[LJK]

Well some absolutely cracking European games this weekend and Quins v Bordeaux must be one of the most riveting matches I have seen for a while. Pleased for them and Saints to progress to the semis and maybe the competition has moved on from the French (plus Leinster) dominance of the past 3 or 4 years ?

Is there any chance Quins will be mentally and physically knackered after that intense game played at 28C temp.!? Probably not, but they will surely now have a selection issue, to keep going well on both the Premiership and European fronts with success.? Going to be interesting to see who they pick for Sunday.

[Flumpty]

If I was them, I'd give their academy players an opportunity to play, in all 23 positions

[Yareet]

Living in Twickenham, I've been very aware of Quins' matches recently. Since the 6N, their games are:

Sarries at Spurs' stadium
A home Prem game v Bath
European R16
European QF
A trip to Salford
Big Summer KO v Saints
European SF

Only one of those games isn't a home game against a top 4 contender, a knock out game or held in a huge stadium.

As I've mentioned elsewhere, this is potentially an unbroken run of 12 games (depending on how teams do in knock out games). Logic would therefore perhaps suggest that the sensible game to rest people is against us.

[RinTin]

They won't rest anyone. It will be a full strength team as I note no injuries from Bordeaux game. All we can hope is the players minds are elsewhere given the highs of this weekend - nothing like a trip to Salford to bring one down to earth.

1 thing this season has shown is anyone can beat anyone - Harlequins spanked by Sarries, then go on to beat Bath, Glasgow and Bordeaux (who 1 week previous cruised past Sarries). Us running riot vs Exeter was another example following the poor Bath game, and Glos beating Tigers away then losing at home to Bristol. That Bristol team putting 50 points on the league leaders Northampton, with Saints boucing back to put 40 on Sarries - this is all since the 6 nations break.

I'm hopeful we can do it. As mentioned elsewhere it is Newcastle away which is causing me the most anxiety.

[Yareet]

FWIW, Quins' fan podcast are suggesting that there need to be some rests given and that winning home games is vital in the Prem. As a result, they suggest some rotation with half an eye on the Big Game v Saints. The XV they come up with is:

Marler
Riley
Lewis
Launchbury (if fit; or else Lewies)
Herbst (maybe Hammond)
CCS (if fit; or else Lewies)
Trenholm (rest Evans)
Dombrandt
Care
Smith (maybe Evans)
Lynagh
Esterhuizen
Northmore
Murley (maybe Beard on one wing)
Green

Obviously this is a fan XV so has little-to-no bearing on actual thinking but it shows that there are Quins thinking that this is the least important of their next few games.

[Surbiton_Shark]

Regardless of who Quins pick.

Our motivation for this game should be high - the lads can watch a replay of the away fixture earlier this season which sadly I witnessed in person. That should suffice....

Got 4 fixtures left before the play-off's start, no other Euro distractions. Bath seem to have lost Finn Russell for majority of the remaining season and he's a big one for them.

Hope our forwards keep fit and we get the odd returnee - I can't remember if Manu is crook - we would need him for Quins. Let's face it - we'll only win if we physically get on top of them for the entire 80 mins

[Olyy]

From what I remember from Axe's media talk before Ospreys Manu is fit they're just very wary of managing game time - not sure if they rested him so he can have a solid run in for the rest of the season or he's at a point where we can only play him every other week

It's been such a disjointed season I can't even remember who is out atm

Bedlow Sr. - potentially the rest of the season after surgery on his hand
DDP - no idea
Schonert - rest of this season and start of next
T. Curry - rest of the season
Hill - rest of the season
EvR - did they say a month? So 2-3 weeks left of that now?

[JohnJ of HM]

Referee: Tom Foley

Assistant Referees: Hamish Smales and John Meredith

TMO: Dean Richards

[RinTin]

Team as expected, save no Asher:

15. Joe Carpenter, 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Rob du Preez, 12. Manu Tuilagi, 11. Arron Reed, 10. George Ford, 9. Gus Warr, 1. Bevan Rodd, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. James Harper, 4. Cobus Wiese, 5. Josh Beaumont, 6. Ben Curry ©, 7. Sam Dugdale, 8. JL du Preez.  

Replacements:  

16. Tommy Taylor, 17. Si McIntyre, 18. WillGriff John, 19. Ben Bamber, 20. Hyron Andrews, 21. Raffi Quirke, 22. Sam James, 23. Tom O’Flaherty.

[RinTin]

Quins at full strength (Porter at 9 was phenomenal last week).

1. Joe Marler (279) 2. Sam Riley (49) 3. Dillon Lewis (16) 4. Irne Herbst (42) 5. Stephan Lewies (65 - Captain) 6. Chandler Cunningham-South (12) 7. Will Evans (85) 8. Alex Dombrandt (134)
9. Will Porter (17) 10. Marcus Smith (155) 11. Louis Lynagh (62) 12. Andre Esterhuizen (86) 13. Oscar Beard (50) 14. Cadan Murley (110) 15. Tyrone Green (71)

Impact Players:

16. Jack Walker (59) 17. Fin Baxter (46) 18. Simon Kerrod (99) 19. George Hammond (61)
20. Tom Lawday (80) 21. Danny Care (371) 22. Jarrod Evans (12) 23. Luke Northmore (63)

[Olyy]

Yeah, team basically picks itself

Little surprised at no Asher but imagine they want a proper look at WGJ

[Dave L]

No Will Collier for Quin's. He was immense at tighthead for them against Bordeaux and has been rock solid all season.

