby v Bath Rugby |
*Round 15 for Worcester, Gloucester, Leicester and Saracens
Our issues recently are largely connected to the chopping and changing of the starting XV due to the international players being available or not. The other commonly held belief is that the best way to take us on is up front so if Quins stick to the "open, expansive game" I think we would actually be quite happy!
Still think you are favourites mind!