By KevT
April 17 2003

NEC Harlequins take on Leicester Tigers at the Stoop Memorial Ground on Saturday (Kick Off 3.00pm) in a match that is vital for both sides’ chances of getting to the end of season play-offs. Quins make two changes to the team that was narrowly beaten away at Leeds two weeks ago. Tani Fuga replaces Ace Tiatia at Hooker. Ace moves to blind side flanker and replaces Roy Winters. Bill Davison returns from injury to replace Karl Rudzki.

Quins Australian Full Back Nathan Williams was disappointed with the last minute loss against Leeds. “It was very disappointing with the way the game ended. The referee seemed to play endless injury time. We watched the video of the match and couldn’t see why he gave that last penalty and sin-binned Dan Luger (Leeds scored a try from the resulting penalty).”

I asked Nathan how the new arrivals had settled in. “Mel (Deane) and Billy (Fulton) have gone really well. Mel does his stuff which is straight into the opposition and Billy is a typical New Zealand half back and has a great pass. Ceri Jones made a great debut coming on for 20 minutes. He made a couple of good runs and some big hits.”

The England players had obviously been buoyed by the Grand Slam win over Ireland, I asked Nathan whether they had any problems bringing the England players down to earth. “No, they had some rest after the match but they were fine. Ace and I were going to put on Ireland shirts if England had lost.”

Turning to this weekend’s match against Leicester Nathan said, “Leicester have been a bit of a benchmark for the English Leagues. I used to watch them in Australia when I was playing in the Super 12 (for the Queensland Reds). We’ve played them a couple of times this season and they are a tough side. Evs (Mark Evans), JK (John Kingston) and Paul Turner have done their video analysis of them. They like to play with the ball in hand. We also can’t afford to give away too many penalties. We’ve been playing better though. We’ve had a bit more of a license to run and are playing with a bit more confidence.”

Leicester have a number of injuries at the moment. Dean Richards, speaking on the Tigers website this week said; "There are a few bumps and bruises that we're assessing every day. Austin (Healey), Graham Rowntree, Lewis Moody and Ollie Smith are still out and some of the bumps and bruises have restricted players from training for two or three days. Austin will be out for the rest of the season after having his C&L repaired by a surgeon yesterday, but he hasn't ruled out making the England summer tour. Will (Johnson) has badly injured his knee ligament and will be out for a few months."

Leicester are smarting from their 7 – 20 home defeat against Munster in the Heineken Cup. "I think the squad have come out more determined than ever. There's obviously a great deal of disappointment in the camp but at the same time everyone will admit that we had only ourselves to blame. The faults and mistakes that were made, were made by ourselves and that’s a disappointing factor.

"Although there is disappointment there's also an amount of irritation amongst us that we made so many mistakes that pulled us up on the day and I'm hopeful that going into this weekend we'll pull a big performance out of the bag."

Tim Stimpson, is likely to start at Full Back for the Tigers and will be hoping for a better kicking performance than he gave last week. Geordan Murphy, a candidate for Premier League player of the season has recently been moved back to the wing. He is a wonderful footballer and creates havoc with ball in hand. Will Greenwood will not want to kick the ball to him as he did in the first half for England against Ireland. Ex Rugby League player Steve Booth will likely play on the other wing. He has been in excellent form this season and is a great open play runner. Leicester’s options at centre have diminished due to the injury to Ollie Smith. Smith will be missed. He is a deceptive quick runner and often breaks the gain line. Rod Kafer pulled out of the match against Munster just before kick off and I expect him to return at inside centre. Kafer’s return will be crucial for Leicester. The Tigers midfield was excellent when beating Quins 19 – 12 at The Stoop in the Cup in January. Kafer’s creative game was sorely missed against Munster. Leon Lloyd, a transfer target for Quins last summer should play at outside centre. He has not always been a favourite at Welford Road where his handling has sometimes been criticised.

