Vos in Boots, or the Saracens Preview

By Worried of Whitton
December 23 2004

This week we see a return to the Zurich Premiership after three weeks of miserable European and Domestic Cup action that frankly, is best forgotten about. On Sunday December26th the second half of Harlequins domestic season begins with an away match against local rivals Saracens, kick off 15.00.

Well slap my thigh!, Boxing Day marks the official start of the Pantomime season, and those of you who have been following the fortunes of the  team over the last three weeks, will already know that they are already well rehearsed for this annual highlight of the theatrical calendar. “Oh no they’re not!”   “Oh yes they are!”  

Sources close to Saracens deny any conspiracy in the timing of this match, or cynical intent on reducing the away support, “hissssssssss”.  Bearing in mind that there is no public transport, and with Westbus unable to provide either pumpkin or white mice, away supporters have been left to drive themselves to and from Watford. Resourceful as ever, the “Quinderella” supporters “shall go to the ball”  I cannot understand why this match is taking place on Sunday, when all the other Premiership matches have been scheduled for the following day which is also a public holiday. Watford FC are also playing their football away on Sunday at Reading.

Since joining Quins Mark Evans has seen four coaches come and three go at Saracens. Nigel Wray is now banking that Diamond will give Saracens a cutting edge, and not be just another diamond in the rough, like those Southern Hemisphere coaches of Pinaar, Shelford and Kafer before him. If you recall the writing was on the wall for Kafer when Wray walked out of the match at the Stoop a few ago when Quins literally kick started their season. Kafer did have a more focused approach to coaching and playing structure and has left the club in a better shape than the one he joined. Diamond of course has a good track record, along with Jim Malinder in coaching Sale towards the established outfit we see today. It remains to be seen whether this Diamond “works wonders”, and injects some realism into Saracens a club more used to fantasising about results than obtaining them. To their credit, Saracens have reached the quarter finals of the Powergen, although it is likely that had the match continued for another 5 minutes Saracens would have been overcome by the resurgent boot of Jonny Wilkinson, who came so close on two occasions in injury time. Saracens are also still in the Parker Pen competition, but in the domestic league they have once more been drawn into what is looking to be a vicious relegation scrap between no and the end of April.  Once more, this week, we have seen the vitriol, finger pointing and further rumours regarding the tenacity of our very own coach, from supporters who perhaps do not understand the complexities and subtitles of “managing change” in the business world today. 

As I’ve said before Mark Evans is a very shrewd business man, and he is also a juggler. He has stated many times of the need to balance the books, at the same time as expanding the club, and he has a sound business plan to follow this through. There is only a fixed pot of money to pay for the redevelopment of the West Stand and the salary bill. In order to balance the books, Evans has gambled with the replacement players. A gamble which has already  paid off when you consider Nick Easter, and does also have the ability to pay further dividends, before the end of the season, with Maling and Cronje. Forget the Cup competitions; it is the Premiership that we need to focus on this year. We lost a lot of experience at the end of last season. Those players who left for other clubs at the end of last have used their experience gained at Quins to further their careers at their new clubs. Those that have replaced them are still on that learning curve and with a little more confidence and self belief and of course discipline, they will gel into a consistent and winning side. We have seen how this team can perform; you only have to remember the home match against Saracens.

Commenting in the London Evening Standard this week, Andre Vos, put the teams recent performances in context; "Individually and collectively we have a responsibility to get things right on the pitch. There is a lot of investment being put into the club and the fans have shown their commitment by buying a record number of season tickets. Now, it's our turn to produce the goods. The recent run of defeats came, I believe, because we got into a rut in terms of our preparation for big games and that's now been addressed. We have a big job to do and I am confident that we have the tools to succeed” 

Quins also have a great investment for the future in their academy of youngsters. It is clear that our current performance and league position was not part of the plan, but we should not loose sight of the fact of the number of loosing bonus points collected indicates  that a large number of matches which we lost were very close games with the final result in the balance until the final whistle. There was a very fine line between winning and losing, and no one from the top down like to loose.

Quins currently lie in tenth place in the Zurich Premiership, following back to back league wins against Saracens, Sale and Leeds,and they have to make this match their fourth league win, to continue their march up the table. A win would move Quins into ninth position, irrespective of all other results on Monday. Indeed if Leeds trip up we could find ourselves in eighth come Monday night, providing we win. Every match is crucial and we cannot rely on the results of the matches of the teams immediately below us “behind you !” or indeed those above us. This weekend, the other critical matches are, eleventh place Worcester away at Leicester, while bottom placed Northampton are away to London Irish, and ninth placed Leeds entertain Newcastle at Headingley.

It is very tight in the bottom half of the table. The opening salvos in our four month battle to stay in the Premiership start this weekend, and the match on Boxing Day has to be targeted as a win, no matter how it is achieved. In addition the following week, when Wasps, like Dick Whittington, travel to London to meet Quins at the Stoop, in what will also be a crucial match. It is going to be tough but Quins will finish above the relegation zone. Our record at Vicarage Road does not make good reading loosing on the last five visits, but Quins are capable of a win, as we did take Saracens part just a few weeks ago, with a very similar team. On Sunday, Quins must ensure we do not have a repeat of their last two matches which saw them score first and then sit back, and whilst still in the match at half time, they self destruct as the second half progresses. Indiscipline leading to more Quins players being sin binned in just a few weeks, than in the whole of last season has cost Quins dearly over the past few weeks. 

As this preview went to press, the Team news had still not been published, and therefore please check on the Quins official site for details of the team selection, and that of the Saracens team, if it is published, with the club office staff already enjoying their Christmas holiday, prior to relocating due to the West Stand Development

Despite the past few weeks, I’m confident that Santa will give us the Christmas gift that we’ve been waiting for, the double over Saracens, and of course a brand new “ruggedised” clipboard for Scotty.

Finally, may I wish you all a very Happy Christmas,

 

 

Come on you Quins!

You have to win this.

 

 

NEC Harlequins:  tbc
Replacements:  
  

 

 

Saracens :
Replacements:  tbc

 

Match Officials:
Dame: Ashley Rowden
Ugly Sisters : Bob Mullis, Paul Emerson