Quins must break the mould!

The script this season appears to read thus;

First Half
-Quins dominate from the start and take an early lead with a penalty;
-Lead extended with a well work worked try but miss the conversion;
-The opposition fight back and penalties traded for the rest of the half;
-At half time the game is finely balanced, with a few points difference between the teams

Second Half
-The opposition come out fighting and take the lead through a converted try; -Penalties once more traded;
-Midway through the half Quins player sin binned;
-Opposition extends their lead with a penalty;
-Quins fight back in the second half but it is too late;
-Dependent upon the discipline, get losing bonus point.

Result:
-frustration all round.

Harlequins have to break this mould in order to remain in the Premiership. Whilst 32-17 final score line flattered Leicester it was a match where Harlequins were dominant in the first half and until injury time defended very well leaking only six points, especially being down to fourteen men. The cynic may well argue that we are so used to being a man down each week it has no effect. Harlequins' biggest problem is their indiscipline. Whether this is caused by frustration and determination to win it is hard to locate, BUT it has to stop. This is one area in which we have a control that will affect our destiny. At Leicester, we gave away far too many penalties and against a team who have a sure shot, Harlequins were well and truly kicked into touch by a Goode boot! who secured 18 points for the spot. This week we face the boot of Henry Paul, however reading the Gloucester review of their match against Worcester last week I was amused to read "As is now obligatory in every match, Henry's conversion attempt hit the post, this time it bounced down on the wrong side".

Last weekends results of those clubs with us in the lower half of the table, ensured not much change in the bottom six with only Saracens increasing their tally by picking up five points against Newcastle, and Leeds win kept London Irish in check. The bottom three all lost without collecting any bonus points. This week sees Worcester at home to Leeds, Northampton at home to Saracens, and London Irish entertaining Sale. It is the results of these games too that will have an effect on the final table come the end of the season. These are games over which we have no control of the outcome. A win for any of these clubs, including Quins, sucks those who lose deeper into the mire.

With the Six Nations competition also kicking off this weekend and key players on International duty, predicting the results is not easy. Without entering into the debate, fair or not, Quins need to seize this opportunity as their chances of beating Gloucester are have to enhanced with Messrs Vickery, Hazel and Forrester playing down in Cardiff, and Quins able to select from a full squad of those who are fit enough to play.

Returning to the aptly titled 'Another bonus point slips by' the review of Gloucester - Worcester match on the Gloucester supporters site, makes interesting reading and shows how a fired up Quins side could well pull off a home win, against a fallible Gloucester team. Quote

If you judged this match by the scoreline, it would look pretty emphatic, a comfortable win for the home side. The scoreline doesn't tell the true story though, and had Worcester shown a bit more poise in the second half it could have been a very different story. With a comfortable lead at half time, Worcester struggling to get any kind of possession and with two tries in the bag Gloucester should have gone on to close this game out with a fairly routine bonus point scoring victory. Instead we got a dose of the jitters that meant too many errors, to much forcing the game and not enough concentration. As a result Worcester got back into it and only some dogged defensive work prevented them from getting something out of the game. Gloucester seemed to lose their way after a second half scuffle that saw Phil Vickery and Andre van Niekerk dispatched to the sin bin, and what we ended up with was another subdued display..

The last two matches at between the two clubs have been very close affairs. At Kingsholm in October Quins forwards played extremely well and stole a lot of ball, with the Gloucester players missing we should easily be able to do the same again, especially with Vickery not playing. Looking through the match statistics for previous Quins v Gloucester matches, the visitors top try scorer has been penalty tries!, with four in the last fifteen matches, so it shows that we defend a lot when playing Gloucester. In comparison, for Quins, top try Score was Daren O'Leary. Paul and Gomersall will, however, be out to prove that should have been included in the final England Squad, Coincidentally it is almost four years to the day, February 6th 2001, since Harlequins last beat Gloucester 21-19 at the Stoop. With fifteen Premiership Matches between them Quins have only won five, but that should not preclude their performance this weekend.

The Quins Team will not be announced until Friday morning as the club wait on late fitness tests, But Scotty has confirmed that Andre Vos makes his return following an ankle injury. We are therefore left to speculate on the make up of the rest of the team. It would certainly be good news is available for selection, but that leaves a dilemma in choosing the starting line up in the backs with Monye and Keogh putting in useful performances last week against Leicester. Maybe some changes will be rung in the centre partnership? Perhaps the biggest question is whether new scrum half signing Dave von Hoesslin will play, after arriving in the UK last week. My guess is that So'oailo will start the match with Von Hoesslin making his debut early in the second half. In fact I believe that the starting line up will remain unchanged, with the exception of Vos for Sheriff and if fit , I expect Fuga would get the nod over Tiatia and I fully expect to see late in the afternoon Jim Evans making his return to the Premiership.

Harlequins have to play well, like they performed last week at Leicester, and strive for an early lead but keep it, not sit on it but control the game and fight and scrap for every ball to ensure a home win. They must not let their discipline slip and give away foolish penalties. Such concentration, commitment and effort is key and as AlanQuin summed up perfectly after last weeks match. All is far from lost.

We will need maximum support from the reduce Stoop crowd this weekend, and we need to make that home advantage count, so cheer for the Quins loud and proud.

Come on you Quins!

NEC Harlequins: 15. Tom Williams, 14. Simon Keogh, 13. Gavin Duffy, 12. Mel Deane, 11. Ugo Monye, 10. Jeremy Staunton, 9. Steve So’oialo, 1. Mike Worsley, 2. Ace Tiatia, 3. Ceri Jones, 4. Jim Evans, 5. Simon Maling, 6. Nick Easter, 7. Andre Vos (Capt.), 8. Tony Diprose
Replacements: 16. James Hayter, 17. Jon Dawson, 18. Simon Miall, 19. Roy Winters, 20. Luke Sherriff, 21. Henry Barratt, 22. Andy Reay

Gloucester: 15. Jon Goodridge, 14. Seti Kiole, 13. Terry Fanolua, 12. Henry Paul, 11. James Simpson-Daniel, 10. Duncan McRae, 9. Andy Gomarsall, 1. Christo Bezuidenhout, 2. James Parkes, 3. Terry Sigley, 4. Mark Cornwell, 5. Alex Brown, 6. Peter Buxton, 7. Jake Boer (c), 8. Adam Balding.
Replacements: 16. Noel Curnier, 17. Nick Wood, 18. Adam Eustace, 19. Luke Narraway, 20. Alex Page, 21. Nathan Mauger, 22. Mark Foster

Match Officials
Referee: Ashley Rowden
Touch judges: Huw Jones Williams, Andy Melrose

 

It is fitting that Wednesday of this week saw Groundhog Day. So far, for Quins, it has been a 'Groundhog Season', with last weeks match was a direct repeat of a number of other matches played this season.