Preview: Harlequins vs. Leicester

One cup final down, three to go... Quins ripped up the form sheet against Sale up at the AJ Bell Stadium, putting in a bonus point performance which could have been more, as Sale struggled to cope with the intensity Quins brought at the breakdown.

A Tremendous performances from the whole team blew away a much touted Sale side that started the first 5 minutes strongly but then fell away after another piece of individual magic from Nick Evans.

Meanwhile Leicester, still chasing a home playoff berth, were ripping it up against Wasps. However they were pushed for their bonus point win, eventually seeing off a persistent Wasps side when Tuilagi’s power proved too much for a tiring defence. The win saw them make up ground on Northampton who came up short against a powerful Sarries side and the gap between them is now only 3 points. 

In past meetings at the Stoop, Quins have had the measure of Tigers and earlier on this season when both sides were struggling with injury recorded a notable win at Welford Road. This time around however, as is typical at the end of the season, Tigers are on a rampant run of form, winning their last 7 Premiership games. 

They arrive at the Stoop with a much reduced injury list, their long term absentees remain the same, Croft, Benjamin, Camacho and Cole, however Mulipola will be fit as will be recent returnee, Geoff Parling. Others who will be presenting Cockers with dilemmas will be Anthony Allen, fit again after a week’s rest and Niall Morris returns after shaking off a persistent hand injury. 

It’s unlikely that Cockerill will pick anything but his strongest side as he looks to push on and overtake Saints into that crucial last home semi final berth. As such expect to see familiar foes, Marcus Ayerza at loosehead, Tom Youngs at hooker and Logovi’i Mulipola lining up once again at tight head where he has performed fantastically since Cole’s injury. Decision time will come at lock, where if Parling is 100% fit I expect to see him take the park alongside Graham Kitchener. If ‘Poppa’ Parling is fit to return then this will necessitate moving current Leicester captain, Ed Slater to the no 6 berth. Since Slater has taken up the captains armband it seems to have galvanised him further, already having a sterling season he has taken the additional responsibility and driven on. He’s likely to be joined in the back row by jackal supreme, Julian Salvi, who no doubt will be looking forward to renewing acquaintances with Mr Wallace, leaving Jordan Crane to complete the back row. 

Moving to the visitors backs, Ben Youngs hasn’t had the greatest season, however in recent weeks he has somewhat shown flashes of what made him the great hope at scrum half for England. Likely to be picked in the face of stern competition from David Mele, he will be keen to perform up against the present incumbent of the No9 white shirt, Danny Care. There have been signs that his relationship with Owen Williams, again benefitting from being given a run, is beginning to flourish. When Youngs is playing confidently with his half back partner, you will see him reduce the amount of snipes down blind allies that often lead to turnovers and play more in tandem. To break that axis up, Quins will have to send men down the channel. 

At centre with Allen fit to return, Leicester will sport their first choice back line, Tuilagi will play at outside centre, with top try scorer Niki Goneva and recent signing, Blaine Scully on the wings with Matt Tait mopping things up at the back. With that back line Leicester have the capability of trucking it up the centre channels and then having the hands to fling it wide for clinical wingers. Goneva in particular has been sensational this season and seems to break the first tackle at will, he has been ably assisted by Scully who has surprised a few with the depth of his play. Add to that the consistency and defensive cohesion that Allen brings and that really is a tough unit to crack, however possibly not the quickest unit. 

Quins have been upping the ante since their England players returned to the fold, most commentators pointing to this as the reason for the upturn in recent form. However it has also been the return from injury of a number of squad players and the promotion of Kyle Sinckler that has had an equal impact. From playing games with only one fit centre, in recent weeks we have had both JTH and Molly lining up, enabling the style of play to be more settled rather than makeshift. Sinckler has meanwhile made the TH berth his own after taking over from the singularly unimpressive Paul Doran-Jones, his carrying in the loose has been impressive and as games go by he is learning how to cope with the wily operators opposite him. He’s not there yet, but playing with a settled front row has benefitted him and he continues to develop at a rapid rate. 

