By KevT
January 23 2004

NEC Harlequins take on Brive in the First Leg of the Parker Pen Challenge Cup Quarter Final at The Stoop on Sat 24th January (kick off 3.00pm). Quins will be looking to win by a reasonable margin in order to give themselves a cushion for what will be a very tough trip to Brive for the second leg. Mark Evans has been able to select from a near full compliment of squad for Saturday’s match. Simon Miall and Josh Taumalolo are the two long term absentees who are unavailable for selection. Quins’ have made nine changes from the team that defeated Montauban at home last week. Rather than go through those, I thought it would be more interesting to look at the changes from the team that defeated Newcastle away three weeks ago when Mark made (and this is my interpretation of it) his last first choice selection.

In the forwards, the front row of Ceri Jones, Tani Fuga and Jason Leonard remain unchanged. In the second row, Karl Rudzki has come in for Bill Davison. Karl impressed in his performance in Montauban and he provides a significant physical presence. In the back row Tony Diprose has moved to the bench, Ace Tiatia comes in at blind side flanker, Pat Sanderson moves from blind side to open side flanker and Andre Vos moves from open side flanker to Number Eight. The selection of Rudzki and Tiatia at open side add a physical edge that will be needed against a heavy and strong Brive pack.

In the backs, Simon Keogh continues at scrum half. He has impressed in this position, especially as a number of the games he has played in have been in poor weather conditions. Paul Burke has returned from injury since the Newcastle game and is selected over Andy Dunne who is on the bench. At the moment, Mark Evans prefers the centre partnership of Mel Deane at inside and Will Greenwood at outside centre. In the hurley burley of club rugby, Greenwood gets a bit more time to show his skills at outside centre. The back three of Ugo Monye, George Harder and Gavin Duffy are one of the most potent threats in English Rugby.

I spoke to the man who coaches the Quins’ backs, former Welsh international Paul Turner. I asked Paul how he felt about the team’ recent run of form. “I’m pleased, it’s been a good season. We recruited some exciting players in the summer. We’ve become a bit more ambitious and overcome a few injury problems. We had a three week period, against Leeds home and away, and away at Bath when we didn’t get the rub of the green. We then had three away games in a row which we were a bit apprehensive about because our away form hadn’t been very good but we came out of those games thinking that we were a bit unlucky to get only one win and a draw. We did well against Montauban away and at home.”

I suggested to Paul that Quins’ Fly Half Paul Burke had begun to mix his game up a bit more. “Burkey has always been a very good player. His goalkicking record is exceptional. The arrival of Andrew Dunne has given him a bit more competition which in previous years hasn’t always been the case. There’s also Adrian Jarvis so that keeps Burkey on his toes.”

It was announced this week that Quins had seven Academy players in the England Under 21 squad and Ceri Jones had made the Welsh Training squad. “Club policy is beginning to bear fruit. It will be a step up for them. It will be another bigger step for them to play first team rugby regularly. The younger players seem to be getting into first teams earlier than they used to. I guess they are bigger and fitter than they were years ago at the same age. Many of them have the size and the fitness but not the skills, so we concentrate a lot of our work with them on improving their skills. I’m pleased for Ceri. In my experience, he’ll have his disappointments at international level. It will be very difficult for him because the guy who has selected him is leaving. I played against Ceri’s Dad near the end of his career and know him well, so I knew of Ceri and kept an eye on him when I coached at Sale and Bedford. It was no surprise to me that he made the impact he did when he joined us. He’s a great tackler and was one of the saviours of our season last year. He’s almost Phil Vickery-esque in his tackle count. You have to be a good tackler to be a prop these days. There’s no carrying of any player now. He’s scored a lot of tries and is one of those players who always seems to be in the right place at the right time.”

I said to Paul that it must be good to be able to have a relatively injury free squad at the moment. “I’ve been a bit disappointed that Josh (Taumalolo) hasn’t been able to show what a cracking player he is. The thing that has really lifted the team has been the return of Will (Greenwood) and Jason (Leonard). Everyone around the team has noticed the amount of work they have put in since they have been back and it’s really given the team a boost. You can’t underestimate the impact of them to the team and their attitude since their return. George Harder had a long period out with injuries and it’s good to have him back. In the match against Newcastle we were having problems out wide and he took the ball at re-starts and carried it to the Newcastle team. He puts big hits in that really lift the team. Ace (Tiatia) and Tani Fuga do the same. Tani made one tackle at Montauban which was magnificent and created a score for us. The Samoans have been great.”

