By KevT
October 16 2003

So…four wins out of five games played and second in the league… and still there is the feeling that there is more to come from this team. This is what makes Saturday’s visit of Gloucester to The Stoop (kick off 3.30pm) such an exciting prospect.

Quins make three changes to the team that started and beat Newcastle. Tani Fuga starts at Hooker and replaces Ace Tiatia who has a calf injury and is likely to be out for three weeks. Andy Reay replaces Josh Taumalolo who is suffering with a strained hamstring. Mel Deane moves from inside to outside centre. Simon Keogh replaces Rob Jewell on the right wing.

Paul Burke is very pleased with the team’s start this season. “We’re very pleased to win four out of five and I think it’s just reward for all the hard work that we put in pre season. To be honest the start is no surprise to the players. We knew that if we started well that we could be up there and also with the number of home games that we’ve got that we should be high in the table.”

Burke in action last week (Andy Hancock)

I said to Paul that he must be pleased with his own personal performance. “It is pleasing for me. I had a good off season away with the Ireland team and came back very refreshed and eager but it’s helped that the whole team has improved especially with the new players we have brought in. It’s often quite difficult to bring in a lot of new players, but the ones we have brought in are very good and very young. They’ve settled in well.”

The Team (kwin)

Turning to the match against Gloucester on Saturday Paul said: “Gloucester have had an indifferent start to the season. They are coming off a good win against good win at home to Leicest last week which avenged their defeat at Newcastle the week before. They will be tough to beat. It will be interesting to see how Duncan McRae does in his first match for Gloucester. It won’t be easy for him. They’ve been unsettled at ten this season and it will be interesting to see how they play.”

Burkey (kwin)

Gloucester are likely to make one to the team that beat Leicester 26 – 3 last Saturday. Australian international Fly Half Duncan McRae is likely to make his debut for Gloucester, with Simon Amor moving from Fly Half to Scrum Half. Gloucester have not won away from home since they beat Bristol on 16th March.

Gloucester’s front row of Wood, Chris Fortey and Andy Deacon is solid but there is quite a difference from last year’s front three of Woodman, Azam and Vickery. Chris Fortey is a hooker who can find his jumpers but isn’t a huge factor around the park. Andy Deacon is 38 years old and continues to ignore father time despite being the oldest player in the Premier League. He is the corner stone of this Gloucester pack, in so much as he represents the “old and new”, “amateur and professional” eras. He is Shed through and through. In the second row Gloucester have two 24 year olds. Andy Eustace is a mobile second row who can make the hard yards and likes to get stuck in. Alex Brown is a signing from Bristol who is a great line out jumper and has stolen more ball in the Premier League this season than almost any other player. He is also pretty mobile. Mark Cornwall makes the bench and it is the presence of these three locks that persuaded Nigel Melville that he could let Rob Fidler go to Bath.

The Gloucester back row has been unaffected by The World Cup. Jake Boer, last year’s Premier League player of the season captains the side and plays blind side. England ‘A’ international Andy Hazell is a very effective open side and Jamie Forrester has moved to number eight in the absence of Junior Paramore who is injured. This is a very fast back row who are great on the ground and with ball in hand. They compliment Gloucester’s strategy to move the ball out wide to the wingers as, with their speed, they can reach the break down quickly and secure the next phase of possession for their side. The Gloucester back row’s try scoring record shows how good they are at supporting their ball carriers. Paramore, Forrester and Boer were each in the top ten try scorers in the league for all clubs last season. Simon Amor moves from Fly Half to scrum half. Simon is a regular England Sevens’ player and is quick at the break down. He perhaps lacks the ability to boss a game at scrum half unlike his colleague Andy Gomarsall.

The big addition to the Gloucester side is Duncan McRae at Fly Half. He is a great passer with a good step and someone who will be able to fire a talented Gloucester backs line up.

