By Prof
October 10 2004

There were a couple of changes from the published team from Quins, as we knew Maurice Fitz Gerald had not fully recovered from his knock the week before and with Jon Dawson carrying a back injury it would be the 19 year old, Mark Lambert, who would get his first start at tight head.

Ace Tiatia was also missing from the bench because of a shoulder problem and another Academy youngster, Cameron Dott, took his place. 

Before the game started there was a perfectly observed minute’s silence for Ken Bigley and all the servicemen and civilians who have died in Iraq.

Quins started the sharper of the two sides, Vos swept to pick up a loose ball from a Gloucester line out in the first minute and Ugo Monye made a good break and recycled well soon afterwards before the home side gave away a penalty for being offside, Staunton stepped up and slotted the kick well. 0-3, 4 mins. It was the most fired up the team has looked since the pre-season games. Gloucester then a good attack after being awarded a penalty for pulling down a maul after a lineout and it took excellent defence from Quins to keep them out. Runs by Harder and Vos took the ball away from danger  before Gloucester regained the ball and chipped over Ugo Monye who took it well and returned it at pace, the ball was recycled well a number of timed before Duffy hit the line and dived over to score. It was a tricky kick from wide out on the left but Staunton got it and Quins were ten points to the good after ten minutes.

Gloucester seemed flustered when the restart didn’t go ten metres, Quins had a scrum in the centre and it was immediately apparent that that the Gloucester pack was just too powerful for Quins, but even though the pack was under a huge amount of pressure Diprose picked up well from the back and made good yards with a direct run.

Henry Paul reduced the deficit with a simple penalty after Quins were pinged for hands in a ruck after a good break by James Simpson-Daniel. 3-10, 15 mins.

Gomersall made an excellent sniping run through the centre after the restart but Miall managed to get back in time to intercept the ball and stop the move.

Matt Henjak then had to leave the field with a blood injury after taking a knock to the face, it was quite apparent that the Gloucester pack would target Henjak all game, Simon Keogh came on to cover at scrum half.

Good pressure by the Gloucester pack forced a turnover which allowed Henry Paul to chip to the left wing where Simpson-Daniel was on hand to catch the ball and flop over the line, Paul missed the tricky conversion. 8-10, 25 mins.

The same combination should have scored a few minutes later but when Paul spun the ball to his left he was quite shocked to find the ball heading into touch with JS-D appearing on his right shoulder! Henjak had now returned to the fray.

Staunton then set up a great chance by chipping over the Gloucester defence for Quins’ backs to chase, the whistle blew and Gloucester were penalised for pulling players back off the ball. Staunton slotted the penalty to extend Quins’ lead. 8-13, 30 mins.

There was another turnover at a Gloucester lineout and the ball was recycled well before Staunton attempted a drop goal but he hooked it left of the posts.

Gloucester then had another excellent attacking position when they kicked a penalty to touch five metres from Quins’ line, some excellent work from the forwards turned the ball over and the pressure was alleviated, but only temporarily before Henry Paul took a good try to score under the posts, he converted his own try and the home side were ahead for the first time after 37 minutes.

Quins won a lineout on the halfway line and Hazell steamed forwards from the offside line and piled into Henjak as he caught the ball, calls from the Quins fans for a penalty to be given for either offside, dangerous play or a high tackle went unheeded and with Henjak still prone on the ground half time was sounded. After the game sources close to the management said that it wasn’t the fact that Hazell was offside that was galling but that if the tackle had been any higher it would have gone clean over the scrum-half’s  head!

There was also a supporter carried out of the Shed on a stretcher by the medics, I hope they make a full recovery.

Gloucester started the second half well when Quins let them in for a soft try, it was a simple move by Gloucester with Fanolua being fed the ball after a throw to the back of a lineout, a tackle was missed and he scored the simplest of tries. Paul again got the conversion and Gloucester stretched their lead to 22-13, 42 mins.

Quins again attacked after turning the ball over and Greenwood made an excellent break through the middle, but he couldn’t get the ball away to Vos who was outside him and the chance went begging. Quins were soon back in the attack when they were awarded a free kick after a lineout. Nick Easter tapped the ball and thundered up the middle of the pitch before the ball was sent out to Greenwood who cut back inside to score under the posts, Staunton’s simple kick was good. 22-20, 49 mins.

Quins then let Fanolua in for another soft try when Azam through to the front of a lineout, got the ball back and charge up the right wing before the ball was fed left and the Samoan centre went in under the posts, Paul’s kick was good and the home side stretched their lead again 29-20, 50 mins. 

Vickery and Balding then came on for Powell and Hazell.

