Harlequins are in Pool 4 of this year’s competition, and share the group with Stade Francais and Ulster., who meet at Ravenhill at the same time.

Harlequins came within seconds of pulling off a magnificent win, last weekend against The Ospreys in Swansea. The team of  pundits,  on BBC Wales were effectively forced to eat their words at the end of the match, after saying beforehand that Quins were not  taking the competition seriously by fielding a “second string side”. This statement was clearly for “home” consumption as it conveniently avoided the fact that  for Harlequins along with every other Premiership side in the  were playing their third match in eight days, whilst the Welsh clubs had not played for two weeks, and this one week before the important European Cup. Quins dug in well during the first half, but by half time Ospreys had begun to get the upper hand after a breakaway try just before half time and when Taione was sent to the naughty step it looked like the game was over. But No! Ospreys didn't turn up for the second half and it was great viewing watch the tide turn as Quins began to haul their way back and take control of the match, only for the Quins Achilles Heel preventing them from closing out the match. That was a very fortunate bounce that lost Quins the match and salvaged some pride for Ospreys. Quins showed just how much strength in depth they have and this was a very  good “A” team that almost beat a team of Welsh Internationals  If the Welsh repeat that performance this weekend they will be mauled by Leicester.

So autumn has really arrived now as are back to the premier European Rugby, competition which culminates with the final in Edinburgh in May. All the form guides pick Stade Francais with their new pink Warholesque pop art shirts, to be the Pool winners. They maybe the Class act in France with five championships, in ten years but have yet to win this trophy, despite being finalists in 2001 and 2005. This appears to be the most open Heineken cup competition in recent years. The Parisians travel to Ulster this weekend and will arrive at the same time as a deep Atlantic low deposits heavy rain and wind, conditions that will more than suit the home side. As Mick Cleary wrote in the Telegraph, “No Welsh team have ever troubled the engravers of the Heineken Cup”. Despite two semi finals in this competition and their new Australian signing in their No.8, David Lyons, Llanelli are still rebuilding their squad, although they have had a successful start to their Magners season. Ulster are previous winners of this Cup but they are poor when travelling despite the kicking power of Andrew Trimble. They have also had a miserable start to the season and lie at the bottom of the Magners League. Harlequins have been tipped to be the runners up in this Pool, and have been confirmed as  “dangerous outsiders” as they have the firepower and determination to win away from home which is critical in this competition if you want to progress to the next round. With assets in Care, Monye and Robshaw, Quins will be missing two key players in their squad, this week end Nick Evans and David Strettle, and therefore European Glory this season may still be a step too far. There is still time for both these players to be fully recovered by December when Quins face back to back matches against the Parisians which should make for two cracking back to back matches.

Last year none of the teams in this group made it past the pool stages. The Daily Telegraph suggest that Harlequins will finish as runners up in this pool.

Despite falling at the last hurdle last weekend Quins will be fired up for this weekend match at Stradey Park, and are more than capable of coming away with a victory. Under the headline “Quins must show Will Power” club captain Will Skinner said earlier this week that Quins need to step up a gear if they are to progress in this competition. Despite being the top try scorers in the Premiership they have failed on three occasions this season to finish off the opposition. “People tell us that we are producing exciting rugby, some of the best they’ve seen, but we are keeping our feet on the ground and we recognise we haven t done that for the full 80 minutes yet. In the Heineken Cup you need to be at that level for the entire match and that is the challenge we face.”

Quins have not had much success in this Competition, and this year could see a turnaround. Glancing at the mountain of statistics that have been published ahead of Saturdays game Of 36 games played Quins have won just 10, lost 23 and have drawn on 3 occassions. In contrast Llanelli have played 821 games winning 45 of them. The player stats highlight the relatively poor showing and the fact that unlike Llanelli, Harlequins have not been consistent in their membership of the competition. The reader takes a trip down memory lane with

Harlequins certainly have a good opportunity to have a successful campaign in the Heineken Cup and certainly more successful than last Season. Their confidence will be high after last week, and their start to the season. There is plenty to build on, but they do have the potential to cause a few upsets along the way, starting tomorrow at Stradey Park! , As Mick Clery reported “Harlequins are dangerous outsiders”...

Come on You Quins!

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