PerryGo Ponders: Review of ZP Week 6

By PerryGo
October 8 2002

Quins’ supporters are beginning to think that the light at the end of the tunnel might not be a train coming towards them after all! Meanwhile, Rob Andrew reconsiders his commitment to the Youth Opportunities Scheme...

It sure was good being at The Stoop on Saturday - and in front of such a huge crowd!   Can you believe that 7,923 spectators were there?  Where did they all come from?  Not from Newcastle, by all accounts.  Just think - if the Toon Army’s supporters’ coach had arrived in time, we would surely have gone over the eight thousand mark. 

It’s a long way to The Stoop from Newcastle - but even further going back, they say.

Congratulations to No Name Andy (carry on like this and you might want to tell us your name’s Andy…) for being brave enough to predict 43 points to Quins - which was the closest prediction to the eventual 47.  I was close with my 22 points to Falcons, but Quins notched up a whole 20 points more than I expected.  Nice being wrong occasionally!    

There really is so much to be pleased about after Saturday’s game - aside from the mere fact of a win (which would be enough in itself, you might say) - that it could seem churlish to spend any time at all on any of the negative features.  Unless of course you are one of the coaches, or the chief executive, or, in ME’s case, both.  It’s their job to look at both sides of the coin - and, arguably, if you are reading this then it’s because you too want to dig a bit deeper. 

Inevitably, there are some less-than-positives, but first let’s focus on what was good, because a properly balanced appraisal of ‘where Quins are at’ right now should be a positive one. 

Timing is Everything

There could hardly have been a better time to notch up a five-pointer in the league, just before a little light relief home and away against Caerphilly in the Bic Ballpoint Pen Bowl.  We now have two matches to work on the areas that need attention, maybe give a bit more useful playing experience to some of the up-and-coming squad members - such as Sherriff, Miall, Evans and Rudzki - and generally recharge the batteries for the resumption of the ZP. 

Not that I’m saying we should take the Cheesemakers for granted (is that really their nickname or am I the victim of a hoax?) – no professional side should do that with any opponents – but being realistic, this is the third most important competition we’re in this season, out of three.  And our opponents are languishing at ‘played 6, lost 6’ in the Celtic league. 

This leads neatly onto my first positive – the way the whole squad seems to have pulled together, and the committed and wholehearted way that they have all performed.  It is almost unfair to single out names, since the key thing is the depth of performance throughout the squad, but here’s a few. 

Hasn’t Fuga stormed back after injury?  He looks a bigger, better player all round.  Ace Tiatia has been a revelation as a blindside flanker, with a consistently high standard throughout the past month.   Nick Greenstock has played his heart out.  Jason Leonard was running around like a youngster and playing as if his life depended on it.  Gomez was straining at the bit to match him, tackle for tackle.  We could go on, but let’s save some for later.

Sum of the Parts

I’m a great believer that sides that are focused and play well as a team can beat opponents who may, at an individual level, have better players.  One recent example of this to my mind is the London Irish of last season - even though, not surprisingly, they have gone backwards so far in this one. 

Quins’ teams of recent vintages have too often looked like they were banking on three or four big name stars and hoping somehow it would all happen.  The rest of the team hasn’t always looked as if playing rugby was their first choice activity on a Saturday afternoon.  Indeed, with one or two of them one wondered whether Quins might have been the only club that would have offered them the opportunity…

The current Harlequins squad might just become “this season’s London Irish”.  I have only rarely – and only since Mark Evans’ era began – seen such visible commitment, passion and generally consistent performance week in, week out by all the participants.  Since a league is contested by a squad, this is vital to our prospects for the season as a whole, and with Vos on the way to give us another injection of enthusiasm and commitment, things can only get better.  The depth of quality across the squad is higher at this point than for several years, especially if one takes the injury situation into account.

Molly Codling 

Did anyone else notice that Alex was limping from the start of the match on Saturday?  I guess – no, I hope – that it was just because he was conscious of his hamstring and treating it gingerly.  But we all know it is not uncommon, however unwise it may be, for Premiership players to carry on playing while carrying an injury, and we really miss Alex when he’s out of the team, so it must be tempting to play him, even if not fully recovered, when you are desperate for the points.  It didn’t seem to hamper him too much, but I was glad to see him replaced once the match was safe.  Expect to see Codders rested for the next two matches, unless the wheels come off the wagon when we go to Wales for the first leg.

Ace in the Hole

Even as you read this, the statisticians and lawmakers are thumbing through the pages of the ZP rules to see whether the disciplinary procedures need to be rewritten to fit Ace Tiatia’s circumstances, after he collected his fourth yellow card. 

Ace, in a hole (picture: kwin)

What is it about Ace?  Is he on a ‘yellow card bonus’ incentive scheme or something?  When the ex-patriate Samoans get together for an orange juice on Trevor Leota’s birthday, do they have a little wager on who can pick up the most yellows?  Actually, trusted observers tell me that Trev’s favourite tipple is rum and coke…by the pint, but that’s another subject and could increase the cost of ComeAllWithin’s libel insurance.