Ugo Monye came very close to getting an interception after he dived full length, goalkeeper-style, to try and take a sloppy pass from the Gloucester backs but he couldn’t quite hold on to it and the difficult chance went begging. 

A bit of handbags then broke out with Azam at the centre of it, he and Easter were spoken to about it and Azam was wisely subbed by the Gloucester management before he gave away any more penalties.

There was some good attacking and stern defending by both sides, Ugo Monye intercepted another pass but didn’t quite get into his stride on the heavy ground before he was tackled by Simpson-Daniel. Winters was pulled off by the management after a solid performance including one of his trademark driving tackles and he was replaced by Karl Rudzki (61 mins).

Staunton had the chance to reduce the gap to six points with a relatively easy penalty after Gloucester were penalised for pulling down a rolling maul, but he sent it wide of the posts and the score remained 29-20.

Mark Lambert was replaced by Jon Dawson on 67 minutes, the youngster had had a hard time in the scrum but he performed well around the pitch and we are definitely going to see a lot more of him in years to come (d.v.)

Quins tackling again forced Gloucester back and forced an error but the scrum was wheeled 90° and the put in conceded, Vos was angry with Spreadbury’s decision and made it known. Easter was then replaced by Sherriff on 71 minutes, the triallist having had a good game, he tackled hard and made yards with the ball in hand. Ugo, who had been suffering with cramp, was also replaced on 72 minutes with Keogh. Soon after Jarvis was brought on in place of Duffy with Staunton going to fullback.

Henry Paul then tried a conversion from the half way line but it fell short. The speed of pass from both Henjak and Jarvis put Dafydd James into space and he made a great break but the pass he gave out of contact was judged to have gone forward and the move came to nothing.

Then it was Gloucester’s chance to attack, excellent fast handling from their backs sent the ball to the left wing and back to the right wing where Garvey went for the corner only to be tackled into touch by Simon Keogh. 

Quins pressed forwards again, Diprose turned over yet another ball and the ball was taken up by Rudzki and Harder, Henry Paul then gave a penalty away and Staunton slotted the kick to give Quins a losing bonus point as the final whistle blew. 29-23, 83 mins.

It was by far the best performance by Quins this season, they played with spirit and guts and even though the pack were in trouble in the scrum they won lineouts against the throw and turned over a lot of ball in the loose. The players who stood out were Diprose who played one of his best games in a Quins shirt, he made yards, tackled hard and stole the ball. Vos was everywhere, supporting attacks and defending with spirit. Easter had an excellent debut showing the skills that he has shown in previous ‘A’ games. Henjak looked sharp even though Gloucester were targeting him all game. Greenwood looked dangerous in the backs and made some good breaks and Monye did well under pressure a number of times.

Gloucester could have scored more points had they made the most of their chances but so too could Quins. The team that played at Kingsholm played far, far better than the side that turned out against Worcester. If we carry on from here and just tighten up a couple of things – kicking to touch and one on one tackling then we’ll start closing the gap on teams above us and overtaking a few too.

One final player I would like to mention is Mark Lambert the 19 year old Academy tighthead, he had a torrid time in the scrum but then again a lot of more experienced players than him will have trouble against Bezuidenhout and his team mates at Kingsholm. We will certainly be seeing a lot more of this excellent prospect in the future.

The Press Conference

Mark Evans and Mike Scott came into the press office still looking disappointed but looking a lot more relaxed than previous post match press conferences this season.

Q. You played with pride today but do you need more than that at this stage or is today’s performance a stepping stone?

It’s a bit of both I think,  it’s difficult when you’re going through a trot like we are. I thought we played a bit with the ball in hand. The team got a bit of ‘go forward’ and looked after the ball pretty well for the most part. But I felt when we got to 22-20 and then we leaked a try virtually off the restart that it was soft. You work really hard to get back in it and then leak a try straight away. I thought we played the last twenty minutes pretty well and probably deserved what we got.

When you lose both your tightheads like we did because Jon Dawson isn’t right even though he came on for ten minutes. To have to put on a 19 year old [Mark Lambert] at tighthead, at Kingsholm, against Christo Bezuidenhout, you know you could be in for a long afternoon. I thought the lad hung in well really.

Q How old’s Lambert?

He’s 19, he’s going to be one hell of a player, but tight head is a tough old place to come in and play at that age but he is going to be one hell of a player.

Q. You could have done with getting that penalty though.

Yeah, we had Ugo Monye caught, he never really got into his stride when he stretched to take the ball on the in-to-out, he got it and never quite got into his stride and Sinbad did well and then Will bust up and had Vossie outside him, we made chances. I think it was a pretty good game on the whole, it was a pacy game.

Q. Even with that point you’re still at the bottom of the league.

Thanks for pointing that out, I wasn’t aware of that of course!

