By Quinten Poulsen
January 22 2011

After what proved to be a comfortable win over I Cavalieri Estra, Harlequins' final pool game sees them host Bayonne – the only side to have defeated them in a cup game this season. Quins have to win the pool to progress to the quarter-finals and currently lie top of the pool 4 points clear of Bayonne.

This is precisely the position which all clubs would be happy with, ie. a home match and several points clear. Bayonne beat Quins in the first round of pools games in a monsoon in France, where the home side managed the conditions a bit better than Quins. That was possibly more down to luck than judgement, and there was very little between the sides that day apart from, literally, once lack of bounce of the ball. Mike Brown did everything right as a testing kick was sent through; everything apart from predict that the ball would stop dead in a huge puddle.

So Quins may feel they also have a score to settle with Bayonne, although they will no doubt be taking their opponents very seriously indeed. Bayonne are having quite a decent season in the Top 14, and with 9 wins from 16 they lie in a mid-table group alongside the likes of Biarritz, Clermont, Stade Francais and Perpignan. It's been a good turnaround for Bayonne following last season's second from bottom finish. By rights they should have been relegated but were saved by Montauban's bankruptcy. They are certainly making the most of that good fortune. Bayonne have picked a strong side for Saturday's game and are clearly taking this competition seriously, as are most French teams nowadays. Not having seen or read reports on their match last week I'm not sure what happened, but losing to Connacht at home did Harlequins a big favour, and will surely have created a lot of doubt in the minds of their players with regard to this final fixture. So while Bayonne will probably come out of the tunnel snorting fire, and looking for the 4 pool points margin that they require to progress, if Quins can keep them try-less early on and establish a lead themselves, Bayonne may 'tire' rapidly.

Quins have picked a strong team as one would expect for a fixture like this. Last week's front row of Marler, Brooker and Lambert also start this week's game, with only two hookers on the bench this time. Ollie Kohn returns to provide some welcome grunt in the second row, and partners George Robson. With Guest having picked up another knock Will Skinner returns to the back row, with Robshaw and Easter at 6 and 8. The backs also have a fairly familiar look about them, and the most notable selection sees Sam Smith deservedly retaining his place on the right wing after his brace of tries against the Italians. Smith does appear to have a knack of scoring tries in his limited opportunities for the first team, and for a winger that's probably as important as anything else. It's always a real pleasure to see a home grown player make his first strides in a 'proper' fixture, and here's hoping Sam's try scoring continues. He has presumably been given the nod in front of Williams, who played full back last week. Brown re-joins the side at 15 after a week's break and he'll be looking to be his usual excellent and belligerent best in what could be a very feisty game. Monye starts on the left wing.

The centres are rotated again and Casson moves inside to his favoured 12 position while JTH is rested and Lowe returns at outside centre. This is a great opportunity again for Casson to again put pressure on JTH, as for some of these youngsters this will be their biggest game yet in a Quins shirt. Nev and Care are at half back.

Quins should win this game regardless of how tough it proves. They have shown an immense amount of character recently, and as long as the concentration is there then that should continue. Six wins on the trot, some against very good opposition, must be doing confidence a lot of good. Quins to prevail after a tough first 40 or 60 minutes.