The Quins faithful (well, a few DGs at least…) love Acey to bits - he’s certainly performed out of his skin in recent weeks at blindside flanker - and we’d love to see him still available for selection after Christmas.  On current form, he’s likely to miss the rest of the season through suspension.

Thankfully, the referee and his able assistants were all looking the other way when Ace creamed one of the Newcastle forwards (and after the whistle had blown too, methinks?) with what looked to me to be an illegal challenge. 

As you may know, that kind of tackle, that resembles a type you see in American Football, is illegal in rugby union – you have to attempt to use the arms, not just body-charge the opponent.  It is considered dangerous - armless but not harmless, so to speak. 

I am afraid that had the referee seen it differently – and goodness me, he saw quite a few things ‘differently’ through the match, didn’t he? – Ace would now be in very deep doodies indeed.   

Halfback Comeback

No, not a new cash-back scheme to attract junior clubs to sell tickets - I am referring of course to Slemen having a better day at the office and Duncombe making his first start of the season.  Both can be reasonably satisfied at their performance.

Slems produced a better set of kicking stats – told you he could do it - and his general game was pretty good.  OK so there was the odd lapse, but even Jonny made one mistake!  I would just ask him, though, “David, what is the point of putting a kick-able penalty into touch on the five metre line for an attacking line out if you are then going to try a drop goal, at the same spot, from the resulting first phase possession?”

Nick showed why he is clear and away our first choice at scrum half – he was quick, lively and accurate all afternoon.  A pleasure to watch.  And, capable of covering back and putting in a try saving tackle too – did anyone else see that one, over in the dark corner near the scoreboard?  Maybe the fact the scoreboard is sited there is why the management keeps it dark.  Usually, that’s been the merciful thing to do.

Another credit is due Paul Turner as well – nice to see more backline moves and variations being tried.  Although I think the key to our success so far this season (statistically, that ‘success’ may be considered limited, I do accept) has been the pack, without whose strong performance you don’t win matches, it’s great to see the backs holding their end up and looking creative, quick and dangerous.  

Feet on the Ground

Many thanks to DOK for giving us so many one-liner snippets of what Evs said at the post-match press conference.  If you’ve not read the report, you should – it’s really good. 

It may sound a bit churlish to some, that the chief executive should be less than ecstatic about the performance.  I am sure that he was smiling or even smirking as he said some of it (after all, it was a great win) but he will genuinely be as interested in the performance as the result.  However, any performance-related concerns are more fun to deal with when you’re winning the matches!

There were certainly passages of play when the old lapses of concentration came in, and I don’t just mean when the entire team assumed Jonny would kick for goal the penalty they’d just conceded.  Embarrassing, that.  No, at the beginning of the second half we almost let them back into a game that they had all but lost out of sight in the first.  We won’t always have the luxury of getting away with that. We must keep up the intensity and put teams away.  Still, we got the act back together and regained control, which was good.

...made one mistake     (picture: kwin)

Newcastle were, at times, dire, it has to be said.  Sure, on this occasion we took advantage of it and managed to finish off more opportunities than usual.  We haven’t always managed that. 

Yet again, Quins can take credit for, in some measure, making them make their mistakes.  May every team we play this season bemoan their error rate and how they threw the game away!  Meanwhile, we’ll just nod sympathetically, post kindly messages on the opposition’s messageboard and pocket the ZP points…

There’s still a lot to work on, to be honest - but a great win is still a great win!

 Corporate Update

Meanwhile, let’s turn our attention away from what’s happening on the pitch (the significance of which choice of words will shortly be apparent) and update ComeAllWithin on the latest from the East Stand corporate boxes just behind PerryGo’s Perch.  

To protect the innocent, I won’t say which particular box it is; we’ll just give it a nom de plume.

Anyway, the Sanyo box this week was quite exciting.  Anyone that hadn’t come to watch the rugby, seated in the near vicinity, would have noticed many soul mates, if they listened to the corporate chit chat.  Actually, given the raucous volume at which most of the conversation was taking place, you didn’t even need to be in the near vicinity.   You would have needed the mental focus of Paul Burke not to be distracted by it.  Or top quality earplugs.

I was a bit disappointed that the decibel level was even kept up during the kicks at goal, until, turning around at one juncture to mime disapproval, I saw they weren’t even looking at the match, so you could hardly blame them. 

I suppose watching the soccer scores updating on teletext can be pretty exciting…

Couple of slurred gems I couldn’t forget: 

“Ish three points for a try and one for a kick”  

“Show oooh d’you work for then?”  “Bank of America – I told you that just now”  “Oh, thassha name of a bank, ishit?  I never ‘erduvit.  I fort you jusht meant like a Bank in America, if you know where I’m coming from”

Yes, I think we do. 

But who are we to poke fun, if it means another big corporate deal is safely in the bag thanks to a Saturday afternoon at Harlequins?