User avatar
By Flumpty
#36871
The forwards are looking a bit more heavy duty, with a similarly heavy duty bench.
Our backs, less so - we look a bit "light weight"
By Olyy
#36872
Great to see TC back,

The rest as expected, really
Reed unlucky to miss out entirely, but LJ worth the bench spot after last week, and McGuigan's experience will be needed on defence


Manu and Esterhuizen running into each other will take out half the stadium!
By RinTin
#36874
Love the look of this team. Wilkinson and Raffi growing together as the season progresses will be great to see.

Front up in defence and bully them in the forwards is how i see us winning. Stop the quick ball and maintain discipline.

Manu vs Esterhuizen - that collision will cause tremors. Buzzing.
By DavenportSharky
#36875
Harlequins Starting XV
1. Joe Marler (228)
2. Jack Walker (3)
3. Simon Kerrod (47)
4. Matt Symons (66)
5. Dino Lamb (51)
6. James Chisholm (114)
7. Jack Kenningham (15)
8. Alex Dombrandt (79) - Captain
9. Danny Care (309)
10. Marcus Smith (111)
11. Cadan Murley (51)
12. Andre Esterhuizen (22)
13. Luke Northmore (30)
14. Joe Marchant (116)
15. Tyrone Green (24)

Impact Players
16. Sam Riley (4)
17. Fin Baxter (4)
18. Will Collier (190)
19. Hugh Tizard (16)
20. Tom Lawday (42)
21. Scott Steele (18)
22. Huw Jones (2)
23. Louis Lynagh (30)

Unavailable for selection:
Viliami Taulani, Wilco Louw

Unavailable due to injury:
Aaron Morris, Christian Scotland-Williamson, Joe Gray, Jordan Els, Paul Lasike, Stephan Lewies, Tommy Allan, Will Evans
By Surbiton_Shark
#36877
Big game for Wilkinson......for me the jury is definitely out as a starting 10. How we line him up in defence will be interesting - their big SA 12 is quite the ball carrier.

AJ's comeback must be delayed - real shame
By Clutch
#36878
Not that worried about LL. Green’s pace is a worry if we kick badly and Marchant seems to score against us a lot.
By RinTin
#36881
Green for me the star of the Quins back three. Lynagh clearly good, but he tends to finish tries as opposed to sparking them.
Clutch liked this
User avatar
By poyntonshark
#36885
Little to be gained worrying about individuals I think. They have threats everywhere. Tom Curry will make a massive difference to our own posession and the speed/quality of theirs. Don't see us playing the expansive game, Twins and Manu smashing it up for the main, hopefully choosing the opportune moments to get wide.
PappjeShark liked this
By Van Cannonball
#36886
Quins as a whole have a load of pace, we seriously have to deny them possession to have a chance - can’t get into playing a loose game as there’s only one winner there. Kicking back to them has to be kept to a minimum.

Biggest issue for me is the amount of switching of players and combinations. Must make it hard for the defensive line to work well consistently.
By chris1850
#36888
Big test for Wilkinson. Can see some big carriers coming down his channel. But if he is to succeed at this level, this is the sort of test where he has to put his hand up.

The result may well largely depend on which pack gets the upper hand. Both look strong and the Bench may well decide it in the end. Quins rely on fast ball and releasing their backs quickly. If we can slow it down, keep it tight in the forwards and MAINTAIN OUR DISCIPLINE, we stand a good chance.

BTW - thought Axe had hinted AJ and Lood could be available for this?
User avatar
By SSR
#36893
I was hoping to be there for this one, but Covid ( son, not me ) has decided otherwise.
Looking at the teams, I feel we need a couple more frontliners back to put up an 80minute
performance that can win it. Quins site scenting a good win it appears. I think speed is
going to decide it in the end with bench replacements.
Not sure that Raffi is over his injury sufficiently, thought he was carrying his leg against Glos and fear Warr will be undone by Danny Care. Care and Faff always have a great battle.
Not seen who the ref is yet, so I am hoping for the best. I would have felt happier if AJ had
been fit enough to start. Best of luck to the team. No more injuries and please let it be
decided on merit and not on luck.
User avatar
By Flumpty
#36895
ShawSharkRedemption wrote:
Thu Oct 14, 2021 2:04 pm

Not seen who the ref is yet, so I am hoping for the best. I would have felt happier if AJ had
been fit enough to start. Best of luck to the team. No more injuries and please let it be
decided on merit and not on luck.
Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant Referees: Andrew Jackson, John Meredith
TMO: Ian Tempest

Back to back games at the AJ Bell for the Tempomeister
By dinogyro
#36899
I hope we don't kick too much. Try and keep possession, be patient and don't do anything silly.

When we let Exeter attack all the time, we just wore ourselves out.
By PappjeShark
#36920
I’ll be totally honest: I was thrilled when I saw this line up. We’re getting there. That doesn’t mean I expect us to win, but I do like the fibre of our fabric as the saying goes.

