Before we go any further let's take a look at the table:

		P	W	D	L	BP	PTS
1	Gloucester	20	16	2	2	8	76
2	Wasps	20	12	2	6	10	62
3	Sale	20	12	2	6	9	61
4	Leicester	20	12	0	8	6	54
5	Saints	20	11	0	9	9	53
6	Leeds	20	11	2	7	5	53
7	Harlequins	20	8	0	12	8	40
8	Saracens	20	7	0	13	8	36
9	Newcastle	20	7	0	13	7	35
10	Bath	20	6	2	12	4	32
11	Bristol	20	6	1	13	6	32
12	London Irish	20	6	1	13	5	31

From the table it appears there are four groups of three teams all pushing for the same result. At the top Gloucester cannot be overtaken but Wasps and Sale who are playing each other this weekend are scrapping for second place and home advantage in the championship playoffs. The next group involves Leicester, Saints and Leeds. 4th place guarantees Heineken cup rugby for next season so this group are playing for 4th and trying not to risk 5th getting into Europe or the dreaded wildcard play offs. Quins are safe from the drop as teams below them have to play each other and will want that wildcard spot, Sarries and Newcastle look like the other contenders but aren't safe yet. The bottom three of Bath, Bristol and Irish are knee deep in the doodoo's.

To the match in question and it's once again; "who wants it the most?" Quins are safe and to be fair they're probably ok for the wildcard, Saints on the other hand want automatic qualification and judging by Saturday's performance against Sale they're not content with their season. Saints know that a minimum 8 points from their remaining games will see them through if Gloucester do us a favour and beat the Tigers. 10 points will more than likely see 4th place but is that a big ask given the slip up at Newcastle was due to chasing the bonus or the 'plums' as wayne Smith called them. Quins though are a side that can do it on the day, their recent win against Leicester at home show they're nobody's mugs. Only another top performance from Saints will bring home the bacon.

That's the sensible view of the situation. A wackier one says Wasps spank Sale at the weekend and then Sarries fighting for their Premeirship lives beat them aswell. Leicester get the hiding of their lives in front of a shed baying for serious spillage of Tiger blood letting our boys leapfrog them up the table. Then Saints nip in the back door to the championship playoffs with two five pointers against Quins and the Tykes. Unlikely but you never know!

Team News:

Saints
Missing for Saints are the injured trio of Tom Smith, Jon Phillips, Steve Williams and Bruce Reihana and Army call ups Mattie Stewart and Chris Budgeon, leaving youngsters Brett Sturgess and Kelvin Todd some rather hefty boots to fill.

15 NICK BEAL
14 ORIOL RIPOL
13 PETER JORGENSEN
12 JOHN LESLIE
11 BEN COHEN
10 PAUL GRAYSON
9 MATT DAWSON
1 Brett Sturgess
2 STEVE THOMPSON
3 ROBBIE MORRIS
4 Matt Lord
5 MARK CONNORS
6 Darren Fox
7 BUDGE POUNTNEY (capt)
8 ANDREW BLOWERS

Replacements:
16 Matt Miles
17 Kelvin Todd
18 Rob Hunter
19 Grant Seely
20 James Brooks
21 Mark Tucker
22 JON SLEIGHTHOLME

Quins

15. Nathan Williams
14. Dan Luger
13. Will Greenwood
12. Mel Deane
11. Ben Gollings
10. Paul Burke
9. Scott Bemand
1. Ceri Jones
2. Tani Fuga
3. Jon Dawson
4. Bill Davison
5. Simon Miall
6. Roy Winters
7. Andre Vos (Capt.)
8. Tony Diprose

Replacements:
16. James Hayter
17. Bruce Starr
18. Karl Rudzki
19. Luke Sherriff
20. Laurent Gomez
21. Matthew Powell
22. Rob Jewell


History

The clubs first met over a hundred years ago in the 1896-97 season, a 6-6 draw at Northampton.
The clubs have met over 100 times since including an extraordinary 0-0 draw in 1952 and the 25-13 Pilkington Cup win for the Quins at Twickenham in 1991.

Earlier this Season


If you're Going to the Game
You're very lucky people and you should check out Kwin's guide to the Stoop

If you're staying home your best bet is to come and join us in the COYSDC chatroom. For those of you in Nuthamtunsheer tune to radio Npton and let Blackmore and Knight describe the action. If you're out of range there will be live (well with a delay) webcasts available from the Saints offy site or the bbc rugby page. All the links you'll ever need are available on the COYSDC message board.

Last Meetings

23 Nov 2002 Saints v Harlequins 35-7 Franklin's Gardens
26 Jan 2002 Saints vs Harlequins 24 - 16 The Stoop
09 Nov 2001 Saints vs Harlequins 13 - 13 Franklin's Gardens
23 Dec 2000 Saints vs Harlequins 34 - 25 The Stoop
06 Sep 2000 Saints vs Harlequins 27 - 20 Franklin's Gardens
19 Apr 2000 Saints vs Harlequins 17 - 29 The Stoop
02 Oct 1999 Saints vs Harlequins 29 - 27 Franklin's Gardens
16 Jan 1999 Saints vs Harlequins 24 - 17 The Stoop
12 Sep 1998 Saints vs Harlequins 25 - 6 Franklin's Gardens
18 Jan 1998 Saints vs Harlequins 30 - 5 The Stoop
23 Aug 1997 Saints vs Harlequins 23 - 26 Franklin's Gardens
30 Apr 1997 Saints vs Harlequins 16 - 36 The Stoop
28 Sep 1996 Saints vs Harlequins 15 - 20 Franklin's Gardens
25 Mar 1995 Saints vs Harlequins 9 - 10 The Stoop
08 Oct 1994 Saints vs Harlequins 16 - 23 Franklin's Gardens
12 Mar 1994 Saints vs Harlequins 15 - 14 Franklin's Gardens
09 Oct 1993 Saints vs Harlequins 7 - 15 The Stoop
21 Nov 1992 Saints vs Harlequins 12 - 7 The Stoop
11 Jan 1992 Saints vs Harlequins 25 - 14 Franklin's Gardens
17 Nov 1990 Saints vs Harlequins 6 - 21 The Stoop