That settled front row comprising of Joe Marler at loosehead, if he shakes off the knock from last week, and Dave Ward at hooker has been developing game by game. Unbelievably having a hooker who actually hooks the ball puts us at a tremendous advantage against other teams who have not made the change yet. Leicester are one such team and if there is anything approaching parity at strike time look for Ward to try to snaffle ball against the head. For me Matthews has to partner Robson in the second row, he brings more grunt come set piece time and whilst he’s a little clumsy on occasion he gets to more rucks and offers more round the field. In the back row, Robshaw and Easter will be fit to take their places and Conor could be tempted to bring Fa’asavalu into the starting line up to aim runs at that half back pairing of Leicesters. However it would be a brave man who omitted Luke Wallace after his bravura performance last week which even had the Leicester Lip purring. If he does start Wallace will renew rivalry with Salvi over the breakdown area (assuming he’s not on the wing!!!), and in previous collisions he has fronted up well, Salvi even blotting his copybook with a yellow for persistent infringement. Of course this is purely down to the referees interpretation... interestingly however it will be man of the moment, Tim Wigglesworth (referee of the Kingsholm Kickoff at the weekend), the very same man who refereed the game at Welford Road this season and carded the Tigers No7. 

Danny Care and Nick Evans will resume their half back partnership, both are in a rude vein of form and have been instrumental in the upturn in Quins fortunes in the past few weeks. Whilst Dickson is a suitable replacement in the event of Care being injured, less certain is how Botica would fare in the absence of Evans. This is not saying he’s a bad player, just that the delta between Evans in the form he is in and Botica playing as he is, is vast. Protection of our No10 for the end of the season is vital. 

In the centres, once again it’s a case of last men standing, although the two incumbents currently have begun to strike a bit of a partnership. Jordan Turner-Hall looked a lot better last week, and whilst still not setting the world on fire, he did the simple things well, didn’t get held up in choke tackles or make reckless knock-ons, a significant plus. Molenaar continues to defy why Glaws ever let him go, for a 33 year old he has been a welcome stopgap for us and has possibly convinced O’Shea to keep him for another year. Whilst this centre pairing lacks subtlety they will back themselves in holding back the Tuilagi power. 

The real selection dilemma this week for Conor will be in the back three, whilst Williams and Walker are rumoured to be fit and Chisholm having announced his return with a sub appearance last week, there are decisions to be made. Walker enjoyed a fantastic start to the season after a successful JP Morgan 7’s campaign and proved himself a Premiership quality player grabbing a clutch of tries before injuring a shoulder. However there is really only one wing position open to fight for, the soon to be Worcester top try scorer, Sam Smith having taken the other and Mike Brown claiming the full back shirt. So will Conor be brave and select Walker and hope for a return of early season form, or stick with Lindsay-Hague who has performed well during the 6 Nations campaign and further? Add into the equation Tom Williams back after a lengthy lay off and Chisholm champing at the bit... For me I think Conor will go a little safe on this, if Williams is 100% fit he’ll take the bench spot, and there will be no change to the current back 3 of OLH, Browny and Smith. We may see a little more of Walker in the Exeter away game, however with so much on the table in these last few matches having a game changer on the bench would be vital. 

Leicesters bench will be traditionally strong and if they are ahead come the 60 minute mark things will be vastly more difficult for Quins. Speed to the breakdown and a domination of our own lineout ball will be instrumental in making sure our half backs have sufficient quick ball to spark the Quins-style play. Significant improvement is needed at scrum-time to challenge Leicester, even against Sale we have had to be thankful to Nick Easter for his quick hands at plucking the ball out from a retreating pack before the whistle blows. From a personal note, it’d be nice to not have a crick in my neck from watching all the action down the North end as we defend our try line then come out with a decent game plan in the second half. 

Both teams will be geared for this, it’s going to take a colossal effort for Quins to turn over Leicester here and do the double over them this season. Keeping Tuilagi quiet is something Quins have done well in recent confrontations... they will need to keep that up this time to stand a chance of toppling the Champions. 

Quins by 5pts.....!!! (heart ruling head here) 

COYQ!!!!!!