I was toying with starting a Devil’s avocado thread on how we’re going so far but maybe it’s best all in here. The fact is we’ve won 1 of our last 6 competitive outings across this season and last. That’s not great, to state the obvious. Bristol are similarly poor. Is there a risk our zenith was the past two seasons, with the first covid-affected one coming just when we were building into an unstoppable force & taking our momentum away, then falling just short last season? I don’t think so, however others don’t stand still and the likes of Leicester have stated well with new direction, while Irish may be a beneficiary of no relegation and playing without fear for 80 minutes.

What is self-evident is how thinly we’ve been stretched so far, and this explains why I reacted the way I did to the squad announcement. By no means do I wish to belittle Sam Dugdale, however the absence of the Curry twins in particular has been huge in our ability to win turnover ball. (I know Ben started the first two games but his HIA in each had a marked impact on the games. To all intents and purposes we’ve barely seen him). With anything approaching our full back row complement, Dugdale is well down the order. The same goes for Rouban Birch at lock. It’d be brilliant if they played themselves higher up the pecking order, others more knowledgable than me will know if that’s possible.

Where does all this fit with the Quins game? Well, granted we have no Faf or AJ, though we all know Raffi’s talent. Poyntonshark made the most pertinent comment for me about not worrying over individual names on the Quins team sheet. In the last four fixtures they’ve beaten us once, and those of us who watched the game at the Stoop on tv last season will recall the 10/15min spell where we threw the game away when the rest of it was tight or even us on top. They’re very talented. Perhaps their decision to cut contact in training to minimal levels is giving them a fitness advantage on top of their undoubted skill. However, we’re pretty good now at ignoring reputations. We did it to Bristol away last season & stifled them. We gave Exeter a huge fright at the back end of last season and without the injuries to AJ & Cam Neild, might’ve gone one step further.

I don’t expect us to win, but I think we’ve got a decent chance with our depth returning. Light in the backs? Maybe. Or a chance for Wilko and Curtis to show that they’ve got skills too. Luke James is looking hungry. I’ll raise the roof by myself if Denny gets a try tomorrow. If Marland is rested, I’m fine with that because Byron and Denny are plenty good enough. Double du Preez back in the pack at the AJB? Can’t wait. Tom Curry uncaged after his rest? Imagine the energy he’s going to bring.

Anyway, apologies for the long-winded ramble. I’m really looking forward to it tomorrow night.
Olyy, chris1850, Elgar and 5 others liked this
By RinTin
#36948
PappjeShark wrote:I’ll be totally honest: I was thrilled when I saw this line up. We’re getting there. That doesn’t mean I expect us to win, but I do like the fibre of our fabric as the saying goes.

I was toying with starting a Devil’s avocado thread on how we’re going so far but maybe it’s best all in here. The fact is we’ve won 1 of our last 6 competitive outings across this season and last. That’s not great, to state the obvious. Bristol are similarly poor. Is there a risk our zenith was the past two seasons, with the first covid-affected one coming just when we were building into an unstoppable force & taking our momentum away, then falling just short last season? I don’t think so, however others don’t stand still and the likes of Leicester have stated well with new direction, while Irish may be a beneficiary of no relegation and playing without fear for 80 minutes.

What is self-evident is how thinly we’ve been stretched so far, and this explains why I reacted the way I did to the squad announcement. By no means do I wish to belittle Sam Dugdale, however the absence of the Curry twins in particular has been huge in our ability to win turnover ball. (I know Ben started the first two games but his HIA in each had a marked impact on the games. To all intents and purposes we’ve barely seen him). With anything approaching our full back row complement, Dugdale is well down the order. The same goes for Rouban Birch at lock. It’d be brilliant if they played themselves higher up the pecking order, others more knowledgable than me will know if that’s possible.

Where does all this fit with the Quins game? Well, granted we have no Faf or AJ, though we all know Raffi’s talent. Poyntonshark made the most pertinent comment for me about not worrying over individual names on the Quins team sheet. In the last four fixtures they’ve beaten us once, and those of us who watched the game at the Stoop on tv last season will recall the 10/15min spell where we threw the game away when the rest of it was tight or even us on top. They’re very talented. Perhaps their decision to cut contact in training to minimal levels is giving them a fitness advantage on top of their undoubted skill. However, we’re pretty good now at ignoring reputations. We did it to Bristol away last season & stifled them. We gave Exeter a huge fright at the back end of last season and without the injuries to AJ & Cam Neild, might’ve gone one step further.

