View From The 22

International time is over and we are back at it for the next block of serious games with an away trip to the champions (oh, do I not like typing that). Will be an interesting team selection for sure for both us and Quins. Seems like some England players have been rested whilst others like May, Lawes, are right back in the thick of it. Will Marler, Smith, Dombrandt play a part?

For us: is Paddy fit and available? Did Coleman take his naughty course and is he available to play? Does Pearson stick at 7?

For me:

WGC - Creevy - VDM
Coleman - Simmons
Rogerson - Tuisue - Pearson
Phipps
Jackson / Jennings
BJVR
Rona
OHC - Parton - Rowe

The bookies have Quins as clear favourites. Based on our recent form, I'm not so sure I agree with that.

Still it's better for us to go into the challenge as underdogs.

Did Coleman take his naughty course and is he available to play?

Edit: Yes. He's eligible for selection.

Edit2: Odds shortening for LI, lengthening for Quins. Roughly 2+/1 on Quins, 2.5/1 against LI.

Smith and dombrandt have both been on holiday this week so I doubt they will be involved. There were rumours that paddy broke his wrist so would expect to see jennings at 10

No van der Merwe at TH, but good to see Paddy is good to go.

So much for rumours - Paddy must be fine and not a break. VDM out is a bit of a blow given his stability against Marler, who did very well against Hoskins from last time if I remember rightly.

Still Quins without Symons, Dombrandt, Smith, Lynagh, Steele. If we can start as well as we finish then there's chance of points.

What was last season's fixture I wonder...

Oh yeah. A draw.

Hi guys, visiting from the Craic.

Would have liked to see White start, but overall looks a good selection.

Draw is currently 16.5-1, most weeks a GP match is about 20-1

Disappointing if we didn't pick up at least 1 a BP, and realistic hopes for more.

Stevie J wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 26, 2021 1:21 pm

VDM out is a bit of a blow given his stability against Marler, who did very well against Hoskins from last time if I remember rightly.

As someone said on here, a deal of credit is now due to our scrum coach, re the way Bondai Hoskins has come on this season.

Tomorrow will be a big test of where Olly is at.

Two teams that like to run the ball, but tomorrow's storm weather is going to inhibit that somehow.

I'm expecting a low scoring game. We'll see..

Edit: OK I'm going to stick my neck out here... Quins 19 : Irish 20 ....

What about that, and close with the prediction, the game ending 19-22. Irish should have put it fully beyond doubt (and got a try bonus as well) with about 10 minutes to go.

Just watched the game on BT Sport. The commentary team must have been gutted they couldn’t give the Man of the Match award to Andre Esterhuizen, having talked about him incessantly throughout the game! Seriously, though, it was a very gritty performance, even if OHC butchered two excellent opportunities. In years gone by we’d have made sure that the final Quins breakaway resulted in a try…

Yep, you had a sense of foreboding when we kept on giving them the ball back.

Should have gone for goal with 3 mins left to go 6 pts up.

But great dogged display, BJVR and Curtis immense, as was Coleman until he went off. Didn’t look too serious as he was on the pitch celebrating at the end.

SURELY Ben White must now start. Phipps is such a one dimensional player, and even then his passing can be appalling.

DaveAitch wrote: ↑

Sat Nov 27, 2021 5:01 pm

What about that, and close with the prediction, the game ending 19-22. Irish should have put it fully beyond doubt (and got a try bonus as well) with about 10 minutes to go.

He he he ! I'm just glad Irish won it. When I saw the bookies seeding the odds at Quins 4/1 on and Irish at 4/1 against , I thought that was a load of bohollox.

When they put the full recorded game up tomorrow, I'll enjoy the win with a few beers.

I really don't trust Christophe Ridley but we got there. BJVR played well but Rona was my MOTM, got the turnover in our 22 after sustained pressure as well as the turnover at the end, plus the assist for Simmons' try and the out of the back of the hand pass in the build up for White's. Big plays in the big moments

I was waiting for that final break to turn into a Quins penalty and another bloody draw but it wasn't to be. Shame we didn't put them out of sight earlier with missed opportunities from Parton and OHC (the first one was bad, second one not as bad but still) but the 4 points are lovely

Although the Parton break ended in a try eventually

Can't really blame OHC, how many times has he backed himself and scored those sorts of wonder tries to get us out of a bit of bother or pick up a bonus point? He seemed to be doing it every game a season or two ago. He'll learn that there are now runners trying to support him, he never had that before.

What a signing White has been (and BVR)

The wonder tries aren't usually finished off with a show and go when it's 3 on 1

Agreed on White and BJVR, I'm a big fan of White in particular

One was a miss from OHC. The second was a bit of a harsh call from the commentators. Would need to see it again, but Rowe was a long way away and there was a defender in between. Was a really difficult/risky pass if he even saw him.

Great result, would have bitten your arm off for that before kick-off. Weirdly felt a tiny bit deflated at full time as thought we could have made that more comfortable, but a win is a win. I thought the centres were superb and Simmons is getting better and better (despite his age).

Now, please can we back it up on Saturday!

Agree with MW that the second one was pretty marginal.

But the first was indeed a shocker and if we had lost that game, as seemed we would when they made that last break, OHC would have quite rightly been severely punished by his teammates on Monday morning…