Prof’s Positives – Week 0 – The Pre-seasons

By The Prof
September 11 2003

Well a new season is very nearly upon us with London Wasps being our first visitors and the Rugby World Cup just a few short weeks away too. This is going to prove a very interesting season, teams will have to show the strength in depth of their squads to progress well in the Zurich Premiership.

The management team at Quins have bought in few big names but have brought in a number of skilled players who are on the fringes of international play. Will Quins do well and end up in the top half of the league for the first time in many years? Only time will tell. This regular column will carry on from last season, it will report the positives in all things Quins from the previous week.

This first ‘Prof’s Positives’ will cover the pre-season matches, a pre-season that should have our team better prepared than at the same point in previous seasons.

The first games were away in the south of France in the sweltering August heat, matches were played in Beziers and Millau and the teams played were Montpellier, Beziers and Castres. Only the Montpellier half game was won but a number of positives came from them. Then it was off to Wales to play Newport Gwent Dragons where we got an away win, the seconds then played London Welsh 1st XV followed by the final pre-season against Saracens at home both were wins.

Let’s go through the team area by area:

The Front Row: Jon Dawson, Laurent Gomez, Ceri Jones, Mike Worsley & Cameron Dott, James Hayter, Ace Tiatia (England duty: Jason Leonard, Injured: Tani Fuga)
We have seen the front row perform consistently well in the pre-season games with the only hiccoughs coming in France.
Jon Dawson is turning into an incredibly good tight-head, the problems he was causing in the match against Saracens just shows what great scrummaging skills he has. He also picked himself a try against Castres.
Laurent Gomez is a fabulous scrummager as we all know but he doesn’t seem quite back to full fitness after having more work on his ankle
Ceri Jones was one player who was brought in as cover towards the end of last season and has been excellent since his first game. He is a lively player and a break he made against Beziers showed not only surprising pace but good ball handling and awareness when he put Tom Williams in to score. Newport must be kicking themselves that they let him go.
Mike Worsley was one of the summer signings, he has fitted in well, he is a strong scrummager and brings in ball carrying options around the fringes, he is surprisingly fast too.
Cameron Dott is the Academy hooker, very much in the mould of Hayter, he has performed well in both pre-season and U21 games so far, I would expect him to break into the full squad in a couple of years.
James Hayter has done well, he is an athletic hooker and his line out throwing is of the highest order. He had a little trouble at times in France, then again most front rows do. It will be a battle between him and Ace for the number two shirt until Tani returns.
Ace Tiatia is still giving all, he is an uncompromising player and didn’t get on the field in France as he was still recovering from shoulder surgery. In the games against Saracens he came on as a replacement and was instrumental in two tries showing great handling skills. He might be a bit too big to work well with our props so expect to see him more as a flanker.

The Second Row: Bill Davison, Jim Evans, Simon Miall (Injured: Karl Rudzki)
This is an area where many people think we are a bit short of numbers, but the players we have have performed well in the pre-seasons.
Bill Davison seems to have been around for ages just look back at your programmes from the 90s and you will see him. He has brought his uncompromising dasypygal style of play combined with excellent mobility.
Jim Evans has shown his great athleticism, not only has he been doing very well in the lineouts but he has shown his speed around the park with a great score against London Welsh
Simon Miall continues to do well in the lineout and he couples this with excellent play around the park, he is often in the top two or three tacklers and wins a lot of ball on the ground. Barring injury he should be the first choice lock all season.

The Back Row: Chris Cracknell, Tony Diprose, Tom Guest, Gavin Hart, Kai Horstmann, Pat Sanderson, Luke Sherriff, Ace Tiatia, Andre Vos, Roy Winters
An embarrassment of riches in this area, getting the right mix will be the hard thing
The youngsters (Cracknell, Guest, Hart and Horstmann) all look very promising and when Horstmann was given two half games in France he performed extremely well, expect to see more of them all in years to come
Tony Diprose isn’t the fastest number eight in the game but he makes up for it with his handling skills, lineout work and judoesque way of turning the opposition in the tackle.
Pat Sanderson captained the side in Beziers and performed well, he will need to be on the top of his game to keep out the likes of Sherriff. He has played a couple of games at blindside with Vos at openside in the pre-season, is this where the management see him fitting in this season?
Luke Sherriff captained the seconds against London Welsh, he is an out and out openside and he’ll need to perform well to break into a line up that boasts Vos, Tiatia, Winters, Sanderson and Diprose.
Andre Vos makes his first season start for Quins, he has shown his usual great captaincy both on and off the field so far and as always has played exceptionally well. I think we are forgetting what a great player he is. He should probably be the South African captain in the World Cup but thankfully he will be ours instead.
Roy Winters has only started one game so far, the match against Castres. He has been a little quiet so far but let’s hope he gets back into the swing of things and presses for a first team place.

