Quins Monster Munster Match!

By Worried of Whitton
January 14 2005

The final round of the Heineken Pool competition sees Harlequins across the road, at Twickenham Stadium, in their much anticipated home match against Munster kick off 13.00. The match is to be screened live by Sky Sports.

Whilst Quins have long since been eliminated from the competition, this weekend will provide some epic matches, as the other seven places for the quarter finals are decided, Leinster having qualified last weekend. The final eight will  have a distinct Gallic/Gaelic flavour, with the real probability of just one English team qualifying, that being Northampton. I can see history repeating itself with both Munster and Castres qualifying for the final eight, however there is still the opportunity for an upset, as Munster do not have a good record playing at Twickenham, loosing to Northampton in the Heineken Cup Final of 2000.  Then again, Quins have lost on their last two visits to Twickenham, following a shocking line call in the Powergen Cup Final in 2002 and in last years inaugural double header, loosing to 'Irish' opposition. Maybe this match should have been played in Reading, where are European Cup winning record is 100%!

The initial tickets sales announcement of 24,000, for this game was raised to a predicted 30,000 on Thursday this week, with the middle tier of the South Stand being opened up thus this match will enter the record books for attracting the biggest attendance to a pool match in the tournaments history. The previous record was set at 23,463, last year when Leinster played host to Cardiff at Lansdowne Road. Irrespective of your views on the pro s and cons of playing this home match at Twickenham, you have to admire the foresight and ambition to play this match at HQ, it is a great achievement, and financially lucrative for the club. I m certain it would have been staged here had the regeneration of the West Stand had not taken place. To be sure, Tony Copsey's interpretation of the ticket sales had a touch of Blarney about it, when he stated  "Whilst there will be a large contingent of Munster fans at Twickenham, I'm delighted that they will be significantly out numbered by supporters in the famous multi-coloured shirt." In reality it highlights the fact that a large number of tickets were sold through the club, but come Saturday afternoon I expect the multicoloured aspect to have a distinct Red and Emerald Green, hue and plenty of black and white, as the exiles from Sunbury, Reading and across London descend on Twickenham for the grand event.

Munster's Alan Gaffney and Brian Hickey are delaying their team announcement until midday Friday, but have brought a squad of 22 players over with them, which includes all the players that where in the squad for last weeks match against The Ospreys.  The squad includes some BIG names who we are all familiar with, Cullen, Stringer, Foley, O'Connell, and Horan the list goes on. Indeed Munster have had 12 players called up for the National Squad prior to this years six nations. Coach Alan Gaffney was delighted to announce that Rob Henderson, following medical checks, will be available for this match. The Munster centre missed last weeks victory over the Ospreys because of a facial injury sustained the previous week against Leinster in the Celtic League. Although nothing showed up on the x-ray, Henderson had been in continuous pain and a scan revealed a non-displaced fracture of the cheekbone. First choice fly-half Ronan O'Gara however will not be playing after breaking a bone in his right hand. O'Gara became the all-time top scorer in the Heineken Cup with 649 points in Munster's 36-8 round four win over Castres.  Munster have of course, a fine replacement in Paul Burke who is Munster's leading scorer in the Celtic League on 92 points, but I don t think we will hear the strains of  'We love you Burkey' this weekend!

In last weeks 20-10 win over Ospreys there were first-half tries by Anthony Foley and Christian Cullen, both converted by Paul Burke, who also kicked a penalty, helped Munster lead 17-7 at the break. Despite playing with the wind in the second-half Munster could only add a Burke penalty. This victory left Munster requiring a win against Harlequins to top the pool and claim a quarter-final spot,however at present they are not guaranteed a home quarter-final as they are currently ranked five. Munster are almost certain to qualify a quarter final place, for the seventh consecutive year.

In their last meeting in October, Harlequins came so very, very close to ending Munster 's winning run at Thomond Park in this competition. At the time Prof reported, "Few expected Quins to do anything apart from to be cannon fodder with as much chance of coming out on top as the Light Brigade at Balaklava - but the evening after the game every one of them was saying that we deserved to have won the game and that they were amazed at the performance that Quins put up."