Turning to Saturday’s match I asked Paul about Brive. “I’ve watched them a little bit on one of the Welsh channels which shows French League matches on a Tuesday night. They’ve had some big wins and have good players like John Welborn and Alain Penaud who blows hot and cold but mostly hot. They have a couple of strong centres and a good Full Back. We’re hoping to get a good win which will put a bit of pressure on them for the return visit.”

Brive have made ten changes to the team that lost to Castres last week 31 – 28 but won overall on aggregate score courtesy of their thirteen point buffer from the previous leg. In the front row, Eric Bouti starts at loose head and is a fine scrummager. His battle with Jason Leonard will be interesting. Twenty three year old Benoit Bassoul plays at hooker and the large frame of Laurent Pakihivatau starts at tight head. They form a formidable front row. In the second row, Canadian John Tait is a massive presence in the line out. He had a stint at Cardiff. He is partnered by former Australian international John Welborn. He was capped ten times by Australia and 65 time by Super 12 team the New South Wales Waratahs. He also “enjoyed” a brief spell with Leicester in 1999. This is a tough and uncompromising second row partnership. In the back row Emanuel Amapakabo has been capped by the Ivory Coast. He plays blind side. Twenty two year old Jerome Bonvoisin plays open side flanker. At under 15 stone, I assume he is built for speed. Twenty three year old Simon Azoulai plays Number Eight.

Twenty three year old Jean Baptiste Pejoine plays scrum half. Sebastian Laloo is his Fly Half partner. Tim Bowker is a British born centre who joined Brive from Randwick in Sydney. Cedric Leite is fairly light weight for a centre but quick. Jerome Naves and Julien Laharrague are the wingers and Jerome Carratt is a very dangerous Full Back and is the team’s place kicker.

Brive have a very strong squad and it has not been unusual for them to make this number of changes in the league after each match. After promotion from the second division last year, they have had a very successful season this year. They have won six out of seven matches and lost only one game against Castres on 3rd January. They lead their pool and have beaten team such as Stade Francais and Montferrand this season. They have a very strong pack and the ball doesn’t tend to get too much further than Fly Half. Quins will be keen to match them up front and use their impressive back row to disrupt the Brives ball in the tackle area. Brive have scored heavily against their opponents this season and Quins will need to make sure that their defence is strong.

This Quins selection is in my opinion the strongest this season and the combination of a physical back and quick and inventive back line should carry the day against French opposition who do not always travel well. The opening twenty minutes should be tough and physical. If Quins can establish a lead then they can draw away in the second half. The presence of strong runners such as George Harder and Ugo Monye should be able to score points against a team who have let in a few points in their last few matches.

NEC Harlequins: 15. Gavin Duffy; 14. George Harder; 13. Will Greenwood; 12. Mel Deane; 11. Ugo Monye; 10. Paul Burke; 9. Simon Keogh; 1.Ceri Jones ; 2. Tani Fuga; 3. Jason Leonard; 4. Karl Rudzki; 5.Jim Evans; 6. Ace Tiatia; 7. Pat Sanderson; 8. Andre Vos – Captain

Replacements: 16. Mike Worsley; 17. Laurent Gomez; 18. Bill Davison; 19.Roy Winters; 20. Tony Diprose; 21. Scott Bemand; 22. Andy Dunne


Brive: 15 Jerome Carrat 14 Julien Laharrague 13 Cedric Leite 12 Tim Bowker 11 Jerome Naves 10 Sebastien Laloo 9 Jean Baptiste Pejoine 1 Eric Bouti 2 Benoit Bassoul 3 Laurent Pakihivatau 4 John Tait 5 John Welborn 6 Emmanuel Amapakabo 7 Alexandre Maleyrie 8 Simon Azoulai

Replacements : 16 Jawad Djoudi 17 Pierre Capdevielle 18 Mathieu Pelissier 19 Jerome Bonvoisin 20 Valentin Courrent 21 Alain Penaud 22 Nicolas Couttet