Battle of the Back Row ‘Boks

By Worried of Whitton
September 9 2004

NEC Harlequins take on top of the table Northampton Saints on Saturday at the Stoop (kick off 3.00pm). This is our first home match of the season and sets up an interesting, if not physical, encounter between the back rows as two former Springboks, Andre Vos and Corne Krige face each other.

The teams had completely different starts to their campaigns this year. Quins played a very disappointing game, loosing to London Irish in the inaugural “London Double Header at Twickenham. Maybe “first match nerves”  and the aura of playing at HQ played their part but for Quins the match was a litany of poor handling, poor ball retention and missed opportunities. As Mark Evans commented “It wasn’t a particularly good performance all round really; we just didn’t really function today”.  On the other hand Northampton got their season off to a flying start with what appears to be  very comprehensive demolition of Bath outscoring them by four tries to one and gaining a precious bonus point .By all accounts Reihana ‘s try is an early entrant for the “try of the season”. However there have been some reports circulating this week that the result flattered their performance, as they hardly got into the Bath 22 all match, with the tries coming from turn overs.

There has been a lot of negative comment on the CAW board this week following Quins’ performance at Twickenham, and although in general it was a poor performance the score line of 18-12 was certainly not indicative of our Waterloo!  The result of the “A’s” match against Saracens on Monday night showed that we have not lost our abilities during the summer break and we are able to score tries and dominate a match. There are a number of positives can be taken from last Saturday, despite it being a very scrappy match. We did create a number of scoring chances but we unable to capitalise upon them. However, the main area of concern were our poor line outs, and lack of ball retention. If you can t keep possession you’re not going to be able to attack. Despite a couple of appalling high tackles on Ugo Monye and Andy Dunne, the only injury picked up last week was by Tani Fuga who has strained knee  ligaments and has been replaced this week by James Hayter.

Of the new signings, Staunton put in a very good performance, he kicked from hand with precision .He was my Quins MotM, and he’ll certainly be pushing Dunne all season for the start in the No 10 shirt. The  competition for places is always good. Dunne, however has the nod over Staunton again this week, although I’m sure we will see him on during the second half. The CAW message board jury is still out on So’oialo’ s performance there were flashes of inspiration from him last week and it is clear to see why he has been signed. Unfortunately he seemed to fade after an hour or so and I thought that maybe Keogh should  be wearing the number 9 shirt on Saturday. However with George Harder on the bench it suggests that this was not an option, although there is the option to switch things around during the match.  The team selection has gone for speed on the wings to counter attacks from Cohen and Rudd, We all recall Keogh putting two tries past them in November, we’d love him to do it again.

Molitika’s appearance as an impact player was effective last week and I m pleased to see him to start this Saturday in the back row along side Sherriff and Vos who moves to No 8, in order to contend with the powerful Northampton back row which also includes Blowers and Seeley. Sheriff’s start is a delight to see and well earned following his performances against Ulster and Saracens in the ‘A’s match on Monday. This is certainly an exciting combination. Diprose is on the bench returning from the injury to his hand. Speaking with some Saracens supporters last week they said that allowing  Dippy to leave their club was one of their biggest mistakes in the past few years. 

Like many I felt very downhearted in Saturday night, and at the start of this week I was not very confident about the outcome of this weeks match. Yet as the days have rolled by the more time I have had time to reflect and the more research undertaken, I think we have a good chance of countering their attack. I m sure the performance issues  have been analysed and will have been ironed out on the training ground  this week, although there is no better substitute than reality  and the early season always throws up surprise results.

There have been some major changes at Northampton over the summer as the Smith Era “waned” with the arrival of new head coach, Alan Solomons from Ulster. A more cosmopolitan squad is now resident at Franklins Gardens Most notable new comer is of course Krige, whose immediate promotion to captain has given a clear intention that Northampton are clearly focusing on finishing top. Northampton have picked up the reputation for underachieving in recent seasons and whilst it may take time for the new team to gel, there is a huge expectation which Krige believes he can deliver. Here at the Stoop we have ourselves witnessed the inspiration a strong former Springbok Captain can bring to the squad. Krige lead by example last Saturday against Bath as he charged into the breakdown, similar to Vos. Match reports suggest that Northampton were very aggressive in defence by pushing up very fast to close down on the fly half preventing an outside pass. Their rucking and mauling turned over a lot of ball, which coupled with their pace, resulted in their four tries. We need to ensure we don t given them the turnover opportunities. In addition to Krige forwards Boome also made the journey from South Africa and Northampton have large array of International players on display. Thomson’s throws could prove crucial as line outs also a proved to be problematical for Northampton last week  Fly half, Grayson will play well with some very astute kicking and given the opportunity, if we give away too many penalties, he always keeps the points ticking over, which may account for Tiatia starting on the bench.

Northampton appear to have no injury or fitness worries. On Wednesday, this week they were confident enough to name a virtually unchanged side from the one that defeated Bath. They announced just one change with Cohen, replacing Human on the left  wing. Cohen will be a slippery customer for Ugo to hold, but it will be the back row battle between Krige and Vos which will be great to watch and whichever of the two captains comes out on top may well go a long way to deciding the outcome.

It is difficult to predict a result so soon into the new season. Harlequins have only lost twice at the Stoop since the two teams last meet there in November, when Quins convincingly won 43-21. The Quins’ faithful will be looking for a repeat performance on Saturday afternoon. Northampton, however, have a very good record at the The Stoop, only loosing away to Quins, twice in the past seven years. My heart says Quins but my head says Northampton but Quins for a bonus point. 

Speaking after last weeks match Mike Scott said “The Zurich Premiership is a very tough league and unless you play to within 5% of your optimum performance each week then you will struggle.  This Saturday, against very strong opponents, we have the opportunity to put in a performance of a more acceptable standard than last week”.

We are certainly going to see a better game than last week. Come on you Quins!

Players to Watch   Simon Keogh, Andre Vos

Prediction: A close and very hard fought match with the looser picking up a bonus point.

NEC Harlequins:
15. Gavin Duffy, 14. Ugo Monye, 13. Will Greenwood, 12. Mel Deane, 11. Simon Keogh, 10. Andy Dunne, 9. Steve So’oialo, 1. Mike Worsley, 2. James Hayter, 3. Jon Dawson, 4. Karl Rudzki, 5. Simon Miall, 6 Maama Molitika, 7. Luke Sherriff, 8. Andre Vos (c),
Replacements: 16. Ace Tiatia , 17. Ceri Jones, 18. Roy Winters, 19.Kai Horstmann, 20. Tony Diprose, 21. Jeremy Staunton, 22. George Harder

Northampton Saints:
15 Bruce Reihana, 14 John Rudd, 13 Mark Tucker,12 Marc Stcherbina, 11 Ben Cohen, 10 Paul Grayson, 9 Mark Robinson, 1 Tom Smith, 2 Steve Thomson,  3 Robbie Kempson, 4 Selborne Boome, 5 Damien Browne, 6 Andrew Blowers, 7 Corne Krige (c),  8 Grant Seely.
Replacements:16 Dan Richmond, 17 Robbie Morris, 18 Matt Lord,19 Darren Fox, 20 Johnny Howard, 21 Shane Drahm, 22 Wylie Human