By Worried of Whitton
December 30 2009

Quins return to Edgeley Park as they meet Sale for the third time in four weeks. Kick off is on Friday January 1st 2010 at 17.30pm and is the first Premiership game of the new decade! Quins have been on the losing side after the two most recent encounters so it is expected to be third time lucky as they need to start to consolidate their position in the league, at this half way point in the season

Despite their loss Quins maintained their sixth position in the table, with the news that the chasing pack below them lost their round 11 matches. However Quins are in a precarious position and need to win this week to consolidate that place the win for Wasps just one place above in fifth opened up a seven point gap in the table as the top five have now cut themselves loose from the bottom seven.  With bottom placed Leeds winning (Quins opponents next week) the gap between sixth and twelfth position closed to just 10 points. Sale languish in ninth spot on 18 points. A loss for Quins this week, with wins for other clubs below could see them drop t 10^th or 11^th.

A losing bonus point for Quins was welcome in yet another match that Harlequins gifted an early try to their opponents, to spend the next 77 minutes playing catch up. Quins were helped considerably by Cipriani’s poor kicking and it was his replacement Walder, who finally kicked the points that enabled Wasps to take the spoils, and spoil the party atmosphere, despite a very late a fight back by the quartered shirts.  Whilst it was good to be part of a packed house and record attendance for a Quins home match, we never seem to make this home advantage count at HQ. It is unclear what the thousands of non partisan spectators thought about the match. The start of a Mexican wave so early in the first half suggested that the game was dull. I expect a fair number of other Quins supporters spent time trying to explain to those who came for the spectacle just why Quins failed to produce the result.  I too had that conversation with my son, who was at his third Quins game this season and could not believe what he was witnessing. It is true that the other matches he attended were against Toulouse and Gloucester the tow best games of the season so far.

This week’s opponents Sale, themselves had a torrid time at Leicester on Sunday, finishing on the end of a 32-6 drubbing away at Leicester, despite some spirited defending that could not keep the Tigers at bay, although pushed Leicester to the last play of the match to gain their four try bonus point.  Sale Coach Kingsley Jones said that he thought his tram played well at Leicester and the score line was too harsh and did not reflect the game. He felt a 12 point margin would have been “fairer”. There is no doubt about it that this is another huge match for both sides this weekend.  Sale is expecting their first capacity crowd of the season. It is an unusual match tool as the two teams play each other for the third time in four games. Jones commented in the Daily Telegraph this week“it certainly involves a bit of a cat and mouse among the   coaching staff but one thing you know for sure with Quins is that they finish like a train in the last fifteen minutes”

Jones himself is playing his part by announcing a mass rotation of players ahead of this week’s game Speaking to Brendan Gallagher in the Telegraph he said.”You have to be realistic these days, more teams are adopting the policy than you might think; it’s just that there are not noticed because they have bigger squads….. Being fresh mentally and physically is the single most important factor when you are trying to get an edge. We all do pretty much the same conditioning work and levels of ability are broadly similar. It is the freshness that can make that little bit of difference in big games and that means you have to rest guys occasionally.”  This may be true, but judging by Sale’s current league position and their position in their Heineken Cup Pool Jones may well have been seduced by the lure of European Glory, with matches against Cardiff and Toulouse in a few weeks time. He added that he did much the same in the autumn when they faced Toulouse away. After a quick turnaround from a Sunday game in France to a Friday game against Cardiff. He fielded his strongest side against the Welsh – a game that they won followed by back to back wins against Quins.

The weather may also play it s part again this weekend. The pitch remains under cover, as it did two weeks ago. Quins played in a blizzard on their last visit to Stockport and could well find themselves doing so again. Harlequins won a lot of praise for not wanting to abandon that game. This match is too close to call. If Quins do not change their starting lineup and field a strong side then they will certainly be battle hardened and have the edge over the fresh Sale side. Both clubs desperately need a win here and I believe Quins can win it, it will be a close game but he points will travel down south

Finally let me wish you all a very Happy New Year and Best Wishes for 2010. My resolution is to try and provide a preview each week. A busy time at work has prevented me from doing so some weeks, and for the team to resolve to not to give away any more soft tries!

Looking forward to a new start to the new multicolored decade!

Come on You Quins!