By KevT
March 1 2003

NEC Harlequins take on the Bristol Shoguns on Sunday at The Memorial Ground in Bristol (Kick off 3.00pm) in a match that is vital for both sides. Quins preparation for the match has been overshadowed by the tragic death of scrum half Nick Duncombe. I asked Quins skipper Andre Vos what effect Nick’s passing away had had on the team. “It’s obviously been a very difficult time for the club. Thursday (the day of Nick’s funeral) will be very difficult but it will allow everyone time to grieve for Nicky. Training has been tough but good. We have to carry on and Nicky would have wanted us to carry on. We’ve all been to training together and making the odd joke has helped us. Nicky enjoyed his rugby and liked to have fun and that is what we are trying to do, play rugby and have fun. It is what Nicky would have wanted us to do.”

I asked Andre about the Bristol match. “There needed to be a few changes to the team after the Sale match. It was clear things weren’t working. Bristol have a very good back line and they can be very dangerous. When we played them at The Stoop earlier in the season we won and we controlled the ball but they outscored us. We know it’s going to be tough.”

Andre has settled in well at Quins, “We’ve moved from Richmond to the Wimbledon / Southfields area and, as you know, it is full of South Africans. I have lots of friends from University there. Everyone at the club has been great and we’re very happy.”

“The standard of rugby in the Premiership compared to Super 12 is very high. If you’re not playing at your very best then you will be beaten and we have not been playing well. We want to improve on the way we have been playing. We’ve got to rise to the challenge. We’re going to turn this thing around.”

Quins have made a number of changes to the team that lost against Sale. Up front, Pablo Cardinalli and Jon Dawson play instead of the injured Jason Leonard and Bruce Starr. Jim Evans replaces Bill Davison. Luke Sherriff comes in at open side and Andre Vos moves to number eight instead of Tony Diprose.

In the backs Quins give debuts to two new signings. Scrum Half Billy Fulton, a 25 year old New Zealander, has joined Quins from Wellington until the end of the season. Fulton has made forty seven first class appearances including three for the Highlanders in Super 12. Mel Deane has joined Quins from Sale and plays at Inside Centre.

In January, Quins played Bristol at The Stoop and won the match 26 –17. Tries from Ben Gollings and Will Greenwood and four penalties from Paul Burke saw Quins home. It was a game where Quins dominated the set piece and secured a lot of possession. Alex Codling turned over a lot of Bristol ball and Jon Dawson, gave Andrew Sheridan a very hard time in the scrum. Quins were unable to convert a dominant share of possession into tries and in the end it was the boot of Paul Burke and a mistake from Brendan Daniel that enabled Will Greenwood to score and gave Quins a clear victory.

Bristol are under no illusions as to the importance of Sunday’s game. Speaking at their press conference this week coach Peter Thorburn said: “We’ve got to win, I know it’s a cliché but the importance to both sides is clear. Sunday’s match against Harlequins is our game in hand and there’s no room for error in the bottom half of the table.”

“You always look at who you have to play in the forthcoming weeks especially as the league is so congested,” added Thorburn.

“We’ve also got the added issue that if Northampton win through to the final of the Powergen Cup our Premiership fixture against them at the beginning of April will have to re-arranged.“As each round comes and goes everyone will start to have a clearer picture of what they have to do as a team,” said Thorburn.

“The new structure keeps the entire competition alive and teams will be competing for places until the last weekend of the season. There are teams fighting for the top three, it is also tight in the middle with clubs fighting it out for places four and seven, and it is very tight at the bottom. It’s going to go the end of the season and that’s what makes it so interesting,” concluded the Shoguns head coach.

Bristol’s excellent half back combination of Agustin Pichot and Felipe Contepomi will be determined to improve on their performance against Quins in January. Contepomi, in particular, had a poor game with the boot. Daryl Gibson and Andrew Higgins tackled magnificently in this match. New Zealander Gibson has marshalled Bristol’s defence magnificently all season and has made a huge difference since his arrival. David Rees is back on the wing after long term injury and looks to have recovered his England form. Bristol Full Back Lee Best is much admired by the Quins management and set up an excellent try for Bristol at The Stoop.

Up front, Andrew Sheridan who has been converted to loose head prop from second row and will hope to have a better game than he did at The Stoop. He has certainly been singled out by Clive Woodward as a man for the future. Paul Johnstone is excellent around the park and Quins are well aware of Gareth Archer. His England days appear to be behind him but he has given the team excellent leadership in a difficult season. Rhys Oakley is part of Bristol’s excellent academy system and played very well in January against Quins.

Quins will be looking to take Bristol on up front as they did in January. They will target Bristol at the set piece and attempt to disrupt Bristol possession through their back row. I believe that Quins will have analysed recent poor performances and try to play a faster game against Bristol and change the point of attack. We are likely to see a much more direct Quins performance on Sunday. With Vos playing at Number Eight, Quins will have more opportunity to commit Bristol’s defence. Sherriff is a natural open side and played very well against The Sharks three weeks ago. Quins two new debutants have trained all week with the squad and will be anxious to impress.


We know that Quins can secure possession. It has been their ability to use this possession that has caused them problems in the past few weeks. The result will hinge on the attitude of the players and the intensity that Quins can bring to their game. They have had an emotional two weeks. I hope Bristol are ready because I think they might feel the backlash of a reinvigorated Quins side.




NEC Harlequins 15. Nathan Williams, 14. Dan Luger, 13.Will Greenwood; 12. Mel Deane; 11. Ben Gollings, 10.Paul Burke, 9.Billy Fulton, 1. Pablo Cardinalli, 2. Tani Fuga, 3. Jon Dawson, 4. Jim Evans, 5. Alex Codling, 6. Ace Tiatia 7. Luke Sherriff, 8. Andre Vos (Capt)


Bristol Shoguns (Possible) 15. Lee Best, 14. David Rees, 13. Andrew Higgins, 12. Daryl Gibson, 11. Phil Christophers, 10. Felipe Contepomi, 9. Agustin Pichot, 1. Andrew Sheridan, 2. Paul Johnstone, 3.Darren Crompton, 4. Garath Archer (c), 5. Alex Brown, 6. Matt Salter, 7, Rhys Oakley, 8. Ross Beattie

Replacements:

Saul Nelson, Emiliano Bergamaschi/Scott Morgan, Darren Crompton, Michael Lipman, Peter Richards,