The match will be played at the Stadium Jean Bouin, in the shadow of the famous Parc des Princes, on Saturday November 10th. Kick off is at 14.35 CET (13.35 GMT), as the match is being televised by Canal+ for the French tv audience.

This is not just another rugby match, it is France v England, this not any rugby match between capital cities, it is Paris v London, this is Stade Français v Harlequins, and what will be a colourful clash of rugby shirts! The two sides last met five years ago in the Parker Pen competition in December 2002, when the French side won both the home and away fixtures. Stade Français scuttled Quin at the Stoop winning 26-0 and a week later in Paris, Quins captained that day by Jason Leonard, went down 27-12. That week back in 2002, Quins latest signing from South Africa had just arrived, Andre Vos, but he did not play in Paris. Now, in 2007 we see Quins latest signing from South Africa, Gary Botha, has just arriving just prior to the same fixture and like Vos he is unlikely to take part in this weeks match, but will play some part in this competition.

The French Super 14 season kicked off just two weeks ago, and this may be to Harlequins advantage. Stade Français are still fresh to competition after the World Cup, as their results show with a home win 23-17 against Clermont Auvergne, two weeks ago and a loss 28-9 away to Toulouse, last weekend. Quins meanwhile started their season well, back in September, but there has been a frustrating and very disappointing lapse in their performance over the past couple of weeks. This is expected to be a very tough, but fascinating and exciting fixture, the timing of this match probably suits Quins more than the Stade Français. Quins are now eight weeks into their season, of which they had made a very good start, and still lie fourth in the Premiership. Yet since the loss at Newcastle, there appears to have been a drift in focus by the team, with indiscipline on the field, far too many unforced errors not forgetting the current trend of hanging on to a wafer thin lead in the second half of a tight match.  Such “game plans” have caused many supporters immense frustration, apoplexy and despair in recent weeks, so it seems appropriate to quote from Charles Dickens novel “ A Tale of Two Cities”, ( London and Paris being those two cities) as this paragraph probably sums up how many Quins supporters are feeling at the moment;

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of  wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only”

That said, this is Harlequins and deep down I think we are in agreement that we all thrive on the highs and lows that is the rollercoaster of supporting the team in the quartered shirt. Testimony to this fact is the 500 Harlequins supporters are travelling to Paris this weekend to cheer on the team with thousands of other eagerly awaiting news of the match on Saturday afternoon.

Harlequins qualified for the final place in this competition by virtue of finishing in seventh position in the Guinness Premiership, after Bath failed to win the European Challenge Cup. They have been drawn in Pool Three and as well as the French side, the pool includes Cardiff Blues who Quins meet at The Stoop next weekend and Bristol Rugby. Quins have won the Challenge Cup on two occasions in recent years, but they have never progressed further than the pool stage of the Heineken Cup. It is three years since Quins last played in this competition when they “drowned” after finishing bottom of the pool, with just one draw against Castres. That was our relegation season. I think we are all realists and know that Quins will not to qualify for the later stages however unlike last time, with our current squad and with Dean Richards at the helm, Harlequins will have an enjoyable time trying to upset all their opponents in their group. It is a season too early for Quins squad to make headway in this competition but it is well within our capabilities not to finish bottom of the pool as predicted by Brendan Gallagher. If fit, Nick Easter and a rested Andy Gomarsall will relish an immediate return to France, and this weeks match gives David Strettle the consolation and opportunity to play a match on French soil in 2007.

Stade Français reached the quarter finals of the competition last year being knocked out 21-20 by Leicester Tigers. Stade have yet to win this competition, despite twice being finalists only to finish as the runners up to Leicester in 2001 and Toulouse in 2005. In this year’s competition, Pool 3 is theirs to lose. With their assembled squad of very experienced players, which include an array of international stars. Stade Francais are one of the favorites’ to lift the trophy this season, after winning the French Championship last season, for the fifth time in eight seasons. They stayed at the top of the French league throughout the whole season. It is expected that the Argentinean World Cup stars Juan Martin Hernandez, Ignacio Corleto and Rodrigo Roncero will be available for this match. In addition Stade Francais can call on a string of French World Cup players which include Lionel Beauxis, Peter De Villiers, Christophe Dominici, Remy Martin, and David Skrela as well as from Italy, the Bergamasco brothers.

The Rugby World Cup France showed the English underdogs could proper so maybe the omens look good and we pray that it will continue this weekend. Dean Richards has stated that this season’s Heineken Cup competition is the toughest yet, with the quality and standard of rugby improving year by year. He believes that it is impossible to pick the favorites to qualify for the quarter final stages of the competition.  "If you look across the board, there are not many groups where you can say they are certainties to go through. It's going to be really tight. You just can't predict a winner – it is impossible.”  He added that “The Heineken Cup is an extremely important competition to us. We believe this is the biggest club rugby tournament in the world and we want to go as far as we possibly can and going to Paris to play Stade Français will be extremely difficult but that's part and parcel of playing against the best teams. We will go there and enjoy it but if we want to do well, we'll have to have a flying start. Stade Français are a great side, especially at home.”  

Irrespective of the result the traveling supporters will have just as an enjoyable weekend as they did when we last visited back in December 2002. Bon voyage to all those traveling to Paris and have a great time.

Allez les Quins !

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• November 2007 at Harlequins

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