The Half Backs: Scott Bemand, Max Evans, Simon Keogh, Ben Willis & Paul Burke, Andy Dunne, Adrian Jarvis
Scott Bemand is still recovering from shoulder surgery and has been sent to Bristol on loan. He is probably third choice behind Keogh and Willis.
Max Evans is in the Academy and looks to be very promising in the mould of Billy Fulton.
Simon Keogh can also play on the wing and he has incredible pace he should be pushing Willis all the way for the number 9 shirt. He had a great game on the wing against Saracens.
Ben Willis looks the part at scrum half, he has a quick pass and he scored a good try and was excellent in open play against Beziers
Paul Burke is as dependable as always and has been looking good with the fast service he has been getting from the two new Irish scrum halfs. His kicking is still top draw and I would expect him to still be first choice fly half because of it.
Andy Dune is a more attacking player than Burke and for this reason he gives another option in the half backs, his kicking isn’t quite up to Burke’s standard but then again whose is?
Adrian Jarvis is in the Academy and his outings for Quins so far this season have shown him as an attacking fly half with good speed and excellent hands. He looks like he’ll need to beef up a bit if he wants to go all the way in rugby but he looks to be a good talent so far

The Centres: Tom Allan, Henry Barratt, Chris Bell, Mel Deane, Andy Reay (England Duty: Will Greenwood)
The centre partnership of Bell and Deane looked to be first choice in Greenwood’s absence but injury hit them both in Newport, Bell will still be out for a while yet.
Tom Allan is in the academy and he had a good game against Saracens and in the U21 game against London Welsh he tore through the opposition midfield again and again. He looks a very good prospect but there are other people in line before him at the moment.
Henry Barratt is just returning from injury and hasn’t played a part as yet this season. Barratt and Reay have been a good centre pairing for Quins U21s, the 2nd XV and for England U21
Chris Bell was playing very well before being carried off with a nasty injury in Newport, it looks like he’ll be out for a while but will pressing for a place when he does return
Mel Deane, alongside Ceri Jones, Mel was another surprise signing towards the end of last season, with Bell he looked good before injury sidelined him, His direct style of running and solid defence suits our style of play. He is a quick healer and should be returning to action soon.
Andy Reay had his first 1st XV start in that terrible game against Northampton last season, he is a good young player, he reminds me of a young Greenstock. He’ll be there or thereabouts all season

The Back Three: Gavin Duffy, George Harder, Matt Moore, Ugo Monye, Josh Taumalolo, Tom Williams (Injured Rob Jewell)
There is some real pace and skill in our back three choices now, will they emulate the glory days of O’Leary, Luger and Williams – here’s hoping they do.
Gavin Duffy is a utility back with great skills, he reminds me a bit of a young Greenwood. He could do with a bit more bulk, but then again I say that about most backs. With his ‘utility’ tag he might be on the bench as cover for most back positions.
George Harder Leeds' loss is our gain, he looks like an excellent signing and he likes to get involved. It has taken two or three defenders to stop him every time he gets the ball and his defence on the wing has been excellent.
Matt Moore has had another curate’s egg of a pre-season, he still has the pace and jinking running style that sees him scoring a lot of tries but his defence and work under the high ball could do with a bit of a brush up.
Ugo Monye has pace and lots of it, he is also deceptively strong and a good defender too. The try he scored up the left against Saracens against Haughton showed just how fast he is. Expect him to start every game on the wing.
Josh Taumalolo can play at fullback or centre and he has an easy running style that masks his speed, he has a frighteningly powerful tackle as one of the Castres locks found out. He and Duffy will probably be scrapping it out for the 15 shirt. He has picked up a knee injury but shouldn’t be out for long.
Tom Williams is in the Academy but played, and played well, in the games in Beziers on the left wing. He is undoubtedly skilled and has a good defence for someone with a slight build. He also had a great game for the U21s against London Welsh and he certainly seems to enjoy his rugby.

If we can avoid further long term injuries and if Paul Turner can turn the highly skilled backs into a unit in the same way that John Kingston has done with the forwards then we are in for a good season. There are a number of Academy players who are close to becoming regulars in the first team squad this competition for places can only be a good thing. The pundits are generally backing us to struggle again - what more of a spur do the players need?

The U19s and U21s both performed well in their first matches especially when you remember that they have a number of players out because of calls up to the first team squad. The U21s should do very well in the new league this season if the 84-5 drubbing of London Welsh is anything to go by.

The Ladies have won both of their opening games by large margins and without full sides out, the loss of Leah Carey (England number 8) who is off to university will be quite a loss though. The Amateurs have a new coach this season and have started their cup campaign with a good win over Lightwater.

With the club selling more season tickets than ever before (they've almost reached the 4000 cap) and having a settled pack and a skilled set of backs this could be the best season we have had for quite a while, D.V.