HARLEQUINS HAS TODAY NAMED THE MATCHDAY 23 TO FACE GLOUCESTER RUGBY AT KINGSHOLM IN ROUND 20 OF THE AVIVA PREMIERSHIP (SATURDAY 14TH APRIL, KICK-OFF 15:00).

There are five changes to the starting 15 from last week's encounter with London Irish.

In the backs, Jamie Roberts comes in to partner Joe Marchant in the centres as Francis Saili misses out (shoulder). Alofa Alofa also starts, to form the back three alongside Mike Brown and Charlie Walker.

In the forwards there are three changes, with Joe Gray starting at hooker. There is a brand new second row as club captain James Horwill packs down with George Merrick in the engine room. Merrick starts for the first time since January following his recovery from injury.

In the replacements, Elia Elia will look to feature for the first time since January.

Harlequins squad to play Gloucester Rugby

15. Mike Brown
14. Charlie Walker
13. Joe Marchant
12. Jamie Roberts
11. Alofa Alofa
10. Marcus Smith
9. Danny Care

1. Joe Marler
2. Joe Gray
3. Kyle Sinckler
4. George Merrick
5. James Horwill (Captain)
6. Jack Clifford
7. Chris Robshaw
8. Mat Luamanu

16. Elia Elia
17. Mark Lambert
18. Will Collier
19. Stan South
20. Luke Wallace
21. Dave Lewis
22. James Lang
23. Gabriel Ibitoye

Gloucester Rugby:

15. Jason Woodward
14. Charlie Sharples
13. Billy Twelvetrees
12. Mark Atkinson
11. Henry Trinder
10. Billy Burns
9. Callum Braley

1. Josh Hohneck
2. James Hanson
3. John Afoa
4. Ed Slater (capt)
5. Jeremy Thrush
6. Jake Polledri
7. Lewis Ludlow
8. Ben Morgan

Replacements:

16. Motu Matu'u, 17. Paddy McAllister, 18. Fraser Balmain, 19. Tom Savage, 20. Freddie Clarke, 21. Ruan Ackermann, 22. Ben Vellacott, 23. Tom Hudson

Think ours looks a good side... but I thought that last week. Has Visser been dropped? No mention of any injury. Good to see Ibitoye's name on the bench!

not wanting to sound harsh but do you think Saili will leave in the summer? not sure who would take him on but quins were willing to take on someone who is apparently pretty consistently injured.

Quote:

jonf
not wanting to sound harsh but do you think Saili will leave in the summer? not sure who would take him on but quins were willing to take on someone who is apparently pretty consistently injured.

I hope he doesn't leave - he could be very good for us.

For fear of having the same endless conversation on different threads every two months, you can't include the concussion and say "he's injured a lot". He got smacked in the head and couldn't play for months - not really evidence of anything other than luck.

Now with the shoulder - that could be a worry. But I guess only time will tell.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 13/04/2018 11:40 by blucherquin.

surprised Walker is starting after the nightmare defence last week!!

Quote:

jonf
not wanting to sound harsh but do you think Saili will leave in the summer? not sure who would take him on but quins were willing to take on someone who is apparently pretty consistently injured.

Shoulder injuries are pretty common. If he's out long term then it's a concern. The concussion could never have been predicted.

Me too! We wouldn't have won had he been able to position himself correctly and tackle, but he was responsible for the first three tries.

We could have been bolder with our selection dropping/resting the likes of Marler/Sinckler/DC/Brown. Good see Elia back as he’s the future at 2 for us. Wondering what’s happened to Glynn as haven’t seen him play for a while. Good seeing Merrick back starting feel he I a very solid player that is only getting better, even though he gets a lot of unfair slack on these pages.

Great too see Elia back and also good too see Gabs on the bench
I’m really hoping we can string together a good performance and not a “ We let ourselves and the supporters down”

Quote:

blucherquin

Quote:

jonf
not wanting to sound harsh but do you think Saili will leave in the summer? not sure who would take him on but quins were willing to take on someone who is apparently pretty consistently injured.

I hope he doesn't leave - he could be very good for us.

For fear of having the same endless conversation on different threads every two months, you can't include the concussion and say "he's injured a lot". He got smacked in the head and couldn't play for months - not really evidence of anything other than luck.

Now with the shoulder - that could be a worry. But I guess only time will tell.

I'm often injured because I keep walking in front of buses. Just bad luck I guess.

Not sure I understand Rodders.


Someone smacking you in the head doesn’t make you injury prone. Nor does being hit by a bus, regardless of if you’re walking in front of it on purpose or not.

Your knee constantly giving up or a problem shoulder makes you an injury prone player.

Being hit by something heavy isn’t a reflection of your body’s tendencies towards injury.

Get your wife to smash you randomly in the face with a bat, let me know if it means you’re more or less likely to need a hip operation.

More importantly - get her to upload the video somewhere.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 13/04/2018 17:11 by blucherquin.