Well can we do the same tomorrow?  Last weeks 58-13 capitulation in France was Quins biggest ever defeat in the Heineken Cup being thumped by eight tries to two. The match seems to have had a certain familiarity to it, by initially taking the lead, to fall behind 11-3 at the break. In the second half Quins got off to a great start with a try by Dunne reducing the deficit to 3 points, but with 20 minutes to go the momentum was lost with Rudzki was binned, Castres pushed home their advantage. 

In announcing the team Mark Evans has made three changes to side that started last weekend. At the back is a welcome return to Ugo Monye has recovered from a hand injury and starts on the left wing. Monye starts for the first time since the October, with his last appearance for Quins being as a replacement against Leeds in November. Simon Keogh moves over to the right wing and replaces George Harder, who dislocated a finger in training.  Speed on the wing seems to be the message. There are a couple of changes in the back row with Nick Easter and Tony Diprose replacing Molitika and Horstmann on the blindside flank and at number eight respectively. Andre Vos misses out due to an ankle injury, so Luke Sherriff continues on the openside flank but the captaincy is passed to Tony Diprose.

On the bench, James Hayter returns from a groin injury and replaces Cameron Dott and there is also the return of proud father Roy Winters, whose smile is even wider this week, having missed the game against Castres last weekend. Notably, Jeremy Staunton is on the bench, with Andy Dunne being picked at fly half.  It will be interesting to watch the dual between him and Burke. Of course both Simon Maling and Geo Cronje are not registered for the Heineken Cup.

Munster needs a win, and a good win, to improve their position in the final standings and to secure a home quarter final tie. Quins have pride to play for, especially in front of such a large crowd and a Sky TV audience, and additionally it will be a good test of their mettle ahead of a trip to Welford Road in two weeks time. Teddington Taff posed the question this week "Are Munster for the taking?"  Whilst they are perhaps not the team of old, they are still a very good team, but any thing is possible, and it depends upon which team turns up on the day. We certainly have the ability to do it, as he says "We have some great players and in amidst the chaos our team have shown (albeit brief) glimpses of some extraordinary good play." Harlequins must ensure that they play with determination and spirit, and more importantly with discipline. Another player sin binned and it will all unravel again.

As Tony Copsey stated "A lot of our Season Ticket holders and Community groups are taking the opportunity to bring along friends and family for what I'm sure will be a great occasion."  I m sure it will be too and a good day for Rugby with a guaranteed Good Craic!

Finally one point of note, on Saturday, the match referee Joël Jutge will have the remarkable achievement of having refereed in all six Rounds of this season's tournament.

 

Come on you Quins!

 NEC Harlequins:
15. Gavin Duffy, 14. Simon Keogh, 13. Dafydd James, 12. Mel Deane, 11. Ugo Monye, 10. Andy Dunne, 9. Steve So'oialo, 1. Ceri Jones, 2. Ace Tiatia, 3. Jon Dawson, 4. Karl Rudzki, 5. Simon Miall, 6. Nick Easter, 7. Luke Sherriff, 8. Tony Diprose (C)
Replacements: 16. James Hayter,17. Tom Muggridge,18. Roy Winters,19. Maama Molitika 20. Andy Reay, 21. Jeremy Staunton, 22. Tom Williams

Munster:  
C Cullen; S Payne, M Mullins, R Henderson, A Horgan; P Burke, P Stringer; M Horan, F Sheahan, J Hayes; D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell; A Quinlan, D Leamy, A Foley capt
Replacements: J Flannery, G McIlwham, T Hogan, J Williams, M Prendergast, J Holland, M Lawl

 

Match Officials

Referee: Joël Jutge (France)  
Touch judges: Jean-Luc Rebollal (France),  and  to be confirmed
Television match official: Daniel Gillet (France)
Match commissioner: Jonathan Dance (England)
Assessor: Martin Summerhayes