Q. So you’ve got to start again this weekend?

Yes, we’ve got Leicester at home this weekend. We’ve got to keep playing, we played some football today, we’ve just got to keep playing and we’ll play our way out of it.

Q. Were you happy with the new scrum half?

Yes, I thought Matt Henjak had a good game, especially as he’s only been the country about ten days, I thought he gave us something around the fringes, he’s a competitor, he’s a good kid. He’s a 22 year old, he looks promising.

Q. Yeah, but you can’t keep him

No, I think the Brumbies want him back, but he’s available for a lot of games for us. I think it’s something like 12 games before he goes.

Q. But he’s on standby so you might lose him for some of them

Yes but the odds are pretty low because it’s only a short tour

Q. How happy were you with the rest of you’re ‘A’ team like Nick Easter?

Nick Easter had a good game, he’s on trial with us, he did pretty well. I thought Diprose had a big game, a really big game; I thought Greenwood played well, he had a cold all week, he probably wouldn’t have played had we had the choice, and he did really well, he scored a try and looked dangerous when he had the ball; Vos played well.

Q. You looked a lot more confident than last week what would you put that down to?

I do agree, we made a few changes, but sometimes it’s easy to e confident when everyone else has written you off. If you have got self belief, which we have, sometimes it’s easier when everyone thinks that we’re going to come down here and get absolutely trashed.

Q. How hard has this last week been then, the guys are obviously motivated?

We’re a pretty tight group, some of us have been together for a while and we’ve had some really good times and some really tough times, we’ll come through this and when we come through it we’ll be better people for it. You don’t learn much about yourself when things are going fantastically well. I can’t tell you when it’s going to happen but I can say that we will.

Q. You have hinted about one player coming in, how well is that search going?

No comment!

Evans and Scotty left the conference room and Nigel Melville came in shortly after a smiling Dean Ryan, yes, you heard me correctly, Dean Ryan was smiling!

Q. Why couldn’t you bring on the replacement for Fanolua straight away?

Well I don’t want it to be headlines tomorrow, it was explained because a penalty isn’t supposed to be dead time in a game and the clock was supposed to be still running. I thought there was an opportunity, whether it was right or wrong, to get a man on without too much rumpus, you saw what happened when we couldn’t get the man on, they were aware of it and I think it could have been smoothed over. Whatever the law states it was a classic example where it could have been smoothed away.

Q. What was his injury?

Fanolua came off with a sore shoulder

Q. Four tries, a bonus point and a win, but how happy are you with that performance against a team that is at the bottom?

I don’t think their position has anything to do with it, we didn’t play particularly well and we got five points, you’ve got to be happy with that. We were unhappy with lots of parts of our game but we came here to win and  to get five points and that’s what we got. It wasn’t particularly pretty and we didn’t get on too well at times but all credit to Quins they played well, got stuck in, they’ve got good spirit in their squad. They are never an easy team to beat, we’ve always found them pretty difficult here. It was one of those days really, we could have had a lot more points but we didn’t finish particularly well.

Q. You started a bit slowly

Yes we did. It’s interesting when your players are away with England on Monday and Tuesday it disrupts your training week. They come back Wednesday, they rest on Thursday, then there’s just Friday and your into the games. It’s always difficult at this time of year.

Q. How do you think Phil Vickery got on?

I think he did alright, he had a couple of runs didn’t he? A couple more next week and he’ll be alright.

Q. It’s going to be a new look England side, which of your players do you think have a realistic chance of being selected?

They are picked on form aren’t they so if the selectors were here watching today then not many. If they have aspirations to play for England they have to do well for us. But that’s their problem not mine and that’s how it should be.

Q. Can you comment on Christo Bezuidenhout’s performance

He’s settled in really quickly, it’s like a home from home for him. It’s a great opportunity really, his experience is enormous and his really is a calm experienced head in there. He’s given us a lot of experience and a bit of ‘slow down; in there. When we get in more pressured environments I think that will be a lot of use to us. You saw today the power we have got in the scrum, that’s something we’re going to need in Europe. We didn’t see a lot of it today because it was a long time before we saw the first scrum. In Europe we know scrums are big especially when we meet the French teams.

Afterwards, when asked about other squad news, sources close to the management revealed that Maurice Fitz Gerald was pulled out late because, even though he had passed all of his tests after his knock on the head last week, he had had some more headaches; James Hayter is recovering well after a groin operation; Jon Dawson has a bit of a back problem and Ace Tiatia had subluxed his shoulder near the game last week and would have made it worse had he played this week but he should be OK for next week. And when asked again whether there was an imminent signing announcement he replied ‘No comment’ but we are closer than we were a couple of days ago.