By KevT
August 24 2003

NEC Harlequins play Gwent Dragons on Monday 25th August at Rodney Parade, Newport, kick off 2.30pm. This will be the third pre season match for Quins following a 12-14 defeat for a young Quins side against Montpelier, a 22 – 3 victory against Beziers and a 13 – 19 defeat to Castres This will be Quins’ first match in the UK and they are likely to play a strong side against Gwent. The team that played Castres last week looked like the sort of side that might start the season against Wasps. A front row of Mike Worsley, James Hayter and Jon Dawson looks strong, I’m sure that Ceri Jones will get a run out against his former teammates. At the end of last season, Bill Davison and Simon Miall were Quins second row pairing and are likely to start this season. Jim Evans is also likely to get some playing time on Monday. In the back row, Winters, Vos and Diprose were favoured against Castres. I also expect Pat Sanderson and Kai Horstman to play at some stage.

Whilst the forwards line up will be very familiar to Quins supporters, the backs are likely to see a number of changes. There have been some favourable reports of Ben Willis at scrum half who started against Castres. Simon Keogh, a signing from Leinster, who can play both scrum half and wing is likely to dispute the scrum half berth with Willis. Andy Dunne is another signing from Leinster and started at Fly Half against Castres. With Paul Burke absent on Ireland duty (but also currently injured) Dunne is likely to be first choice with Under 21 player Adrian Jarvis deputising.

Mel Deane’s excellent performances are likely to see him starting at inside centre. Promising England Under 21 international Andy Reay is an exciting prospect and will be pushing Deane for a spot. Quins are spoilt for choice at outside centre with new signing Gavin Duffy arriving from Connaught and possibly edging Chris Bell for the spot. On the wing, George Harder impressed in his first game at Castres. Ugo Monye has been suffering from a dead leg and if he is absent then Matt Moore may start with Rob Jewell and Simon Keogh waiting in the wings. The Full Back slot seems to be a choice between the versatile Gavin Duffy and new signing from Swansea, Josh Taumalolo who played very well against Castres.

Quins have Tani Fuga, Ace Tiatia and Karl Rudzki unavailable due to injury and Jason Leonard, Will Greenwood and Paul Burke unavailable due to international commitments.

Gwent Dragons have been making more headlines off the pitch, than on it as Ebbw Vale appear to have pulled our of the Gwent Dragons franchise following the resignation of Gwent Dragons director and Ebbw Vale Chairman Marcus Russell. They have also been unable to complete the signing of South African international centre Robbie Fleck due to an inability to meet his personal terms.

Gwent Dragons’ performances on the pitch won’t give their supporters much room for encouragement. On Friday they were defeated by 7 –31 by Leeds Tykes. Gwent have not had any players selected for the Wales team to take on England and it will be interesting to see whether international centre Andy Marinos and second row Ian Gough are available for selection. At Full Back, former Quins target Percy Montgomery is suspended from rugby due to an altercation with a referee. Brett Davey is likely to play at Full Back. Kevin James and Wales sevens player Ben Breeze are likely to play on the wing. Nathan Brew is an exciting prospect at outside centre and ex Swansea player Steve Winn may possibly play at inside centre. Former Welsh international Lee Jarvis is a very accurate kicker at Fly Half and has had plenty of experience. Wales A scrum half Rhodri Jones completes the backs.

Adam Black may well play at loose head prop with 16 cap Welsh international Chris Anthony playing at Tight Head. Paul Young is likely to start at hooker. In the second row, young prospects, Peter Sidoli and Luke Charteris may start. In the back row, Quins fans will be familiar with England Under 21 Rhys Oakley and Scottish international Ross Beattie who both played for Bristol last season. Captain Jason Forster may complete the back row.

This is an important game for Quins. They need to establish a winning pattern before the start of the season and get an unfamiliar back line to get used to playing with each other in match situations. The Quins back line has an exciting look to it; I hope that they try to keep things simple at the beginning of the season. There seemed to be a bit of a temptation last season to choose over complicated back moves. This team needs time to build up an understanding.

I’m very excited about the new season. I think we have a very good pack which is a match for any in the league. We have a young and exciting back line with whom, as supporters, we should show some patience. The back three look as though they are going to cause the opposition a lot of problems and we have an excellent crop of youngsters coming through. A win on Monday would really help to build a bit of confidence and momentum.

The management appear to have recruited well, my only concern would be a lack of an experienced line out jumper.

Finally, I hope you will bear with me this season. The World Cup looms and a number of Quins opponents’ line ups will look very unfamiliar after losing international players. It will certainly test my knowledge of Premiership squads.



NEC Harlequins (possible) 15. Josh Taumalolo; 14. Matt Moore; 13. Gavin Duffy; 12. Mel Deane; 11. George Harder; 10. Andy Dunne; 9. Ben Willis; 1. Mike Worsley; 2. James Hayter; 3. Jon Dawson; 4. Bill Davison; 5. Simon Miall; 6. Roy Winters; 7. Andre Vos; 8. Tony Diprose


Gwent Dragons (possible) : 15. B Davey; 14.K James, 13.N Brew, 12.S Winn, 11. B Breeze; 10. L Jarvis , 9. R Jones; 1. A Black, 2. P Young, 3. C Anthony, 4. P Sidoli, 5. L Charteris, 6. R Oakley, 8. R Beattie, 7. J Forster (capt).