Duncan joined Gloucester a couple of weeks ago from Randwick and New South Wales Waratahs where he was Captain and Fly Half. Duncan is a controversial character who is on his second assignment in the Zurich Premier League. Quins’ supporters may well remember his time at Saracens. He is remembered for being on the end of a Martin Johnson knee which resulted in Johnson receiving a thirty five day ban and McRae receiving broken ribs. He is also recognised as the Full Back who gave Ronan O’Gara a pasting on the last Lions tour in Australia. McRae was sent off. Although McRae joined Gloucester a couple of weeks ago he has been unable to play due to a ban after abusing a touch judge in Australia by calling him a cheat.

In the centre, Henry Paul, appears to have found his position at inside centre. He has enjoyed the extra time and space to create opportunities for himself and his team mates. Paul has also excelled as a goal kicker. At outside centre, Gloucester have the 32 year old Robert Todd playing. Todd is not the quickest outside centre but is a straight runner and strong in the tackle. On the left wing, Gloucester have James Simpson-Daniel who is a wonderful footballer. He is quick, inventive and has great hands. On the right wing, Ugo Monye will line up against last year’s sensation, Marcel Garvey. At Full Back, Gloucester appear to have uncovered a talented new Full Back from their academy in Jon Goodridge. He has a very good left foot, is quick and has scored heavily in his first few games this season.

Gloucester had an advantage in the scrum against a pretty weak Leicester pack last Saturday. I expect Quins to turn the tables on Gloucester this week and give them a shove. Quins will need to be wary of Brown and Cornwall in the line out who stole a lot of Leicester ball last week. Quins back row is a lot more muscular than Gloucester and they will hope to have the edge in the tackle area. Referee Steve Leyshon allows a bit of competition at the break down and this should help Quins. In the backs, McRae will be playing his first game for Gloucester at Fly Half and will be a bit of an unknown. He is a very talented player who is more than capable of releasing Gloucester’s quick wings, Garvey and Simpson-Daniel.

This is a huge game for Quins. Five wins out of six would see them open a gap on the teams further down the league. It would reinforce Quins’ very good home record and send a message to the other teams in the league. There is a real belief that Quins can mix it with the best that English rugby has to offer and come out on top. Against London Irish and Newcastle they played a tighter game. The Irish and the Falcons are teams whose forwards play very close or beyond the offside line. The result was that Paul Burke kicked Quins to a win. Against Wasps, Rotherham and Saracens, who play a much more open game, Quins showed that they can score tries and play an attractive game. Although against Saracens, Quins were punished for making too many mistakes, they showed enough to have won that game if they had played with less basic errors.

Quins will try to drive the ball through their forwards and create gaps in midfield. Gloucester will try to get the ball out wide quick and utilise support from their back row. If Quins can secure possession at the line out then with a good home record against Gloucester’s poor away record, a confident pack and a speedy back line they can beat a World Cup ravaged Gloucester side

NEC Harlequins : 15. Gavin Duffy; 14.Simon Keogh; 13. Mel Deane; 12. Andy Reay; 11. Ugo Monye; 10. Paul Burke; 9. Ben Willis; 1. Ceri Jones; 2. Tani Fuga; 3. Laurent Gomez; 4. Bill Davison; 5.Jim Evans; 6. Pat Sanderson; 7. Andre Vos (Capt.); 8. Tony Diprose

Replacements: 16. James Hayter; 17. Mike Worsley; 18.Jon Dawson; 19. Roy Winters; 20. Luke Sheriff; 21. Rob Jewell; 22. Andy Dunne

Gloucester: 15. Goodridge, 14. Garvey, 13. Todd, 12. Paul, 11. Simpson-Daniel, 10.McRae , 9.Amor, 1. Wood, 2. Fortey, 3. Deacon, 4. Eustace, 5. Brown, 6. Boer ©, 7. Hazell, 8. Forrester

Reps: 16. Olver, 17. Brotherstone, 18. Mark Cornwell, 19. Peter Buxton, 20. Will Matthews, 21. Josh Frape, 22. Rory Teague