Preview & match thread - London Irish v Harlequins

While much attention will be focussed on England v France at Twickenham which kicks off at 5.00pm, many Quins fans will be a little more interested in the Premiership round 16 encounter at the Madjeski Stadium where London Irish take on Harlequins, kick off at 3.00pm.

There is a stark difference between the two sides' recent form in the league, with Irish winning just once from their last seven games compared to Quins' 5 wins and 2 defeats. Despite this contrast in fortunes Irish will certainly fancy their chances against a weakened Quins team. Irish have picked a strong squad, with only a few first choice players missing through injury, suspension and international call-ups.

Last week against Gloucester they succumbed up front and had little fire-power in the backs, which more or less sums up their game since the drop off in their excellent early season form. It's very hard to understand why that has happened when looking at their team sheet. Even though they've not had the best of luck with injuries, and much is made of their small squad number, the fact is that they've usually managed to field plenty of quality players, plus their squad is a similar size to most others. Harlequins have also had numerous injuries and international call-ups to hamper their season, but have somehow managed to turn early season losses into the recent good form we've witnessed.

Last week against Sale it was again encouraging to see try scoring chances taken coupled with a very robust defence for the long periods without much possession. If Quins are to win this game they will probably need to replicate that. While Quins have coped admirably while missing so many players from the squad, this week the team is starting to look vulnerable with the news that Nick Evans is out for a few weeks, along with injuries to Lowe, Camacho, Dickson and Robson form the last two games. The scrum half situation is probably the main concern now that we are down to one fit specialist No.9. Dave Moore starts his first Premiership game, although the only back-up now is Ollie Lindsay-Hague – a winger/full back who can play scrum half, although I suspect he's not had to do that much since he was in school. It's probably a sensible and calculated risk to start OLH on the wing at the expense of putting either Casson or Chisholm into the backline as at least this means he'll already be into the pace of the game if Moore is unfortunate enough to get injured.

Monye comes into the centre while not in the best of form, but who knows, maybe the change in position will give him some freshness. One thing you know you'll get with Ugo is a big dose of commitment regardless of his form. And of course he can be very dangerous if given the ball in space at 13 as we've seen before. Rory Clegg will be even more crucial this week as he will probably be calling all the shots without the experience of Care or Dickson. If the pack can provide the platform and Dave Moore makes the most of his chance then Rory will probably be fine.

The Harlequins pack remains unchanged from last week but they are up against a very strong opposition in the tight. If they can win most of their own lineout ball and show up well in the scrum then that will be half the battle. If this was a home game then I would be backing Quins to win despite the weaknesses in the backline. However, I suspect Irish will be scenting a great chance to keep themselves in the mix for a late challenge for the top 4, and I suspect they will take it.

London Irish:

15. Tom Homer

14. Topsy Ojo

13. Seilala Mapusua

12. Dan Bowden

11. Adam Thompstone

10. Chris Malone

9. Paul Hodgson

1. Clarke Dermody (captain)

2. James Buckland

3. Faan Rautenbach

4. Nick Kennedy

5. Bob Casey

6. Jamie Gibson

7. Steffon Armitage

8. George Stowers

Replacements:

16. Rob Herring

17. Max Lahiff

18. Paulica Ion

19. Kieran Roche

20. Richard Thorpe

21. Jonathan Joseph

22. Ryan Lamb

23. Darren Allinson

Harlequins:

15. Mike Brown

14. Tom Williams

13. Ugo Monye

12. Jordan Turner-Hall

11. Ollie Lindsay-Hague

10. Rory Clegg

9. Dave Moore

1. Joe Marler

2. Joe Gray

3. James Johnston

4. Ollie Kohn

5. Pete Browne

6. Maurie Fa'asavalu

7. Will Skinner

8. Chris Robshaw ©

Replacements:

16. Chris Brooker

17. Ceri Jones

18. Mark Lambert

19. Tomas Vallejos

20. Chris York

21. Ben Urdapilleta

22. Tom Casson

23. Ross Chisholm