Preview - Newcastle Falcons v Harlequins

Friday 4th March 2011 Kick off: 8.00pm Harlequins head off to the freezing north-east this week to play out a rehearsal of next weekend's LV= Cup semi-final against Newcastle. Perhaps rehearsal isn't the best description though, considering both sides will be desperate to win this Premiership fixture for different reasons.

Newcastle did their league survival hopes a world of good last weekend with a comfortable win against their bottom-of-the-table rivals Leeds, and were always in control thanks to the way their forwards bossed the game. Leeds now look very likely to be relegated again, and a win for Falcons against Quins would virtually guarantee Leeds finishing bottom, assuming they don't beat London Irish on Sunday. Both teams would probably prefer a win tonight rather than next week if given the choice, although being as Harlequins' main aim is HEC qualification it could be argued that as the home team the semi-final game gives them a better chance to achieve that.

Regardless of the relative importance of the two games, Quins desperately need to change their poor away form in the league – one away win in the last 14 months or so is quite dire for a team that talks of top 4 finishes. This game will doubtless be a big struggle though. Whilst Quins have won a number of times at Kingston Park they again field a team missing several key players, and may struggle to get on the front foot against a good Newcastle pack. The home side also have a decent set of backs, including a well established half back pairing of Young and Gopperth, and some talented young outside backs like Fielding and Eves. Were Luke Eves playing at a more glamorous club there's a good chance he would be in the current Saxons squad. A former captain of England U20s he always impresses when I manage to watch some Newcastle action, and considering he is still aged 21 he has quite a lot of experience including his 50 odd games for Bristol.

After another game lost through ill-discipline, last week against Irish, Quins have selected the same squad again, although they really don't have much choice given the players unavailable. The one change to the starting line-up sees Ceri Jones replace Joe Marler at loosehead prop. With Marler losing his head a bit last week it is somewhat ironic that the old sweat Ceri is preferred this time in the week it was announced he is leaving for Worcester. We could have done with his vast experience at Quins for another season or two, but he will leave as something of a Stoop legend. Always very popular with the fans, Ceri has been at Quins for over 8 years and has racked up well over 200 appearances for the club. In his earlier days in London he used to score quite a lot of tries too for a front row forward – not many from 50 metres, but who cares! The large number of games he has played is testament to his fitness, strength and commitment, and he has been largely bullet-proof over the years with very few injuries; quite astonishing when considering his playing position. Although the tries gradually dried up he was perhaps in his pomp when playing alongside Mike Ross and Gary Botha, in what was a very gnarly front row and very under-rated scrummaging unit. In the summer before Botha joined Quins, Ceri won his two Welsh caps against Australia down under, although he was played at tighthead where he has little experience. It was a tough ask, and who knows, he may have made the Welsh world cup squad if he'd been given a chance to impress in his preferred loosehead position. Anyway, let's hope he proves to be a handful tonight as Quins will need all the experience they can muster to overcome this Newcastle side.

Conor O'Shea highlighted a lack of discipline as being the key reason for the loss last week, and not for the first time. Quins absolutely have to get this right if they are to start winning league games away from home, and one would hope this has been a key area of focus this week. The defence is still very good, so hopefully the players will not lose concentration while not in possession and resort to giving needless penalties away, and if they can achieve this allied to the trust they have in one another while defending then it's half the battle won. Hopefully Rory Clegg will continue his very good form against his former club, and while tries may be at a premium he will need to have an accurate boot if Quins are to build any sort of lead. Having said that, I fear this may be another night of 'if onlys', and that a buoyant Newcastle will pressure Quins into a narrow defeat. To sum up – Newcastle should have enough to see this lot off, and we're gonna get mullered.