WGJ is an interesting pick as back up tighthead. Loosehead has been a real strength for Quins this season. I imagine Axe wanted an experienced solid scrummaging tight head to go up against Joe Marler & Finn Baxter in the second half. Really big test for James Harper

Plenty of motivation for Ben Curry in this match. There's been a lot of praise lavished on Will Evans for his jackling technique and ability to turnover the ball ("The Best In Europe" said the Times). Let's see how Ben responds

[SSR]

It looks like our injury woes are viewed as an opportunity for Quins.
We are about as strong as squad remnants allows. Quins are going full bore.
Head says we are not strong enough to make a game of it over 80 mins. Our bench looks
weaker than I would like. Heart hoping for a miracle 5 pt win.
Hope everyone (including the Ref ) has a good game.

[Olyy]

Could've done with Sarries losing today to keep 3rd place up for grabs but Tigers and Chiefs results went our way and keeps us in that battle for 4th

Big win for us and Falcons tomorrow would do very nicely

[StalyShark]

Well, this is more like it!

[Olyy]

Reasonable start...!

Where was this intensity two months ago?
One more win post Christmas and we'd be properly in the playoff fight

[Olyy]

Bit of a dip in the middle but good first half

[Olyy]

Curry off for a HIA, think we could go on to lose this now
Bamber on and instantly off for a team yellow

[StalyShark]

Discipline terrible again.

[Olyy]

Talk about instant impact from TOF!

[Yareet]

Why does it say BP next to our name?

[Olyy]

What a try!

RdP and Reed take several bows!

[StalyShark]

Lovely second Reed try. Was just thinking that RdP hadn’t done much…

[Olyy]

Flats has been massive off the bench

[Olyy]

37 - 32 FT

Buzzing with that - shame to let in the final try so Quins got 2BPs, but we're still in the mix

Dugdale a deserved MOTM, he partners really well with Curry on the flanks

Get everyone wrapped up in cotton wool, if we don't get any more injuries then we can challenge anyone in the run in

[StalyShark]

Better result than the Falcons…
How beetroot will Dimes be?!

[Heaf]

Should have taken the scrum when Quins knocked-on in their own half with 2 mins to go ...

[RinTin]

Great win. Every player fronted up and we played the brand of rugby we all want to see. Fully expected the squeaky bum at the end knowing Quins.

Sam Dugdale a man possessed.

One negative - God our backs are slow compared to other teams. Roebuck was closed down a number of times by Lynagh, and Murley absolutely skinned Flats and Ford, with Northmore running away from RDP on the support line. Raffi couldnt even get close to him. Reed is the only one I would back to out pace his opposite man. If we play loose rugby it is the lack of pace which could bite us.

[RinTin]

Quick note on next weeks games as well, assuming we beat Newcastle with a BP. All we need is:

Bath to win at home vs Sarries. Bath still gunning for top spot.
Northampton to beat Quins at Twickers. If Bath beat Sarries it makes it a must win for Saints.
Leicester to beat Bristol at home. It’s a do or die game for Tigers.

If All these happen (not hugely reaching on any really) then we are in control of 3rd place. It’s in our hands again.

[Olyy]

A try for Raffi on his 50th appearance, two for Reed on his 100th

Do we have anyone hitting 150 or 200 during the run in?

[Yareet]

Today we spell redemption “A-X-E”

[FarnhamShark]

Great result and a really good performance. If Raffi's going to kick every chance he gets, can someone teach him to do it properly?

[Lord Elpus]

If Raffi's going to kick every chance he gets, can someone teach him to do it properly?

Wot 'e said

Break ffs - keep their back row honest.

Dugdale excellent - kudos again to Josh B for the full 80 - some going for an oldie.

[dinogyro]

Well, thats's a relief.

For some reason, I always think when we score an early try, then we lose!

Discipline a problem again.

Bench was good (or perhaps better than good?) and kept us in it. Personally annoyed that I had to go to the loo just before kick off and missed the second half try, and I was at home!

[Flumpty]

If Raffi's going to kick every chance he gets, can someone teach him to do it properly?

Wot 'e said

Break ffs - keep their back row honest.

Dugdale excellent - kudos again to Josh B for the full 80 - some going for an oldie.

