Preview: Harlequins vs Gloucester

Much like quality English batting in antipodean climates, home wins have been in short supply in all competitions this season. The Stoop less a fortress more like a field hospital, with barely adequate defences. This must all come to an end, there is only one competition we remain realistically competitive in and it’s not too late to claw back a position. The Aviva Premiership has rapidly become the centre piece to this 2012/13 season. 

Quins have been rocked back in recent weeks in the LV Cup, out of ideas away at Sandy Park and easily put away by a typically physical Exeter pack. Followed up by a topsy turvy game against a full strength Sale side, where Quins played a combination of the walking wounded and the B team, coming close but ultimately falling at home 26-31. 

There is no denying that Quins have been hit harder than most by injury this season, but let’s face it we’ve been pretty lucky in the last couple of seasons so it’s swings and roundabouts. The England boys will be back this weekend, although Conor may choose to rest Rocky after his captains efforts against the All Blacks. 

Gloucester have a reputation for inconsistency, and much as they have tried to stamp it out it’s inflicted itself upon their season once more. They remain the only team to have beaten Northampton during the season, downing them against the run of form 26-24. However they have contrived to lose to Exeter, Bath and Wasps in their last 3 Premiership encounters. They’ve also just been hit by the news that talisman, James Simpson-Daniel, will be out for a while after undergoing surgery on an ankle injury picked up in their LV Cup game, and to add misery their bright young centre Ryan Mills will also be out for a while. 

Up front the perception of a weak underbelly persists. Gloucester have rotated their front row a lot this season, be it through injury or form and the suspicion remains that Nigel Davies has yet to settle on his first choices. With Nick Wood available again after suspension he could join hooker Edmonds and Shaun Knight at tight head in a changed front three. Supplying the grunt in the engine room will likely James Hudson partnering up with Elliott Stooke. The back row we can expect to be up against Tom Savage captaining from a blindside position, Matt Kvesic and either Sione Kalamafoni fresh from signing a new deal, or England returnee Ben Morgan who looked to be back to his best in white. 

Moving on to the backline and there is a battle royale going on in cherry and whites for the No9 shirt between Dan Robson and Jimmy Cowan, expect Cowan to start this one and Robson to come on later. Freddie Burns will pick up where he left off at 10 with Twelvetrees and Trinder (if fit, if not they will be down to the bare bones and probably bank on HRH Tindall) on the outside forming a dangerous axis. On the wings Gloucester are ably represented by speedsters Jonny May and Charlie Sharples, completing the back 3 will be the lively Rob Cook. 

Now just have a look at that back division again... that’s some combination they have there, prospective England players, current and former internationals. Make no mistake, if Gloucester are considered an easy touch up front it is far from that situation in the backs. However, the right to play must be earnt... 

Quins will front up with Marler returning to join the irrepressible Dave Ward and Will Collier continues at tight head. Ward needs some serious work on his darts, but his mobile play and the way he creates a nuisance of himself is much to his credit. Nick Easter continues his conversion to 2nd row and joins ever present George Robson. The back row again has a youthful feel to it as Joe Trayfoot continues at blindside in the place of Captain Rocky who one can only assumes is getting some face time with some rib-eye. Trayfoot has been impressive so far this season, he breaks tackles and gets around the park. Wallace will continue at open side and battle with a potential future rival for England honours in Kvesic. Tom Guest makes up the forwards coming in at his best position of No8 after shaking off a plethora of knocks. 

The backs will consist of our first choice pairing at 9 and 10, with Danny Care and Nick Evans stepping up, in the centres we will have Casson and Hopper, Molenaar unfortunately missing out due to a small injury picked up in the LV games. Arguably Quins start with their first choice back 3, with Tom Williams and Ugo Monye, both in great form this year, joined by QBE Man of the Series for England (to anyone with half a brain), Mike Brown. Lets give him a tremendous welcome home on Saturday. 

Up front Quins will be looking to put massive pressure on, they should have the edge come scrum time with Marler coming back to bolster the front row. In the loose look for Ward and Trayfoot to make their presence known, these guys motor around and make an utter nuisance of themselves on opposition ball. Of note is Wallace playing more of a Tom Croft role these days, just how many times does he pop up on the wing instead of at the breakdown? I’m a massive fan of his play and yes he has scored a couple of tries this season, but is it worth losing his talents at the breakdown? Not sure myself... 

Casson and Hopper are once again up against two big units in the centres, they are going to need to be disciplined and solid when taking the ball into contact, let’s hope Casson has gotten over his habit of knocking on when tackled. One of the highlights of the Tigers game was when in defence Ugo put in a hell of a hit and pushed back 2 metres on our try line, lets hope he is in similar mood. Look for Kvesic to hunt in tandem with Savage, they’ve been doing that a lot this season when played together, initially slowing ball down then jackalling. Morgan will need to be marked carefully when he is standing off the breakdown, when he gets up speed (and he’s no slouch for a big ‘un) he takes some stopping. Cook will be aggressive from full back and normally plays off the 12/13 axis coming in as a passout option for whoever is playing 12. 

Historically games between these two have always been high scoring energetic affairs, let’s look forward to more of the same, however if Quins get on top in the set piece I expect the ball starved Gloucester backs to start pushing up in order to secure ball and potentially leaving gaps a wily operator like Evans can exploit... who knows... it may even be Wallace on the wing to collect. 

All in all, a must win game for Quins (again!) if they are to salvage anything from the season. Let’s see the ambition from both the players and the supporters... 

Quins by 15!!!! 

COYQ!!!!!!