Quins to Take the Mick(s)

By KevT
March 14 2003

NEC Harlequins take on London Irish at The Madjeski Stadium on Sunday 16th March 2003 (kick off 2.30pm) in a match that could see a crowd of over 18,000 at Reading. It is a vital match for both sides as a win could move Quins or London Irish away from the relegation dog fight.

Quins make a number of changes to the starting fifteen that were beaten 48 – 41 by Bristol two weeks ago. New signing Ceri Jones makes his first start and replaces Pablo Cardinalli. Alex Codling has suffered a hamstring injury and is replaced by Bill Davison. Simon Miall makes his first start in a League match and is selected ahead of Jim Evans. Luke Sherriff is replaced by Roy Winters. Roy will play number eight and makes his first appearance of the season. Andre Vos moves to open side flanker.

Quins new signing, Irish centre Mel Deane is looking forward to the match. “It should be great to play in front of a big crowd on the day before St Paddy’s Day at The Madjeski which is a great ground. I played there in my last season at Richmond.”

I asked Mel how he had settled in at Quins. “I’ve settled in very nicely, all the Quins boys are gentlemen rugby lads. I knew Codders when I was at Wasps, Richmond and then Irish exiles. I think he’s been taking the mick by following me around. It has been a difficult time to join, the lads were very low after Nick (Duncombe) passed away but we’re beginning to have a laugh again. I like a bit of a challenge and I’ve been thrown in a bit at the deep end, but I’m looking forward to it.”

Mel is enjoying playing with Will Greenwood. “He’s got all the skills and he coasts through defences. We complement each other as I like to be a bit more direct.”

I asked Mel about his own form. “I was sin-binned once for Sale in three seasons and then I get sin-binned for Quins in my first match! To be honest I saw David Rees outside and then Daryl Gibson threw a dummy. I cleaned Rees out altogether without the ball. I made a couple of good breaks and I put Nathan (Williams) through at the end.”

I said to Mel that it must be tough playing against Daryl Gibson one week, followed by Brendan Venter the next. “I’m looking forward to getting my teeth into Brendan Venter. He’s easy to wind up and he lost it when we played against Sale this season. He elbowed Stuart Pinkerton , Stuart doesn’t mind that sort of thing. The only player I used to worry about was Inga Tuigamala. I used to bounce off him.”

“London Irish will be a tough match. They like to dog it out. They like to play multi phase possession and then get the ball out quickly from rucks. I’m really looking forward to the match.”

In the preceding fixture last season Dan Luger charged down a Barry Everitt conversion in the last minute of the match for an 18 –18 draw. Prior to that drop goals from David Slemen and Ben Gollings had put Quins 18 – 13 up only for Michael Horak to take Irish level with the last play of the game.

London Irish have an impressive front row and run a rotation policy with Worsley, Halford, Drotske, Kirke, Durant and Hardwicke getting an almost equal amount of playing time. Hatley and Halford will start for this match. Drotske who plays hooker has usually impressed against Quins. In the second row, Ryan Strudwick has a long term injury. The absence of Codling means that Quins will find it more difficult to capitalise in the line out. London Irish’s second row combination is solid but at the line out but not that dynamic around the park.

In the back row Paul Gustard has been acting as captain in the absence of Strudwick. He is full of graft and always committed. Gustard joined Irish from Leicester last year and where he was behind a number of strong players for a first team place. England prospect Declan Danaher is a very impressive flanker and his battle with the Quins back row will be very interesting. Quins supporters know all about Chris Sheasby who is having an Indian Summer at the end of his career with London Irish. I won’t depress Quins supporters with the statistics of games that Irish have won with Sheasby playing and then without him playing. Suffice to say, he makes a big difference to their side.

