By The Prof
September 18 2003

So the long summer away from competitive rugby was over, we were playing hosts to the number one ranked side in Europe – the Zurich Champions Wasps (sorry London Wasps). Well we all know the result now, we won 33-27, so that was three wins on the trot against Wasps and the first time we had won our first game for six years. In winning we scored three tries through Ugo Monye and Andy Dunne who was playing out of position at full back. So Ugo in two games against Wasps has matched our highest try scorer against Wasps – Ben Gollings – with four tries.

In this game, and the pre-seasons, the back three (an ever changing trio) has accounted for 12 of the 18 tries that have been scored, this must be a good sign and be a credit to Paul Turner’s coaching. Will the back three we settle on be as good as the O’Leary, Luger and Williams of a few years back? Only time will tell but I’ve got a very good feeling about it so far.

The three tries scored against Wasps were from the back three, two for Ugo on the right wing and one for Andy Dunne playing at full back.

The first try was started by a great break by Harder, who made yards every time he got the ball, the ball was recycled well and quickly before Burke, having one of his best games ever, put an inch perfect kick wide right for Ugo to score. This came at the right time, just before half time.

The try that Dunne scored is likely to be shown at the Players Awards Dinner as a nominee for try of the season. It started from a concerted period of pressure from Wasps, Quins were back on our own line with a 5m scrum. Dippy picked the ball up and fed it to Reay, would he kick to touch and relieve the pressure? Nope, he set off up field giving one of the best dummies I’ve ever seen and then continued for 60 yards before feeding to Ugo who was tackled as he caught the ball. Instead of the break coming to nothing the ball was recycled well, the ball was popped to Dippy who had just about caught up with play, he held the ball up well before flicking it inside to Sanderson who passed around his tackler to Dunne who scored. It was a sweeping move and had forwards and backs intermingling and supporting each other.

Ugo’s second try came from a fantastic chip through and gather by Burke, who passed to Reay who passed to Ugo who ran round Rudd to score – cue cheers and chants of ‘Ugo, Ugo…’ – another great moment.

The pack didn’t have as good a time in the tight as they did up at Wycombe at the end of last season but they held their own. The defence from the whole side was incredible, how Wasps didn’t score with the amount of possession they had especially at the beginning of the second half is amazing. Everyone put their body on the line, a lot of people have asked questions about Burke’s defensive ability in the past but in this game he really showed his all round game – and tackling was a big part of it. Seeing Burke and Monye stopping Shaw about two yards out and then driving him back was fantastic.

Reay fitted in well in the centre alongside Harder, two runs that lead to tries, some try saving tackles all from a lad who is still young. When you think that we not only have Greenwood and Deane but we also have youngsters like Bell, Reay and Barratt queuing up to fill their places.

Another youngster, Ugo, got all the headlines and he did practically nothing wrong all game. His out and out pace is astonishing and his strength is deceptive, not only does he put in big tackles but he rides tackles well even after he was clattered a few times at the beginning. Keogh had a relatively quiet game on the left wing but he tackled and chased well.

Dunne came back from a terrible start when he was outdone by two horrible bounces and he seemed to enjoy his first outing for the first team in the league.

Ben Willis’ pass gave Burke time to play with and his fabulous try saving tackle on Greening saved seven points – he did well to dislodged the ball from Greening’s hands and then made sure he was under the ball to prevent it being grounded.

The backs played incredibly well together, let’s remember how young a lot of them are, how many players we had missing and how many were playing out of their normal positions. Let’s hope they continue to build on this.

Ace gave a feisty performance, it was disappointing to see him binned but some of the tackles he put in were vital in keeping Wasps out. Davison and Miall both had big games, they made loads of tackles and produced a shed load of turnover ball. They also disrupted the Wasps lineout well. It was good to see Tani returning from injury too.

The back row had a thoroughly storming game, Diprose tackled and turned attacking Wasps, Vos was everywhere and captained well and Sanderson had his best game in a Quins shirt for ages. I haven’t thought Pat has played well since his injury away at Caerphilly last year but he looks to be back to his best now.

So we won, we scored tries, and all the talk of Gatland ticking us off his to do list will have to wait a few more months at least.

The other main sides also won, the U19s played on The Stoop after the Wasps game and they beat Barkers Butts 26-7. Perhaps the win should have been by a bigger margin but at least they won. We have seen the likes of Masson and Crowley turning out for the U21s earlier in the season and again it shows what talent we have coming through. The U21s themselves had another big win to add to their 84-5 drubbing of London Welsh the week before. This time they beat Hertford 15-89 with tries coming from McGovern (4),Love (3), Cracknell (3), Jarvis, Leask and Nazer. Although this was a fixture we should have won the fact that we won it by such a margin and with many players turning out for the 1st and 2nd XV was good to see.

The 2nd XV also won their Monday night fixture against Northampton, Fuga, Gomez, Barratt and Bemand all had runs out to help them come back from injury. Scores came from Jarvis, Barratt and Williams all scored, expect to see a lot of these youngsters in years to come.

Elsewhere in the club the Amateurs and Ladies both lost, the Ams failed to convert early pressure into points against Mill Hill and the Ladies lost narrowly to last season’s league winners Chesham even though their catch and drive from the lineout was working well and lead to two tries.

So all sides of the professional club won, the strength in depth of the sides at all levels make the future look promising – here’s to a good game and a win against Rotherham.

Come on you Quins!