Preview: Bath at home. Time to pull the plug.

I went into the game last weekend with more hope than expectation that we would get a good enough performance to mean we got an important win on the road. Whilst it was a much improved performance, we still did not get the desired result and ended up on the wrong side of a 29-23 result. In the third ¼ of the match, Sale stepped it up and scored two tries which put us too far behind and a last gasp try from Egerton meant we picked up a losing bonus point which I thought we definitely deserved.

Whilst we must praise the fight to get back within seven points, we should have never have found ourselves in that position. We had enough chances to win that game and we did not take them. A little rant quickly, Hopper is not good enough to start even when people are out injured, surely our academy members are better options and I was impressed with Merchant when he came on. My man of the match for Quins was without a doubt Ben Botica. He is a real marmite player amongst us fans, but even his strongest haters must have been impressed with his play. This attacking play was verging on the world class at times as he managed to create real space for his team mates as well as making some very good breaks too. His assist for the Visser try was a fantastic bit of awareness to see where the space was and he managed to capitalise on it well. I thought Ward was his normal busy self, but Luamanu was the stand out in the pack as he finally seems to be fully fit. His carrying ability is a big asset to us and he is improving every week. 

However, a better performance cannot cover up the fact it was another loss and we are now down in 8th position with a real fight on our hands to stay in touch with the teams above us. We now have two HUGE home games before our internationals return and both are must-win fixtures to give us a shot of the top 4 and the top 6. We deserve to be there with our best XV out on the pitch and we just need to find a way of winning these two games. First up this Friday night is a game against Bath. Well where do I start with Bath? If we are disappointed with how our season is going, imagine how Bath fans feel. Many people tipped them to be the winners of the league this season, including me, so their fall from the top has been staggering considering the quality they have in their squad. I think it is partly down to team working out Bath and they have not developed and progressed their game plan this year. They did manage to however get a moral boosting bonus point win last weekend against London Irish but still it was only an eight point win against a pretty poor London Irish side. 

So onto the Bath players we need to watch out for. In the pack, Japanese international Mafi has made a huge impact and been really key in recent weeks for Bath but missed out last weekend through injury and I will be hoping he is still injured. Then Francois Louw who is a quality player in bad form at the moment but if he starts playing better we need to be strong at the breakdown to stop him having a large influence on the game. In the backs, Bath will be missing both of their flyhalves due to international duty, so whilst young gun Hastings has been normally starting during this period, I think they will go with Devoto at 10 due to Eastmond being back fit again. But we need to watch out for the strong carrying of Banahan and explosive Rokoduguni. 

Team Selections 
Well if we thought we were depleted last weekend, this week it could be getting worse. With Yarde dislocating his shoulder and Visser returning the international duty, We suddenly having are likely to be without ALL of our first choice backline. With Botica also struggling at points last weekend, we may not even have a flyhalf in the squad and I pray that is not the case. Once again, we will all be hoping that Lowe is back and fit this weekend and the lack of updates on his fitness is seriously worrying, especially as Hopper is the only other senior centre option at the moment. OLH could be back this weekend, so I would put Walker at 13 with Chisholm on the wing with OLH at full back if it is the case. If OLH and Lowe are still not fit, Merchant and Nairn need to be kept from going to U20 duty, which we are allowed to do although I know we do not like denying young players the experience of playing for U20 teams. Egerton played well when he came on last weekend but I also thought Tebaldi had his best game for us due to his quicker service and being a real threat around the breakdown. Luckily at the moment, we seem to have players returning in the pack rather than losing them. I would make two changes to the pack by bringing Jones back in at tighthead and Matthews in to partner Horwill as I thought Merrick was poor last week. 

My predicted Quins team; Lambert, Ward, Jones, Matthews, Horwill, Luamanu, Wallace, Easter; Tebaldi, Botica, Nairn (OLH if he is fit…), Sloan, Lowe (I HOPE if not, Merchant. please anyone but Hopper, maybe Ward can try centre? ), Walker, Chisholm. 

Bath team from EXETER match; Homer; Rokoduguni, Banahan, Eastmond, Agulla; Hastings, Cook; Lahiff, Batty, Thomas, Hooper (capt), Day, Houston, Louw, Mafi. 

I think the above Bath team is more relevant than the team that played against Irish last weekend as they will be without their international players. As I mentioned previously, I think they will probably go with Devoto at 10 as he is fit again. If Mafi is still not fit, expect Houston to move to 8, with Garvey coming in at 6. 


Okay, however difficult it is to forget the last couple of months, it is now time to move on and focus on this Bath game, knowing it is a game we need to win if we want to achieve something in the league this season. It is amazing despite our shocking run of form we are still not out of the race for the top four as we are still only five behind wasps in 4th and seven behind Leicester in 3rd. As everyone has tough games remaining still we are not out of it yet, but we need to win against a struggling Bath side. Whilst they have struggled this season, it is important to remember Bath still have some quality players in their team despite not having their international players so we will need to be at our best on Friday. We were much improved last weekend and I think a performance similar to that should take us pretty close to a win. However, we have to find that clinical edge to our game again and make sure that when we get chances in the opposition 22 we take them. We also cannot afford to have a 15-20 minute period when we drop slightly in our performance as it was ultimately a period of 15 minutes when we let Sale get on top in the match and dominate us enough to win the game. With the number of players we have out in the backs, our forwards have to step up and try to dominate the Bath pack because it is hard to expect a backline to function properly with so many players missing. 

Finally, I think we have a duty as fans to get back behind the team and real create another fantastic atmosphere at the Stoop. It has been frustrating for us fans because we know we are better than what we have shown in recent weeks but we have seen what a loud and boisterous atmosphere can do at the Stoop. It pushed the side on to two great victories against Saracens and Leicester, and it is time for another big Friday night performance from us. This season is nowhere near over yet and there is a lot to fight for. Sarries and Exeter will be praying we do not make the top 4 I think as we have shown we can compete with them when we are at full strength! We are still the only team to have beaten the proper Sarries team in my eyes. But now we are without a lot players and the team needs us even more, so let’s get loud and proud and get the team over the line on Friday. I think we will win a tight game just because we do not seem to have the quality at the moment to blow teams away, but I am confident a rocking Stoop can propel the team on to a good victory. 

My Prediction; Quins 24 Bath 18