By KevT
January 24 2003

NEC Harlequins take on the Leicester Tigers at the Stoop on Saturday (Kick Off 2.45pm) in the quarter final of the Powergen Cup. Leicester have been knocked out at the Stoop in each of the last three years, twice by Quins and once by London Irish. They will be anxious to avoid the same fate again. Quins make three changes to the team that started against Bristol three weeks ago. Nick Duncombe picked up a hamstring injury in training and is replaced by Scott Bemand. Chris Bell also picked up a hamstring injury and is replaced by Bill Satala. Ben Gollings replaces Rob Jewell on the wing.

In the Cup Quarter Final at The Stoop last year a penalty from Paul Burke, from just inside his own half, right on the stroke of 80 minutes sent NEC Harlequins through to the semi-finals thanks to a 22-20 victory. Leicester led 20-16 with five minutes to play but two Paul Burke penalties saw Quins home despite Quins being down to fourteen men after Nick Burrows had been banished to the sin bin. Five penalties in all plus a converted try from Nick Burrows outscored tries for Ollie Smith and Rod Kafer, two conversion and two penalties from Andy Goode.

Leicester are likely to make changes to the team that beat Neath by 36 – 11 at home in the Heineken Cup last week. Jamie Hamilton should replace Harry Ellis at scrum half. Ellis had to go off against Neath after 20 minutes. Lewis Moody should return from the bench in place of Will Johnson. Josh Kronfeld picked up a head injury in training which required ten stitches on Wednesday and is doubtful for Saturday. If he does not play then I would expect Martin Corry to play. In his press conference on Wednesday Dean Richards expressed the view that a back row of Neil Back, Moody and Kronfeld was his current dream Leicester back row. Up front Graham Rowntree is rated 50 /50 to start after surgery on his knee but I would not expect him to start.

Twenty one year old Sam Vesty will start at fly half as Austin Healey is still injured. Rod Kafer will play inside centre with a choice of Leon Lloyd or Ollie Smith available at outside Centre. Tim Stimpson has been picked at wing recently and expect him to start there with Geordan Murphy at Full Back.

Richards may spring a surprise and start with Samoan centre Freddie Tuilagi who has returned from injury. Tuilagi joined the Tigers from St. Helens Rugby League team and has won fourteen caps for Samoa.

At Leicester’s press conference on Wednesday Richards said "We will wait to see how he shapes up. We are excited to have Freddie back. He offers us a huge amount."

Turning to the so called jinx that has seen Leicester lose three times in a row at The Stoop Richards said "We have won most of our league games there and it's just that things haven't gone our way from a cup perspective. There are reasons behind it, but not to do with the surroundings. When we lost to London Irish it was our third game in a week, the boys were knackered.

"Last season there were 16 points that didn't go our way either through refereeing decisions or poor play from ourselves and to be honest the year before they outplayed us."

Leicester are a formidable team who have won the premier league four times running and the Heineken Cup the last two years running. They have added Frank Tournaire up front this season but were given the nudge by Neath last week in the scrum. I expect the Quins scrum to give Leicester a bit of a rough ride without Graham Rowntree. Alex Codling will have been disappointed not to be selected for the England squad this week and will have more than enough incentive to give Ben Kay a hard time in the middle of the line out. This will be the top battle in my mind. Kay is an excellent snaffler of opposition line out ball and almost every line out will be fiercely contested. I expect Quins to use Diprose a lot at the back of the line out where Moody does not provide such a presence. It also provides good quality quick ball as long as Fuga is throwing well.

The back row will also be a fascinating match up. I expect Kronfeld to recover from his injury and am looking forward to his battle with Ace Tiatia. No holds barred there. The battle around the tackle area could well decide this contest. Chris White’s refereeing of this area will also be crucial. Leicester are masters of being able to get quick ball whilst slowing down others. Ace will have to watch the yellow card as I can see him trying to vigorously ruck the Leicester back row from the ball.

The absence of Duncombe at scrum half is a big blow for Quins. He adds a bit more of a threat at the base than Bemand. That said, this might be Bemand’s type of match with a bit more physicality required. His game is better when the Quins forwards present the ball to him rather than him having to dig it out so the quality of Quins ball will be important. Jamie Hamilton the Tigers scrum half has had his share of critics at Leicester but he seems to be in form following his performance last week.

Sam Vestey has performed well at fly half in recent weeks for the Tigers and in my view their run of form in recent matches has coincided with his increased confidence in his position. Leicester have struggled creatively in the backs without Pat Howard. Rod Kafer is a good player but hasn’t been able to fire their back line as well as Howard. I expect Samoan centre Freddie Tuilagi to play at outside centre. It is a real blow that the muscular Chris Bell will not be able to face Tuilagi on Saturday. Satala will have to demonstrate a strength in the tackle that he has so far failed to show to combat Tuilagi.

Leicester’s Steve Booth is a convert from Rugby League who is pretty quick. Stimpson is a strong player but doesn’t add that much pace. He is a fantastic goal kicker and Quins will need to keep their penalty count as low as it has been in recent weeks to stop Stimpson bagging a lot of points. Geordan Murphy at Full Back is a very clever player and dangerous in broken play. He rarely has a bad game and is one of the most underrated players in the League.

All in all this a tough ask for the Quins, especially given the injuries to Duncombe and Bell. Home advantage is worth ten points to Quins. If they are to win this match then they must do it up front and challenge the traditional Leicester strengths in the set piece and in the back row. Leicester like to get the ball out wide quickly and use their speedy back row to secure possession in the tackle area. Quins back row will need to be fast on their feet at the breakdown to snaffle or slow down that ball in order to counter the Leicester game. Quins have got to show a more clinical ability to finish in the backs. In games against Bristol, Leeds and Saracens Quins had a lot of possession and created a number of chances but these were not converted.

Leicester will not be short on motivation after losing three ties at The Stoop. Quins have had two weeks to prepare for this match and know how to beat Leicester. It will all be about executing their game plan on the day.



NEC Harlequins: 15. Nathan Williams; 14. Dan Luger; 13. Will Greenwood; 12. Viliame Satala; 11. Ben Gollings; 10. Paul Burke; 9. Scott Bemand; 1. Jason Leonard; 2. Tani Fuga; 3. Jon Dawson; 4. Bill Davison; 5. Alex Codling; 6. Ace Tiatia; 7. Andre Vos (Capt.); 8. Tony Diprose

Replacements:
16. Pablo Cardinali; 17. Simon Miall; 18. Jim Evans; 19. Luke Sherriff; 20. Matthew Powell; 21. Matt Moore
22. Rob Jewell


Leicester Tigers (possible) 15. Geordan Murphy; 14. Steve Booth; 13. Freddie Tuilagi; 12. Rod Kafer; 11. Tim Stimpson; 10. Sam Vesty; 9.Jamie Hamilton; 1. Derek Jelley; 2. Dorian West; 3. Franck Tournaire; 4. Martin Johnson 5. Ben Kay; 6.Josh Kronfeld; 7. Neil Back; 8. Lewis Moody

Replacements:
George Chuter; Darren Garforth; Louis Deacon; Martin Corry; Will Johnson; Leon Lloyd; Glenn Gelderbloom