By KevT
April 25 2003

NEC Harlequins take on Gloucester at Kingsholm on Saturday 26th April (kick off 3.00pm). The match is important to both clubs as Gloucester seek to seal their place at the top of the Zurich Premier League and Quins try to qualify for the Heineken Cup Wild Card Play Offs. Quins make no changes to the team that beat Leicester 17 – 9 at The Stoop last Saturday.

Quins number eight Tony Diprose was pleased with the victory over Gloucester. “We were pleased and slightly relieved. We’ve been looking over our shoulders quite a bit for the past few weeks.”

I asked Tony about his ankle injury. “My ankle is fine thanks. I picked up the injury around Christmas time last year. I’ve had a bit of time to rest it and the ankle is now 100%.”

The new additions to the Quins side have also settled in well. “All of the new guys have done well, I think in some ways their arrival has given us a bit of a kick and we needed that. Billy (Fulton) has done very well in difficult circumstances and Mel (Deane) and Ceri (Jones) have settled in really quickly.”

“The back row is a competitive area. If you don’t play really well then you know that you will be dropped. We’ve got Roy Winters back, Pat Sanderson will be fit again soon and Luke Sherriff is also challenging for a place.”

Turning to Gloucester Tony said. “Gloucester are top because they deserve to be top. In their back row Jake Boer does a lot of the grafting, Jamie Forrester is really quick and has come on well this season, Junior Paramore has been injured but Andy Hazell has played very well. We will go down there and give it a real go. We got a bit of confidence by beating London Irish and then were very unlucky to lose at Leeds. We’ve looked at Gloucester on the video, we will have to defend well if we are to have any chance. They have their back row who score a lot of tries and game breakers in Garvey, Simpson-Daniel and Delport.”

Speaking on the club’s website, Gloucester Director of Rugby Nigel Melville spoke about their draw against Sale Sharks last week: “We came away relieved and they came away pretty dissatisfied. We left it late again, and didn’t perform particularly well but the outcome was pretty good in the circumstances”.

“It was never going to be easy at Sale, they have had a great season-they haven’t lost at home all year. We went up there and put pressure on them but certain parts of our game were poor. If we work on those this week we can put them right for a big game against Harlequins this weekend”

It’s a pretty important game for Gloucester on Saturday. “To end up top of the pile and to do it here at Kingsholm would be pretty special. Had we done it last week many people would have missed out. First and fore most however, we have to beat Harlequins”.

“I would never underestimate anyone in the Premiership. Whether the opposition are second or bottom, it makes no difference, you will always get a tough game-that is what is so positive about the Premiership”.

Gloucester have a very solid platform up front. Trevor Woodman plays at loose head. He is solid in the scrum and has good pace for a prop. Quins supporters will remember his game winning try for Gloucester in the opening game of the season at The Stoop. Olivier Azam is a tough strong hooker who is also adept at finding his line out jumpers as long as he is in the right mood. Azam is prone to off days when he has real difficulty in finding his jumpers. Phil Vickery is a long term absentee at Tight Head prop and long serving club stalwart 37 year old Andy Deacon is likely to play. Rob Fidler and Andy Eustace provide a solid if unspectacular second row pairing. They like to play a hard game which can result in the occasional yellow card. Referee Lander will not be in for an easy ride around the tackle area.

Gloucester have a sublime back row. Jake Boer likes to go in where the boots fly. He has a wonderful knack of being at the right place at the right time. He is also adept at slowing down opposition ball. Jamie Forrester has really come into his own on the harder pitches this spring. He has fantastic pace and great hands. I expect him to go to Australia for The World Cup with England. Andy Hazell is a real unsung hero. He has had some excellent performances for England A and for Gloucester this season.

We always expect a strong pack when we go down to Kingsholm, but Gloucester now have a set of backs to match. Andy Gomarsall is a good scrum half and really compliments Gloucester’s game. He is all energy and drive but perhaps lacks the pass that our own Billy Fulton has. Mercier will play at stand off, having won the early season battle against Henry Paul for the number ten jersey. His kicking is usually good but he is prone to the occasional off day. He also poses a threat from ball in hand so Quins back row will need to keep alert to this.

In the centre Henry Paul has been playing instead of Robert Todd. Paul gives Gloucester a bit more unpredictability than Todd. Terry Fanolua is great in defence but doesn’t always run straight which doesn’t make the most of Gloucester’s pace out wide. And boy do they have pace. Marcel Garvey and James Simpson Daniel are quick, quick and quick. Garvey scored a superb try at The Stoop last summer and Simpson Daniel is a great footballer. He has a wonderful way of drawing his man and bringing in other players. Thinus Delport is an excellent Full Back who comes into the line well and is also safe with the high ball.

So Quins are facing a tough battle against the best team in the land. Gloucester have also shown a tough streak by coming from behind in their last two matches to beat Newcastle and draw with Sale Sharks. Quins confidence will be high and their defence has shipped only one try in their past three matches against London Irish, Leeds and Leicester. This is no mean feat and will be the key to their chances against Gloucester. The Gloucester back row (if Paramore were fit) are numbers one, two and three in the Premier League’s forward try scorers. Another crucial part of the match will be Mr Lander’s interpretation of the tackle area. I’m not betting on any consistency there.

Quins have looked sharper in attack but have often failed to penetrate the opposition defence despite having a lot of possession. They need to show a bit more of a killer instinct in the opposition twenty two.

Quins have a chance of an upset if they can slow Gloucester’s ball down and can retain possession themselves. They need to compete in the line out and secure possession on their own throw. Gloucester’s forwards are prone to frustration if they can’t get the ball. Yellow cards tend to follow. If Quins can get a good start then they can really get to Gloucester. They must also play for eighty five minutes as Gloucester’s fitness levels and ability to come from behind have been evident recently. Gloucester are a tough nut to crack at Kingsholm. Their only defeat there this season was when our second team beat their second XV. Quins will need to show the same hard edge in defence that they showed against Leicester and a bit more thrust in attack to dent Gloucester’s home record.


GLOUCESTER (possible): 15. Thinus Delport; 14. James Simpson-Daniel, 13. Terry Fanolua, 12. Henry Paul, 11. Marcel Garvey; 10. Ludovic Mercier, 9. Andy Gomarsall; 1. Trevor Woodman, 2. Olivier Azam, 3. Andy Deacon, 4. Rob Fiddler, 5. Adam Eustace, 6. Jake Boer capt, 7. James Forrester, 8. Andy Hazell


NEC Harlequins 15. Nathan Williams; 14. Dan Luger; 13. Will Greenwood; 12. Mel Deane; 11. Ben Gollings; 10. Paul Burke; . 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 to be selected from the following:
Roy Winters; Jon Dawson; Karl Rudzki; Luke Sherriff; Scott Bemand; Viliame Satala; Rob Jewell; Bruce Starr