Quote:

RodneyRegis

Quote:

blucherquin

Quote:

jonf
not wanting to sound harsh but do you think Saili will leave in the summer? not sure who would take him on but quins were willing to take on someone who is apparently pretty consistently injured.

I hope he doesn't leave - he could be very good for us.

For fear of having the same endless conversation on different threads every two months, you can't include the concussion and say "he's injured a lot". He got smacked in the head and couldn't play for months - not really evidence of anything other than luck.

Now with the shoulder - that could be a worry. But I guess only time will tell.

I'm often injured because I keep walking in front of buses. Just bad luck I guess.

I didn't realise Sailli had walked in front of a bus.

Clifford 6, Robshaw 7? Why not go full Andy Robinson and swop Robshaw for Luamanu?

Like what we did last week.

Did Saili only sign for one season?

Little browse comes up saying he’s signed a long term deal.. assuming that’ll be 3 years?

[i.stuff.co.nz]

Think that’s a bit harsh re Walker. Danny care and the inside cover should have sorted the first. Unlucky bounce with the second. Maybe the third he should do better but they still had an overlap.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 14/04/2018 01:43 by ASL67.

Rodders is Danny Cipriani and I claim my £5.

---

If at first you don't succeed, Try, Try and Try again.

Quote:

ASL67
Think that’s a bit harsh re Walker. Danny care and the inside cover should have sorted the first. Unlucky bounce with the second. Maybe the third he should do better but they still had an overlap.

Nah, sorry, Walker was toilet last week. Now, I'm not saying he was the only one, but you can't defend him singularly either.

Quote:

WellingQuin
HARLEQUINS HAS TODAY NAMED THE MATCHDAY 23 TO FACE GLOUCESTER RUGBY AT KINGSHOLM IN ROUND 20 OF THE AVIVA PREMIERSHIP (SATURDAY 14TH APRIL, KICK-OFF 15:00).
There are five changes to the starting 15 from last week's encounter with London Irish.

In the backs, Jamie Roberts comes in to partner Joe Marchant in the centres as Francis Saili misses out (shoulder). Alofa Alofa also starts, to form the back three alongside Mike Brown and Charlie Walker.

In the forwards there are three changes, with Joe Gray starting at hooker. There is a brand new second row as club captain James Horwill packs down with George Merrick in the engine room. Merrick starts for the first time since January following his recovery from injury.

In the replacements, Elia Elia will look to feature for the first time since January.

Harlequins squad to play Gloucester Rugby

15. Mike Brown
14. Charlie Walker
13. Joe Marchant
12. Jamie Roberts
11. Alofa Alofa
10. Marcus Smith
9. Danny Care

1. Joe Marler
2. Joe Gray
3. Kyle Sinckler
4. George Merrick
5. James Horwill (Captain)
6. Jack Clifford
7. Chris Robshaw
8. Mat Luamanu

16. Elia Elia
17. Mark Lambert
18. Will Collier
19. Stan South
20. Luke Wallace
21. Dave Lewis
22. James Lang
23. Gabriel Ibitoye

So many basic errors yesterday what does the skills coach do? Mike Brown so out of sorts and no gas yesterday. Ibitoye a weakness with no defence. Why no Visser? Clifford unfortunately injured again. Thought Lang looked good and a plus. Overall pretty dire again.

Looking ahead to next season, I think we have a few things to be optimistic about. Not many, but a few. I'd include Elia, Smith, Langley and Marchant. Sailli and Bothma I'd also add to the list. If Chis Jr and Clifford stay fit, and Robshaw remains as consistent as ever, we could have the nucleus of a good team.
I realise we often look good on paper, but those players have looked good on the pitch most of the time. I would hope it's a good foundation for the new DoR to build upon.

Can’t see Clifford back for a while if he has torn his hamstring off the bone (as reported)

Quote:

Scamble
Can’t see Clifford back for a while if he has torn his hamstring off the bone (as reported)

Ouch! I didn't see the injury. What happened? He seems jinxed this season.

His entire career has been jinxed.

Quote:

RodneyRegis
His entire career has been jinxed.

If we have an injury prone player it’s Clifford. How many more times before we decide it’s not worth it.

I didn’t see it happen, only saw it after the event when he was down for ages. RT quoting JK saying “he’s torn the hamstring off the bone and is out for the season. he will need an operation.”



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 15/04/2018 19:46 by Scamble.

I might be wrong but isn't Clifford ooc at the end of the season???

Quote:

Scamble
I don’t see it happen, only saw it after the event when he was down for ages. RT quoting JK saying “he’s torn the hamstring off the bone and is out for the season. he will need an operation.”

The moment he went down it was clear it was serious very best wishes for him- we do appear to be jinxed last couple of years!!

Quote:

Scamble
I didn’t see it happen, only saw it after the event when he was down for ages. RT quoting JK saying “he’s torn the hamstring off the bone and is out for the season. he will need an operation.”

Horrible injury, poor guy. Can't imagine how it could happen.

The Cat's broken bone in the throat, Luke's dislocated hip, now this. They're not injuries that you hear about elsewhere, or are they? We've had some freakish bad luck.