I don’t expect us to win, but I think we’ve got a decent chance with our depth returning. Light in the backs? Maybe. Or a chance for Wilko and Curtis to show that they’ve got skills too. Luke James is looking hungry. I’ll raise the roof by myself if Denny gets a try tomorrow. If Marland is rested, I’m fine with that because Byron and Denny are plenty good enough. Double du Preez back in the pack at the AJB? Can’t wait. Tom Curry uncaged after his rest? Imagine the energy he’s going to bring.

Anyway, apologies for the long-winded ramble. I’m really looking forward to it tomorrow night.
PERFECT - well said.
User avatar
By poyntonshark
#36949
PappjeShark wrote:
Thu Oct 14, 2021 8:48 pm
I’ll be totally honest: I was thrilled when I saw this line up. We’re getting there. That doesn’t mean I expect us to win, but I do like the fibre of our fabric as the saying goes.

I was toying with starting a Devil’s avocado thread on how we’re going so far but maybe it’s best all in here. The fact is we’ve won 1 of our last 6 competitive outings across this season and last. That’s not great, to state the obvious. Bristol are similarly poor. Is there a risk our zenith was the past two seasons, with the first covid-affected one coming just when we were building into an unstoppable force & taking our momentum away, then falling just short last season? I don’t think so, however others don’t stand still and the likes of Leicester have stated well with new direction, while Irish may be a beneficiary of no relegation and playing without fear for 80 minutes.

What is self-evident is how thinly we’ve been stretched so far, and this explains why I reacted the way I did to the squad announcement. By no means do I wish to belittle Sam Dugdale, however the absence of the Curry twins in particular has been huge in our ability to win turnover ball. (I know Ben started the first two games but his HIA in each had a marked impact on the games. To all intents and purposes we’ve barely seen him). With anything approaching our full back row complement, Dugdale is well down the order. The same goes for Rouban Birch at lock. It’d be brilliant if they played themselves higher up the pecking order, others more knowledgable than me will know if that’s possible.

Where does all this fit with the Quins game? Well, granted we have no Faf or AJ, though we all know Raffi’s talent. Poyntonshark made the most pertinent comment for me about not worrying over individual names on the Quins team sheet. In the last four fixtures they’ve beaten us once, and those of us who watched the game at the Stoop on tv last season will recall the 10/15min spell where we threw the game away when the rest of it was tight or even us on top. They’re very talented. Perhaps their decision to cut contact in training to minimal levels is giving them a fitness advantage on top of their undoubted skill. However, we’re pretty good now at ignoring reputations. We did it to Bristol away last season & stifled them. We gave Exeter a huge fright at the back end of last season and without the injuries to AJ & Cam Neild, might’ve gone one step further.

I don’t expect us to win, but I think we’ve got a decent chance with our depth returning. Light in the backs? Maybe. Or a chance for Wilko and Curtis to show that they’ve got skills too. Luke James is looking hungry. I’ll raise the roof by myself if Denny gets a try tomorrow. If Marland is rested, I’m fine with that because Byron and Denny are plenty good enough. Double du Preez back in the pack at the AJB? Can’t wait. Tom Curry uncaged after his rest? Imagine the energy he’s going to bring.

Anyway, apologies for the long-winded ramble. I’m really looking forward to it tomorrow night.
Did you really mean Devil's Avocado, or did auto-correct come up with it?

I like it, I'm going to steal it.
By DavenportSharky
#36950
Very few seats available in East Stand and more sold than usual in West Stand despite being on TV. Looks like the opposition has attracted a reasonable attendance.
By dinogyro
#36952
I was wondering about the Devil's avocado too! I thought it may be deliberate, but then thought it wouldn't make sense, APART from it sounds funny. Like a Two Ronnies sketch sort of thing.

I will be there tonight and keeping my fingers firmly crossed. This one should be a cracker.
By Olyy
#36966
Some good articles there, made my lunch break go a bit too quick for my liking though!
By PappjeShark
#36969
I can confirm that the Devil’s avocado was deliberate ;-)

No idea where I got it from originally and feel free to steal away! A personal favourite….

Excitement building for tonight now…..
By DaveAitch
#36970
Is a devil's avocado really a prickly pear?

The side is getting back to full strength, so a win is starting to be a necessity, rather than a bonus.
By Streatham Shark
#36971
Have we changed our PR people recently, or just the strategy? We seem to be getting a lot more coverage since Axe took over.

Looking forward to tonight, with all the trepidation that being married to, and father of Quins fans brings...
By Streatham Shark
#36987
DaveAitch wrote:Streatham,
"Looking forward to tonight, with all the trepidation that being married, and father of Quins brings......"

or, have I misquoted you?


:lol I think that may be a misinterpretation...
By Olyy
#36988
Playing on the edge, but playing well

Just need to improve the accuracy - almost all game in the quins 22 but nothing to show for it so far
By Olyy
#37002
Manu given up injuring himself and taken up injuring others instead :(

Hopefully Schoenert ok, he's vital in these scrums while Marler is on
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