Quins hoping for a madejstic victory
By KevT
April 11 2004
Quins travel to the Thames Valley to take on London Irish (kick off 3.00pm) on Sunday. Quins and Irish are locked on 42 points each in the Zurich Premiership and a win for either side would put them back into serious contention for a Heineken Cup place.
Defeat would make qualification through the League an uphill task.
Quins are leaving selection until late to see if Paul Burke can recover from a neck injury. In the front row I would expect Jon Dawson to replace Laurent Gomez at Tight Head prop. In the second row, Karl Rudzki suffered an injury in the 2nd XV game against Bath and Simon Miall could make a return to first team rugby after a long time out with injury. In fact it was the home match against London Irish that saw Miall suffer the patella knee injury that has seen out for six months. In the back row, Pat Sanderson is likely to return from the Hong Kong Sevens and take the place of Ace Tiatia who damaged ankle ligaments last week. At scrum half Simon Keogh is likely to move to Scrum Half from the wing following the return from injury of George Harder. Will Greenwood may take Josh Taumalolo’s place at outside centre, though Mark Evans may be tempted to rest Will after his international exertions. If fit, Paul Burke would replace Andy Dunne.
London Irish have had a mixed run of late. Two defeats, home and away to Bath have put a brake on their European challenge. They make two changes to the team that were narrowly defeated by Bath last week. Geoff Appleford returns from the Hong Kong Sevens at centre and replaces Nils Mordt. Naka Drotske is back from injury and takes his place at hooker.
Irish have been a very difficult team to beat this season. Head Coach Gary Gold has turned them into a very well organised tough team to play against. They are in the opposition’s face at every turn and like to contest the tackle area. They have a front row which is used to playing together. Neal Hatley plays loose head prop. He is a strong scrummager (hence the nickname Beefy) and toured with England in the summer. At hooker, Irish have the excellent Naka Drotske who has proved to be a thorn in Quins’ side on many occasions. He is good around the park and knows how to hit his jumpers. He won 26 caps for South Africa. At tight head, Irish have 34 year old England international Rob Hardwick. He will no doubt enjoy his battle with ex colleague Mike Worsley.
In the second row, Bob Casey and Ryan Strudwick are the second row pairing. They are a solid couple of individuals who rarely disappoint but who are not perhaps as mobile as the Quins second row. The back row has a good look about it. Kieran Dawson is a very mobile open side who is good on the floor and pretty feisty. He gave Quins a lot of trouble at The Stoop last September. Declan Danaher provides a strong physical at blind side flanker and the robust Canadian Phil Murphy, 6’ 5” and 17’ 5” plays at Number Eight. The ever youthful 36 year old Chris Sheasby renews acquaintance with the Quins from the bench. He has thankfully returned from that nasty eye injury sustained against Sale earlier in the season. “Sheas” has never been your typical number eight, he loves to run from deep and will have added incentive in playing against his former club.
Darren Edwards has made the scrum half berth his own this season and has enjoyed good quality ball behind his pack. The much travelled Welshman will pair with Barry Everitt at Fly Half. Barry has done a great job in controlling games against Quins before and if his boot is on form, he can prove a dangerous opponent. I have always been of the view that Everitt is a confidence Fly Half. If he is playing behind a pack that is going forward then he is excellent. It will be interesting to see which Everitt turns up on Sunday. He is not so great at dealing with poorer quality ball under pressure. Academy player Nils Mordt has held the inside centre berth this season but he makes way for ex Quins favourite Nick Greenstock who will line up alongside former England international Geoff Appleford. Greenstock is a lovely runner who chooses great lines. Centre has been the area of most concern for Irish as their midfield has been unable to create too much space for Irish’s excellent back three of Sackey, Bishop and Horak. Paul Sackey is quick and strong. He has just signed a two year contract extension so will be anxious to prove his worth against the speedy Ugo Monye. Former Irish international Justin Bishop usually plays left wing and he definitely knows how to find the try line. Unlike Sackey, he doesn’t always have the pace to beat a man from a standing start but he is a great open field runner. Full back Michael Horak always seems to have something up as sleeve to hurt the Quins. He is quick and comes into the line very well. His defence is good and it is only England’s strength in depth in this position that has prevented him from getting more caps.
This will be a tough uncompromising match. September’s clash saw no quarter given and, but for a cheeky call from Ben Willis, to Strudwick for a ball inside, Irish may well have got one over Quins at The Stoop. The refereeing of the tackle area will be crucial. Chris White will referee this match. He received a hard time from Mark Evans over his (non) refereeing of the tackle area a few weeks ago against Wasps. Quins will have been sweating over his interpretation this week. Quins’ excellent back row will try to pressurise Everitt and cut down his space. The return of George Harder at wing is in my opinion absolutely crucial. He commits so many tacklers and opens up space for Quins’ other runners. In particular, the fact that Keogh can move to scrum half means that the service to the Quins Fly Half should be quicker. The Miall / Evans second row combination should be sharper around the park than the Irish duo of Casey and Strudwick although the Irish pair have a bit more muscle.
Irish will seek to dominate the scrum through their excellent front row and then disrupt Quins’ ball in the tackle area. Quins will have to play better in this area this week than last and will hope that they can keep their line out together for the full 80 minutes. If Quins can gain parity in the set piece then the strength of Harder, allied with the pace of Monye and a quicker pack may give them the edge, but the refereeing of the tackle area will be crucial.
London Irish: 15. Michael Horak; 14. Paul Sackey; 13. Geoff Appleford; 12. Nick Greenstock; 11. Justin Bishop; 10. Barry Everitt; 9. Darren Edwards; 1. Neal Hatley; 2. Naka Drotske;3. Rob Hardwick; 4. Ryan Strudwick (Capt.) 5. Bob Casey; 6. Declan Danaher; 7. Kieron Dawson; 8. Phil Murphy
Replacements: 16. Doug Wheatley; 17. Adrian Flavin; 18. Paul Gustard; 19. Kieran Roche; 20. Chris Sheasby 21. Kevin Barrett; 22. Mark Mapletoft
NEC Harlequins: 15. Gavin Duffy; 14. George Harder; 13. Will Greenwood; 12. Mel Deane; 11. Ugo Monye; 10; Paul Burke; 9. Ben Willis; 1. Mike Worsley; 2. Tani Fuga; 3. Jon Dawson; 4. Simon Miall; 5. Jim Evans; 6. Pat Sanderson; 7. Andre Vos (Capt.) 8. Tony Diprose
Replacements: 16. James Hayter; 17. Ceri Jones; 18. Laurent Gomez; 19. Bill Davison; 20. Roy Winters; 21. Simon Keogh; 22. Andy Dunne