Josh isn't that old - he's just been around forever ! He's 31

[Olyy]

Also just thinking on it, other than the silly hands in the ruck penalty he gave away WGJ had a good comeback performance and was unlucky not to get a scrum penalty, that the ref deemed a reset

[DavenportSharky]

Such a shame to let Quins in at the end. Some terrific performances out there. Hope Ben is ok. Huge crowd. Lots of kids teams in which presumably dropped the attendance figure under 10k. Perfect playing conditions. Discipline was terrible. Not sure how many penalties but it was an awful lot. Raffi looked incredibly sharp today. Tom O’F excellent. Ford was targeted every Quins attack and his upright tackle technique was poor. Quins backline shifted the ball like lightning. Ended the game with a very heavy scrum. Manu carried well. The band added to the atmosphere. Nil points for the steward who ran up from the front of the west stand to row W to tell a lady to move her bag six inches. Top marks to the guy who hit the crossbar at half time. WGJ seemed to slot in well. It’s odd that of what’s left, Tigers seems the easiest. 2 plastic pitches to come.

[LJK]

On my post starting this thread, I half wondered if Quins would struggle today after their huge effort last week in Bordeaux playing in 28C, but then dismissed that as wishful thinking. But, after 15 mins today I thought maybe that was the case, as we were totally dominating the game!
But credit to Quins they have the ability to turn a game so quickly and I felt they would win in the end. So well done to the team today, in keeping their nose in front right through, and maybe the play offs are within reach.
Does anyone understand why Gus Warr was taken off after 3 mins. of the 2nd half? I didn't see an injury and it was not as though Raffi changed the tactics, as he carried on box kicking.

I thought the 'Hooray Henry' image of the Quins fans was well in the past, but stood a few rows behind us in the South stand were a trio of them. Their comments ranged from the childish (Lewis Lynagh is now Luigi apparently) ...so funny (not) every time he got the ball. Later on it got worse with Manu being labelled a 'coward' for not making a tackle, and worst of all some abuse of Ford..shouting out he would 'never be as good as Farrell'. Quite ridiculous stuff from them and had I been stood immediately by them, would have said so. It's just not needed thankyou.

[SSR]

Well, I am very glad to be proven wrong by my head. We were strong enough to beat
Quins for 80 mins and the bench proved stronger than my expectations.
The lads played their hearts out .
I hope that the injuries prove minor ( can't afford any more significant injuries ) and Ben's
HIA result is not serious.
"Squeaky bum" in abundance at the end. Needed a calm head to take the scrum rather
than play on at the end. The 2 point gain by Quins does us no favours and takes a bit
of the gloss off a 5 point win.
George Ford targetted by the big Quins carriers. He stood up marvellously ( pun intended )
as Quins off-load game in contact was nullified by it.
Can not argue with the result too much as everyone played their part and gave their all .
Is there any hope that some cavalry will arrive to help out?

[RinTin]

Re Gus above I believe it was tactical. Commentators speculated that Raffi needed a few minutes to warm up post half time which is why Gus played for such a short period.

Gus seemed to throw a minor paddy when taking his seat on the bench as well, clearly not happy about it. Personally I don't mind seeing that as it shows he cares.

[Bucks1861]

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/alex-san ... hers-pace/

Sale 'not so happy' with one area of the win over Quins

FWIW, I agree with Sanderson.

[SSR]

Three of Quins tries ( at least ) came about by being outnumbered wide out.
Defensive issue or lack of speed against a faster attack ?

[Olyy]

Always a risk with the blitz defence tbf,

Commentary were pointing out how Quins were repeatedly running short lines/picking and going to try and bunch our defence up towards one touchline before spinning quickly wide the opposite way

[RinTin]

Three of Quins tries ( at least ) came about by being outnumbered wide out.
Defensive issue or lack of speed against a faster attack ?

We were numbered up well for most Quins tries. Lynagh first try and Murley try (CCS break) were the only one's where there were issues in that regard. Lynagh second was because Carps stepped in (then missed the tackle) , Beard try was missed tackle, and the Northmore try was definitely lack of pace on our part. Murley and his support just ran away from us. Pace is a problem.

[Flumpty]

Dudgale was deservedly MOTM and put in one hell of a shift (again).

Is he our new Postman ?

[SSR]

I hope not as the PO is only delivering twice a week round here.

[RinTin]

Carpenter and Harper make the team, honourable mentions for RDP, Manu, Ford, Raffi, JLDP, Dugdale, Curry, Beaumont and Bevan.

https://www.planetrugby.com/news/premie ... t-fly-half

[dinogyro]

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/alex-san ... hers-pace/

Sale 'not so happy' with one area of the win over Quins

FWIW, I agree with Sanderson.

Our 'lethal' attack? Mmm... not so sure I want to rest on that laurel. Against a tighter, more organised team, it will be much more difficult.

[FarnhamShark]

Can't say I was all that impressed with Marcus Smith - he's run previous matches against us, but apart from one cross-field kick I didn't see anything special on Sunday.

[Surbiton_Shark]

Can't say I was all that impressed with Marcus Smith - he's run previous matches against us, but apart from one cross-field kick I didn't see anything special on Sunday.

Thought he had some nice moments - lovely delayed pass for one of their tries - he's a danger runner and made a few half breaks early on - we defended him well

I was more impressed with his defence - covered a lot of ground and instrumental stopping a try when Reed/Carpenter (think it was those 2 combined) in the second half. Thought he defended better than George who had a tough day defencewise at the office as a lot of heavy traffic came his way