By Worried of Whitton
January 10 2007

This week sees the return European Challenge Cup and NEC Harlequins head off to the far sunnier and warmer climes of the Languedoc region in the South of France to play their fifth round match against Montpellier.  Note that the kick off is at 19.30pm local time, and is on FRIDAY January 12th.

After four rounds of the competition the Pool 4 table from ERC looks like this:

 

In the other match Pool leaders Bath, were sunk at The Stoop last Saturday, are away to Connacht in Galway. They also play on Friday night with a slightly later kick off at 19.00 GMT. With just two matches to play, Bath look to be certain to win Pool 4, but the maths support the fact that they are neither home nor dry just yet. As we know Connacht are very strong at home, and could surprise their visitors on Friday despite missing a couple of their key players, and Bath have not travelled well this season, and they will still be smarting over last Saturdays game.

Harlequins have it all to do after losing both their pool matches against Bath, despite picking up a losing bonus point in both matches. They now have to win both their final games in this competition and to win well by scoring at least four tries. By beating Montpellier by a significant margin and pick up a what will be a crucial try scoring bonus point, will keep their chances alive into the last day of the competition, when they entertain Connacht at The Stoop If Connacht beat Bath and Quins defeat Montpellier, the scenario for the final round will be tense and exciting as any one of three teams could qualify. The tension at The Stoop for Quins v Connacht would be electric, as both teams would still be in with a good chance of progressing to the knock out stages.

After four rounds Harlequins are NOT in a qualifying position as one of the three runners up to qualify for the knock out stages. Currently Newport Dragons in Pool 1, lead the “runners up league with 16 points, they are followed by two teams of Glasgow in Pool 2 and Worcester Warriors in Pool 5 who both have 15 points. Unfortunately Harlequins do not occupy the fourth runner up position, which is taken by Newcastle Falcons in Pool 3 who like Quins are on 11  points, but they have a superior try scoring difference six tries against Quins with one and the Falcons also have a better points difference of 45against the 36 of Quins. A number of these teams also play on Friday night, Newcastle are at home to Brive, whilst in the other ties Newport  Dragons are away to Bristol, and Glasgow Warriors are away to Parma. Worcester Warriors have Clermont Auvergne at home on Saturday.  So Quins have a lot to do and will need some help hey from the other results of they are to go through.

On paper their match against Montpellier should be an away win. Their hosts are effectively out of the competition although they may well be looking for some pride in front of their home crowd. Montpellier’s only points in his competition came from their home win against Connacht. Harlequins comprehensively beat Montpellier back in October winning 57 – 10 in a match reminiscent of our glory days in ND 1.That game chalked up Quins second win of the season and since that match the team have continued to gain much more confidence, grow in stature, and shoot up the Premiership table from 11^th to 7^th place. The statistics show that they have also picked up at least one league point in every single match they have played in all competitions since then, with a losing bonus point in the three matches they have lost. Since their last meeting Montpellier’s fortunes have not been as good. They currently sit at the bottom of the French Division One with 28 points from five wins, twelve losses and one draw. (There are fourteen teams in this division) They also have a large negative points’ difference of 174.  Surprisingly and significantly two of their five wins this season came from both their matches against Stade Francais, who were their opponents in their last home win back in November when they ran out 25-13. Montpellier lost their last home match against Clermont Auvergne 18-31 just before Christmas and also went down last weekend away to Narbonne 32-19.

Certainly the travelling supporters and perhaps more so the team, will be very much looking forward to the balmy temperatures and the Mediterranean winter sunshine this weekend after surviving the deluge that swamped us all at The Stoop last weekend. It just remains for me to say Bon Chance and Bon Voyage to all those travelling to the South of France this weekend, have a great time and come back with a five point win.

 

Allez les Quins!