Fireworks in Wycombe?

By Worried of Whitton (& a bit from Prof)
November 4 2004

Round 8 of the Zurich Premiership see NEC Harlequins head off to the Chiltern Hills for their away match against Wycombe Wasps, at the Causeway Stadium, kick off at 20.00 hrs.

This week, the diversion of the Heineken Cup is put on hold as we refocus our attentions on the domestic season and a “London Derby” Curiously this is one of three Premiership matches on Friday night!

I turned the page of my Quinssa calendar on Monday morning to reveal a picture of Ace Tiatia and the headline “PRIDE AND PASSION PERSONIFIED”. Serendipity is a wonderful thing as this phrase   embodies the performance of the whole team in the match against Castres last Saturday at the Stoop. Although the loosing streak was ended, it was only at the expense of a dramatic and most frustrating draw against the French. Surely a victory cannot be too far away. The two super tries scored by Dafydd James had opened up a respectable leads but the centre Dourthe’s kicking proved to a big problem, and with Vos’s injury, before being substituted, Castres managed to get a foothold back in the game. As discussed at length this week full back Tom Williams had an excellent game on Saturday. The clear winner of last weeks CAW Man of the Match, certainly surprised those who had not seen him play before, his pace and vision were a joy to see. He also surprised Dourthe as he slipped around him for the break that made James’s first try. So’oialo seems to have benefited from his sabbatical, maybe he just needed a few weeks break to recharge himself. The pack too, excelled. 

The other major talking point from Quins point of view is that it is understood that our two new signings, the Southern hemisphere locks, Simon Maling and Geo Cronje, will be available for selection this week. Their selection in the starting line up is not necessarily a foregone conclusion after the massive performances in recent weeks by Roy Winters and Simon Miall. Although this gives yet another selection headache for Mark Evans, it is one of the nicer kind. Both locks come fresh from their previous clubs and will have had just a few days to acclimatise to the Quins set up., and why break up a working partnership? So will they start? As this preview has been written early this week, two days before the team announcements, I’ve no idea but my guess is, if fit, they will be on the bench, and may get half an hour in the second half. Unfortunately there has not been an available seconds game for them, although I m not sure how Saracens “A”s would react to facing them next Monday night at the Stoop!. 

We now know that Simon Maling (who arrived earlier than Geo Cronjé) will be on the bench replacing Opeta Palepoi. It would have been tricky to have selected either one of our new signings to start after such a short time to train with the squad.

It seems that as soon as we get some good news about a player returning from injury we also get some bad news. Jon Dawson has returned from an injury that has been bothering him since the end of last season and James Hayter returns after his groin operation, things were starting to sound better in the front row until Mark Lambert and Ace Tiatia both picked up injuries this week putting us back to square one. It will be interesting to see how Ceri Jones does against Craig Dowd, let’s hope he repeats the performance put in by Jon Dawson two years ago when he scrummaged Dowd off the park. 

After Dallaglio’s comments about foreign club captains during the week it will be interesting to see Vos’s reply, the back row battle will certainly be one to watch. It will also be interesting to see how Miall and Winters react to the added pressure of the two new arrivals.

Wasps did not have such an easy ride away at Calvisano last weekend despite being 23 points ahead at half time their opposition clawed their way back to a final result of 22-31, and were denied a sought after bonus point. Gatland had rested Dallaglio and Van Gisbergen for this match, so it is likely they will feature on Friday night.

As well as having Dallaglio and van Ginsbergen back Gatland has also been able to include Richard Birkett, Jonny O’Connor and Tim Payne making it just about the strongest Wasps side we have seen for a while.

The biggest story from Wasps this week is the untimely retirement of half back Rob Howley, through long term injury, caused by a scaphoid injury when his hand was stamped on, in a Heineken Pool match against Perpignan last February. This is always a sad reason to retire, “it is a very scary feeling to be told that your rugby career is over.”  Howley has had a fantastic career at club and international level with 59 caps, 29 as Captain. He is looking to remain in the by coaching, possibly at Cardiff.  We wish him well for the future.

Being November 5^th I can guarantee some fireworks, but it remains to be seen whether they will be on the pitch! In this context, fireworks refer of course to a sparkling team performance, rather than any handbags at the breakdown. Failure to perform will however produce a rocket!  Quins do have a very good recent record against Wasps.  Looking at the head to head statistics the two teams have played each other 14 times in the Premiership and the spoils are equally shared with seven wins each. Closer examination reveals over the last six meetings Wasps have only won twice, in April 2002, at a cramped Loftus Road, and  last   February on a cold Sunday evening when Wasps snatched an injury time victory 22-21, despite three excellent tries, one of which scored by Monye after just one minute of play. Against Wasps Ugo is Quins top try scorer. 

One thing is for sure Harlequins will go into this match on the back of their much improved form. Although we’ve still to win a game this season losses by less than 7 points to Gloucester, Leicester, Munster and a draw with Castres does suggest the corner has been well and truly turned. Valuable bonus points have, been won to keep us in contention, with those sides above us but we also would like to see them slip up.  A win at the Causeway is certainly within their capabilities. The result of this match should not be deemed a foregone conclusion as a home win. Looking on the Wasps board this week there are a couple of interesting posts regarding our performance against Castres, 

 “Went to watch Volley and Denny on Saturday - neither of whom had a great game….. Quins played well and the pack was very useful. They missed one line out the whole afternoon and rolling maul was very effective. Their massive weak link was Staunton at 10. Missed easy kicks, not great in the loose. Still it will be a tough game on Friday night. Not really sure how they are bottom of the table. James and Greenwood beginning to come into there own”.

“I did think that Quins seem to be sorting the problems and will not be the "easy Game" many think this Friday! (We never seem to have an easy game against them anyway!). Losing Vos was a big loss for them, and he will be missed on Friday if he can not make it (Will not be missed by Wasps!!).”

As pointed out to me the last time the two teams met, Quins will of course be ably helped by the home supporters loudly chanting their appreciation and affection for our Club Captain, are you ready BatQuin?

 

Come on you Quins!

 

 

Players to Watch:  Tom Williams, Ceri Jones & Simon Maling coming off the bench

Prediction: Well this should be easy, Wasps have won their last seven games, Quins haven’t won yet this season, but, we predict it as another hard fought match with Quins taking an away win, bonus point for Wasps, 

NEC Harlequins:
15. Tom Williams,  14. George Harder, 13. Will Greenwood 12. Daffyd James, 11. Simon Keogh, 10. Jeremy Staunton, 9. Steve So’oialo, 1. Mike Worsley, 2. Tani Fuga, 3. Ceri Jones, 4. Roy Winters, 5. Simon Miall, 6. Nick Easter,  7. Andre Vos (c), 8, Tony Diprose
Replacements:  
16. James Hayter, 17. Jon Dawson, 18. Simon Maling, 19. Luke Sherriff, 20. Andy Dunne, 21. Mel Deane, 22. Gavin Duffy 

London Wasps :
15. Mark Van Gisbergen, 14. Josh Lewsey, 13. Fraser Waters, 12. Ayoola Erinle, 11. Tom Voyce, 10. Alex King, 9. Matt Dawson, 1. Craig Dowd, 2. Phil Greening, 3. Tim Payne, 4. Simon Shaw, 5. Richard Birkett, 6. Joe Worsley, 7. Jonny O’Connor, 8. Lawrence Dallaglio (C)
Replacements:
16. Trevor Leota, 17. Will Green, 18. Mark Lock, 19. John Hart, 20. Peter Richards, 21. James Brooks, 22. Edd Thrower

 

Referee: Dave Pearson