Preview: Quins v Plymouth Albion – Powergen Trophy

By Worried of Whitton
January 6 2006

This weekend Domestic Cup rugby finally returns to The Stoop, after an absence of a couple of years as Harlequins play Plymouth Albion in the quarter finals of the Powergen Trophy. This is the second meeting of the two clubs in a month; they met in the league in Devonport when Quins eventually won

a hard fought and sometimes “ugly” encounter through the golden boot of Andrew Mehrtens.

After that match Plymouth manager Graham Dawe admitted his side was very frustrated that they did not come away with a win yet he claimed a pyrrhic victory by outscoring Quins by two tries to one and in collecting a bonus point. He added “We went out with the intention to get four points, but unfortunately that didn’t materialize. The Majority of games you lose by one score you think you could have won.” Plymouth’s Samoan back row Too’ala was convinced that Plymouth deserved more, “Everyone went out there and gave 100%, but we have them twice more, away in the cup and the league, so maybe we can improve on the mistakes from this game.” In reply Dean Richards stated that Harlequins “felt quite unnerved about coming down here, because we know they have a reputation for making life difficult for the top sides and they did.”  Plymouth were certainly a tougher team to beat away than Bedford had been. Harlequins were the first team to win at Brickfields for sometime, as Plymouth play with a great deal of passion and energy, and are difficult  to defend against, which is why the majority of the points came from kicks following Albion’s indiscipline There is no doubting the commitment of their squad. Richards added that “they have people flying out of the line to make tackles in areas you wouldn’t expect. They do cause problems and they are not afraid to play from their own line.”  This was exemplified by their first try when they counter attacked, chipped over and scored.

Despite the “we woz robbed” claims from Devon, Harlequins know there are going to have to up their game, after their last two home league performances. Against both London Welsh and Pertemps Bees the matches had very similar styles, which, without meaning to sound condescending, was in part due to the lower league status of these two clubs. Quins went out and won the match in the first half, picking up a bonus point but then sat back on their laurels for the second half, however ensuring the game was not lost. Against London Welsh, Quins were festively benevolent in gifting the exiles a try scoring bonus point., whilst  a vast improvement in their defensive  performance saw Pertemps Bees come away with just three points had no luck in scoring any tries,. There is no room for any complacency this weekend as Plymouth seek their revenge and if Dean Richards is to win the targeted three pieces of silverware this season. It would have been of great benefit to Quins meeting Plymouth so recently, for them to get a good measure of the opposition. This game will run the full 80 minutes, as Plymouth have their pride and will seek revenge. Like most other opposition this season, they will strive to do what their West Country neighbours Exeter and Pirates failed, and cause an upset at The Stoop.   

Quins have perhaps had an easier route to the Quarter finals by beating Sedgley Park 61-13 in round 5 and Bridwater and Albion 48-0 in round 6, both away matches. In contrast Plymouth beat Pirate 36-20 at home in an exciting round 6 match.

Harlequins and Plymouth have played against each other in National Cup competitions on three previous occasions with Quins victorious each time.  They won 21-9 at the Stoop in February 1979, and 17-16 at Plymouth in 1984 and again 36-8 in November 2000.

Last weekend Plymouth warmed up for this cup match with a league match away at Exeter, playing by all accounts in a bog!. A very wet and heavy pitch considerably limited the score to a 7-0 win for Plymouth. Pitch conditions at The Stoop this weekend are more likely to be conducive to a higher scoring game, but the atmosphere at a home match will work to Quins advantage. The previous weekend Plymouth were slugging it out in another West Country derby against Cornish Pirates and were narrowly defeated at home 26-23.

Scotty stated earlier today that “Having played Pertemps Bees on Monday (2nd January) means this has been a very short week in terms of preparation for the game; we have needed to ensure that the players have fully recovered from Monday’s match. With this in mind, we will therefore not be confirming our team until Saturday morning.”

Ironically Mehrtens, the saviour at Brickfields is the major doubt with a shoulder injury picked up early in the first half last week. Despite the injury Mehrtens carried on to play the rest of the first half, and ensured a Quins win before being substituted at Half time. He did however resume kicking practice late this week and it is expected that Jarvis will replace him if he is not passed fully fit before the match. I expect to see the return of the rested Fuga and Nebbett in the front row this week

 

It will be a hard fought and physical match, I cannot see another West Country capitulation along the lines of Exeter and Pirates, but Harlequins will have to work hard to secure their seventeenth straight victory of the season.

The other quarter final matches in this competition see Exeter v Rotherham, Nottingham v London Welsh, and Otley v Bedford. Along with a win for Harlequins I expect to see a Northern sweep, with Rotherham, Nottingham and perhaps controversially, Otley to progress to the semi finals.

 

                                         Come on You Quins !

Match Officials:
Referee: Andrew Small
Touch judges: Richard Draper, Paul Dickens