Preview - Harlequins v Newcastle (LV Cup semi-final)
By Quinten Poulsen
March 11 2011
Last Friday night Harlequins were subjected to quite a comprehensive defeat away at Newcastle in the league, and the opposition is the same this weekend as the sides face each other in the semi-final of the LV= Cup. This will be the 4th time this season the sides have met, and Quins have two wins to their credit when Newcastle visited The Stoop twice earlier in the season.
The first of these was the Premiership tie last October, when Joe Marler won the Man of the Match award for a great all round display. That day the Newcastle scrum was in disarray, with Golding getting a yellow card for persistent offending shortly after coming on off the bench, with Newcastle eventually conceding a penalty try. Their scrum has been strengthened since then though with the acquisition of Euan Murray, and he'll no doubt be relishing the prospect of schooling Marler the newbie. There is no guarantee of that happening however, based on last week's scrum. Two things occurred to me when I watched last Friday's match in full on the web this week – 1) our lineout was not as poor as I thought it would be, and 2) neither was our scrum. There was no obvious advantage in scrum power to either side, with many of them crabbing sideways once the shove came on. Newcastle lost one against the head; Quins didn't! It remains to be seen how well Marler, Cairns and Lambert handle things, but it's unlikely to be a disaster.
Our lineout options are certainly limited, given the fact that our back row are quite short and Ollie Kohn is a huge-difficult-to-lift-beast, and no doubt Newcastle will be happy to kick for touch and attack our throw-in, but it probably won't create enough disruption to put Quins off their game significantly. Newcastle's lineout on their own throw is very solid indeed, and Clegg refrained from putting too much ball into touch last week and is more than likely to repeat that this time.
The main improvements Quins will be looking for will be better work at the breakdown, less unforced errors, and better defensive positioning. The forwards need to switch on a bit more and look after the ball better, and Karl Dickson should make an appreciable difference from scrum half thanks to his experience and older head. Maybe the confidence that playing at home brings will see less of the errors and panic play, and as far as defence goes at least the backs will be happier with Lowe back in the team and Monye back in his usual left wing position.
While Quins have made 5 changes to their side, Newcastle have made just the two, and they will approach this game in very confident mood after last week's deserved win. There was quite a bit of niggle in last week's game and it won't be a surprise if this continues, and something tells me Quins won't be bullied at home. Home advantage means a lot – particularly to Quins who find it so difficult to nail those away wins – and I expect them to get back to winning ways on Friday night. The crowd is likely to be quite poor in number, but hey, what's not to love about a Friday night with a few beers at the rugby? Newcastle will be very tough, but I don't see them winning. Fingers crossed, and let's hope the Mockers Gods aren't listening.
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An excellent balanced preview. Ta muchly. See you at the game!
Come on you Quinsaaaaaaaa!!!!!!
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One of the founder members of the Q-GOMC (promoted to Major Grump) – and proud of it - Bah!
I always assumed Karl Dickson's head was the same age as the rest of his body?
Good Work!
The game's afoot;
Follow your spirit: and upon this charge,
Cry — God for Harry! England and Saint George