Preview - Harlequins v Gloucester
By Quinten Poulsen
March 26 2011
Last weekend's LV= Cup winners Gloucester arrive at The Stoop today on the back of a very impressive 11 game unbeaten run, and one which has included some big scores with plenty of tries. There is every chance the try-scoring and winning will continue as they face a Quins side that has probably lost some confidence over the last few weeks or so.
After a decent run of 9 consecutive wins Quins' form has dropped off, and they've now lost 4 from the last 5. They will no doubt be buoyed by the return of Nick Easter and Danny Care from England duty, and George Robson from injury, but Gloucester will really fancy their chances of their first win at The Stoop since 2006.
Gloucester have made six changes in the forwards from last week, and one in the backs, and yet they've still managed to pick a pack full of quality bruisers that should give the Quins eight a very difficult time. Amongst the backs nearly every cherry and white player appears to be in terrific form currently and they can afford to leave rising star Henry Trinder on the bench. Freddie Burns comes in for the injured Morgan at full back but we may see him line up at fly half later in the game against his former England U20 colleague (and direct competitor for that 10 shirt) Rory Clegg.
Robinson, Eliota F-S, Sharples and Voyce have been shredding teams recently, and are likely to construct some tries regardless of how well Quins defend. Danny Care will need to be at his best to help Clegg get the best out of their outside backs, and if they do function well then Quins could score a few tries of their own.
There are a few individual match-ups to savour across the teams, such as Sharples and Monye, EF-S and JT-H, Narraway and Easter, plus the long awaited return of Paul Doran Jones against Joe Marler! In the game at Kingsholm the Gloucester scrum mostly dominated the Quins pack and it will be no surprise to see a reoccurrence of this. One area where one would hope Quins get at least parity will be the lineout, what with Alex Brown not starting, the return of Robson and the decent throwing of Joe Gray.
The ground should be fairly close to being sold out and a crowd of 13 to 14,000 is precisely the extra man that Quins will need to win this game. The return of Easter couldn't have come sooner, and assuming there is no England hangover he is of paramount importance to the team's fortunes. If Quins get their mojo back and Easter gives a typically monstrous performance then I can see Quins sneaking a close win. However, bearing in mind the recent form of both sides it's perhaps a little more likely that Gloucester will have enough to prevent that.
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I'm excited already ... cannot wait to get down to the Stoop and cheer the boys on!
The game's afoot;
Follow your spirit: and upon this charge,
Cry — God for Harry! England and Saint George
