In case you need reminding this how the Premiership table looks.

Playing Gloucester at Kingsholm is never easy, and the ground has a reputation for not being the most welcoming, to away supporters, who have named it Castle Grim. The confidence at Quins going into this match is high, after back to back wins, picking up a bonus point last weekend, and sitting on top of the league. We all know the performance last weekend was lacking in some areas and despite the absence of Nick Evans through injury, the team played through their failings to pick up a home win. The confidence going into this match has been strengthened by the results against Gloucester last season.

When the two teams meet last year in November, an exciting match followed, despite Gloucester winning 27-25. As AlanQuin wrote in his match report that day “Harlequins’ visits to Kingsholm rarely produce league points. Nearly every Quins supporter fully expected that the team would come away empty handed. Instead they came away with two league points, the equivalent of a drawn game….  But this was a real cracker of a match.  The first half finally silenced The Shed as the fancy boys from London, unbelievably, ran in four tries in the first half-hour with passion, determination, skill and invention.  The ball was moved through the hands with precision by forwards and backs alike” and only the failure of a last minute drop goal attempt by Malone, following concerted Quins pressure, prevented a draw. Richards said after the match, "We always knew they had the ability to come back but it is difficult to take," said Richards. But there aren't many sides who get a bonus point in the first half at Kingsholm and we did pretty well getting that. Games like that are what it's all about. It was a fantastic atmosphere and you either grow in stature or you drift off. All of my boys came through with flying colours." When the two sides met at The Stoop in March Quins came away with a 30-25 with a bonus point 30-25 win front of a sellout crowd.

It appears that this week’s opposition have themselves been unsettled by Quin’s start to the season. BBC Radio Gloucester reported that hooker Olivier Azam has laid down the gauntlet ahead of Saturday's Premiership clash with Harlequins. Sounding very much like one of the French Knights from Monty Python and the Holy Grail/Spamalot standing on the battlements of Castle Grim; looking down, “The 33-year-old has accused the London side of arrogance and admitted their style of play motivates him to want to beat them.” Azam added: "Quins like to throw the ball around; they like to play expansive rugby.”I would say they fancy themselves a bit so I just hope we'll be up for the game and we give them a good spank."  and no doubt “burst their bottoms!”  The interesting part of that quote is “I just hope we’ll be up for the game” which suggests that all is not well.

Gloucester have had a mixed start to their season, after heavily losing 8-20  two weeks ago at home to Leicester, they bounced back last week with their first victory at the Recreation Ground by beating Bath by 21points to 17. The press reported that Bath's South African star Butch James produced a goal-kicking horror show which ultimately contributed to the Gloucester victory, and therefore after our own kicking performance last week, we need to be wary. By all accounts this was an impressive victory following the previous week’s defeat, as Bath we unable to match Gloucester’s hunger, after coach Dean Ryan had changed two thirds of the previous weeks starting lineup. Reports on the Gloucester supporters’ web site stated that “Walker had a steady hand reliable without being spectacular, and that's just what we needed in this game”. Overall Gloucester were much improved in line out and rucks from the previous week, but their play seem to deteriorate in the list ten minutes of the game. Glaws fans also pointed out that they relied on Butch James having a terrible game, and that Azam captained his team well. Most of the other “good points” about the game repeatedly listed a Gloucester win, which suggests that they are still very much a side in the process of consolidating their performance.

Despite their five try victory against a very poor Bristol side, Richards expects further improvement from his side. "We didn't quite play in the right areas of the field, and some of the decision-making at times wasn't good. But it's something we'll look at and we'll learn from it. That's the beauty about the youngsters. They are just so willing to learn. Some of the guys will be a little bit disappointed with their performance today, just from the intensity point of view, but we'll take the five points. We're happy with that."

The scene is therefore set for another exciting match, and anticipation awaits! Whilst it is hard to hope for a repetition of last years epic match at Kingsholm, both sides have something to prove as Quins will want to maintain their 100% record this season whilst Gloucester will be out win at home and to improve their league position.

Come on You Quins!

The other Premiership matches this weekend are  

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