The Tigers really struggled at half back against Munster. Tom Tierney’s service was poor and I anticipate seeing Harry Ellis at scrum half. With Austin Healey’s injury, the more solid Sam Vestey is likely to start. There has been some debate about whether Healey’s absence is a good thing or not for Leicester. I think Vestey plays to Leicester’s strengths better than Healey. The forwards have a better idea of what he is going to do. His kicking from hand is also better than Healey. Leicester like to get the ball out quickly and use the full width of the pitch. They like to get their wingers in the game as much as possible. The problem with this is that their forwards aren’t always able to get to the break down as quickly as they might and this gives the opposition the opportunity to turn over the ball.

Despite a number of injuries, the Tigers pack is as strong as ever. Perry Freshwater has been playing loose head with Graham Rowntree moving to tight head. Frank Tournaire has been playing on the bench. England Hooker Dorian West provides a reliable service in the line out for the Grand Slam winning second row pairing of Martin Johnson and Ben Kay although West and Kay struggled against Munster last Sunday. In the back row Tigers have lost Will Johnson for the rest of the season. I expect the excellent Martin Corry to go to Number Eight. He will provide stiff opposition for Tony Diprose at the back of the line out. Josh Kronfeld and Neil Back are two of the best flankers in the world over the last decade. They will make life very difficult for Quins.

The referee on Saturday is Roy Maybank. He has refereed Quins once this season which was away against Saracens. He has a reputation for being firm particularly over players coming in from the side at rucks and in the tackle area. He is rated as one of the most improved referees this season.

Quins have played with a lot more confidence in the last few matches. The acquisition of Billy Fulton at scrum half has brought the best of Paul Burke. He appears to have more time on the ball and has been able to play with more authority at Fly Half. Will Greenwood is more of a threat with Mel Deane playing at inside centre and Dan Luger looks like he is returning to form.

In the set piece, the Quins scrum looks a lot stronger with Ceri Jones at loose head and Jason Leonard at tight head. Quins’ big worry will be in the line out. Quins miss Alex Codling not just on their own throw but also his ability to read what the opposition are going to do. Quins ability to secure decent possession from the line out will be a crucial factor in this match. Tony Diprose will have to be at his athletic best to get the better of Martin Corry at the back of the line out.

Quins have a much quicker second row and back row than Leicester. Simon Miall in particular is adept at turning over ball and Quins will hope to get to the break down quickly without incurring the wrath of referee Maybank and turn over ball. They will also hope the referee takes a firm stance on Leicester in the tackle area. This may provide Paul Burke with the opportunity to kick a few goals.

We are likely to see a much improved Leicester performance than the one they gave against Munster. Their season is on the line in this match. They must win the rest of their matches to have any hope of getting to the Championship play-offs. Quins have the game to beat Leicester, they’ve done it before at the Stoop in the Cup. A full house should provide Quins with the support to take the game to Leicester. Quins are playing a more snappy and clinical style of rugby. If they can secure enough possession from the line out and avoid conceding too many penalties then I think they can win, but it will be tight.


NEC Harlequins: 15. Nathan Williams 14. Dan Luger 13. Will Greenwood 12. Mel Deane 11. Ben Gollings 10. Paul Burke 9. Billy Fulton 1. Ceri Jones 2. Tani Fuga 3. Jason Leonard 4. Bill Davison 5. Simon Miall 6. Ace Tiatia 7. Andre Vos (Capt.) 8. Tony Diprose

Replacements: 16. Roy Winters; 17. Jon Dawson; 18. Jim Evans; 19. Luke Sherriff; 20. Scott Bemand
21. Viliame Satala; 22. Rob Jewell


Leicester Tigers (possible); 15. Tim Stimpson; 14. Geordan Murphy; 13. Leon Lloyd; 12. Rod Kafer; 11. Steve Booth; 10. Sam Vesty; 9. Harry Ellis; 1. Perry Freshwater; 2. Dorian West; 3. Graham Rowntree; 4. Martin Johnson; 5. Ben Kay; 6. Josh Kronfeld; 7. Neil Back; 8. Martin Corry