In the backs, South African scrum half Hendrik Martens is quick and incisive around the fringes. Barry Everitt is very familiar to Quins supporters and is a great place kicker. His all round game is much better when he has his coach Brendan Venter playing alongside him. “The Doc” adds lots of front to the Irish game but has lost a bit of speed and guide. Ex Quin, Nick Burrows is preferred over Geoff Appleford. Sackey and Bishop are very quick and impressive. Ex Quin Mark Mapletoft will try to impress after a tough time at The Stoop. The back three have been a little starved of possession this season as ball has been kicked away by Everitt or taken into the tackle by Venter. I find it difficult to understand why Horak, an excellent Full Back, has been dropped.

Quins have made a bold selection in the forwards. Ceri Jones and Simon Miall make their first starts for Quins and Roy Winters returns from injury for his first start of the season. This is a very mobile pack and seems to be aimed at getting to the break down quickly and turning over London Irish ball. Irish like to play quickly and pride themselves on their ball retention. They aim to find gaps after a number of phases of play. Brendan Venter or Sheasby will take the ball into the tackle and it will be recycled time after time. If the opposition try to slow the ball down illegally then Barry Everitt is there to kick the penalties. Both Quins second row forwards are also back row players and this shows that their game plan is to get to the tackle area quickly and slow down ball. As mobile as the back five are, the combination is untested and they may well come under pressure in scrum and at the line out. Bill Davison hasn’t really been a line out target this season so a lot of pressure will be on the shoulders of Simon Miall and Roy Winters. I expect Tony Diprose to see plenty of playing time in the second half. The Quins back row of Ace Tiatia, Andre Vos and Roy Winters looks very feisty and I wouldn’t be surprised to see some enthusiastic rucking, particularly if Brendan Venter gets on the wrong side.

It’s clear that a number of injuries to Jason Leonard, Bruce Starr, Laurent Gomez and Alex Codling has forced this selection on Quins. On the other hand it can be seen as an attempt to play a quicker and more dynamic brand of rugby. I think we are likely to see less of “that thing of beauty, the driving maul”. A quicker game will suit Quins pace in the backs. Billy Fulton looks to have a really quick pasas. Faster possession will release Mel Deane, Will Greenwood, Dan Luger and Ben Gollings. Deane looks as though he will be a really good foil for Greenwood. We saw in the game against Bristol how Quins new back line were able to score more tries against a Bristol defence that is much improved since the signing of Daryl Gibson. Quins have been working on their defensive patterns this week to ensure that they do not concede tries at the other end.

So, we come to the result. Quins away record in the league is appalling. They haven’t won since Rotherham away in March 2001, although they have won in The Cup, Europe and drawn in the League. On the other hand, this is a very different Quins side. It’s a bit more street wise and has a bit more pace. The key for Quins will be the quality of ball that they can get from the set piece and their ability to slow down / turnover London Irish ball. Irish don’t have the penetration in the first few phases to put teams under pressure, if you can slow them down then they can be beaten. If Quins can get a solid platform then they can release their more penetrative backs and can win by more than a converted score.


NEC Harlequins: 15. Nathan Williams, 14. Dan Luger, 13. Will Greenwood, 12. Mel Deane, 11, Ben Gollings, 10. Paul Burke, 9. Billy Fulton, 1. Ceri Jones, 2. Tani Fuga, 3. Jon Dawson, 4. Bill Davison, 5. Simon Miall, 6. Ace Tiatia, 7. Andre Vos, 8. Roy Winters


London Irish: 15. Mark Mapletoft*; 14. Paul Sackey; 13. Nick Burrows; 12. Brendan Venter*; 11. Justin Bishop*; 10. Barry Everitt; 9. Hentie Martens; 1. Neal Hatley; 2. Naka Drotske*; 3. Simon Halford; 4. Bob Casey*; 5. Nick Kennedy; 6. Paul Gustard (Captain); 7. Declan Danaher; 8. Chris Sheasby*.

Replacements:
16. Kevin Barrett; 17. Mike Horak*; 18. Kieron Dawson*; 19. Adrian Flavin; 20. Kieran Roche; 21. Mike Worsley*; 22. Pierre Durant.

*Denotes International;