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Quins v Falcons 29/03/08

Second start
By Leipziger March 27 2008
The Falcons’ latest attempt to win a second away league game of the season takes them to the Twickenham Stoop on Saturday, one of the grounds at which we have a better record in the Premiership, to take on Harlequins as we look to avoid a fifth successive league defeat and our worst run since 2002.

Of course, that record isn’t that great, we have won three times at the Stoop in the top division, including the glorious title-winning afternoon of May 17th 1998, but our other two victories were both in 2000.  Since then it’s been five successive defeats, including a 42-15 mauling on New Years’ Day 2007, despite Tom May and Russell Winter’s tries putting us ahead at half-time.

 

More worrying is the fact that in recent weeks Quins have been quietly creeping up the table and now occupy fourth place and are potential play-off entrants with five wins in their last six games.  During that time Worcester, Gloucester and Bath have been put to the sword in London, whilst Saracens and Bristol were beaten away and our hosts’ only defeat since the end of January was at Wasps.

 

This run was however preceded by only one win in thirteen matches!  A victory at Sixways on December 29th was the only success in a run lasting over two months, although Cardiff were held to a draw at the Stoop.  Leeds, Bristol, Wasps as well as Worcester, Gloucester and Bath have lost at Quins this season, although Worcester (Cup), Ospreys, Bristol (Heineken), Saracens, Leicester and Stade Francais have all won there.

 

So our opponents overall form has been indifferent at home, but overall they are a good team in a strong position and we weren’t given an easy ride at Kingston Park in September, when Matthew Burke put in a man of the match performance.  God, May and Geoff Parling scored our tries in a 19-12 victory, Burke converting two.

 

Dean Richards has developed a strong squad at Quins since joining them from Grenoble in the summer of 2005 as they prepared for a short stay in Division One, and finished a creditable seventh with them last season.

 

The squad boasts a mix of the substantial worldwide experience of Andy Gomarsall, Ceri Jones, Hal Luscombe, Chris Malone and Samoans Steve So’oialo and Tani Fuga with the youth of Jordan Turner-Hall, Tom Williams, Chris Robshaw, Tom Guest and Danny Care, as well as Mick “The Munch” Skinner’s son Will who joined from Leicester in 2006.

 

David Strettle and Nick Easter, both fantastic finds during Quins’ season in the second tier, are established England internationals when fit, whilst 22-year-old Mike Brown was also capped last summer in South Africa.  Prolific Simon Keogh and Ugo Monye are also in the Quins’ squad, whilst hooker Gary Botha was an understudy to captain John Smit in the victorious South African World Cup squad.

 

Jamie Noon’s injury sees Mathew Tait in the centre, and Ollie Phillips on the wing with Tom May at full-back with Hall Charlton starting his first Premiership start of the season.  Micky Ward and Rob Vickers keep their places in the front row, and Andy Buist replaces Russell Winter in the back row.

 

15 Tom May
14 Ollie Phillips
13 Mathew Tait
12 Toby Flood
11 John Rudd
10 Jonny Wilkinson
9 Hall Charlton
1 Micky Ward
2 Rob Vickers
3 Carl Hayman
4 Andy Perry
5 Mark Sorenson
6 Andy Buist
7 Ben Woods
8 Phil Dowson (captain)

Replacements:
16 Matt Thompson
17 Jon Golding
18 Geoff Parling
19 Brent Wilson
20 Ed Williamson
21 James Grindal
22 Tim Visser

 

Quins team TBA.

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