By Keith Jenner
December 2 2003

Now that we are half way through the season I thought we would have a look at the Quins squad and see now they have performed so far this year.

There has been plenty of discussion on the message boards lately on what the best combinations are, especially on the wing and at half back. What follows are my views on these subjects, but I have had a bit of a trawl through the message board and have highlighted some areas which have been raised there.

Props

This is a very interesting area of the squad and is one of our strongest. We have five props who have been performing very well so far this season, whether with Quins or with England and Mark Evans has an interesting problem deciding how they should be utilised.

The front row has been performing well even without Jason Leonard who, as we all know, has been busy down under for the past few weeks. Worsley, Jones, Dawson and Gomez have been strong in the scrum and all four of them have been getting plenty of game time.

At tight head, Jon Dawson appears to have the edge over Laurent Gomez, having started in 9 games so far. However, Gomez has come on (usually about 20 minutes from time) on all but one occasion. In the two games which Gomez started, Dawson has replaced him for the final half hour.

This reflects the policy of replacing the props during the second half. This is also demonstrated at loose head where a similar replacement has occurred in every game except at Leeds in the league, when Mike Worsley was missing from the squad due to flu.

Worsley and Ceri Jones have both been given opportunities to start games and have both impressed when they have been given their chance.

Whilst I am certainly not an expert on the goings on in the front row, I feel that Dawson's scrummaging is better than that of Gomez and think that he will probably continue to have the edge on that side of the scrum. Against Leeds on Saturday, Leonard was used at tight head, and I suspect we may see him on that side quite a bit.

If Mark Evans continues his policy of having two props on the bench then it will probably be Gomez who will lose out. However, I believe that, now we have Leonard back and he can play on both sides, we should only have the one replacement prop in the team, which will allow for more options amongst the backs. There isn't much between Worsley and Jones, but I think Worsley just edges it at the moment.

This is an area of the squad where we have great strength in depth and we have been lucky with injuries so far this season. If an injury does occur then we benefit from Leonard's ability to play on both sides of the scrum.

Hooker

We have certainly not been as lucky on the injury front at this position. At the start of the season, both Ace Tiatia and Tani Fuga were coming back from surgery, but Tiatia was very impressive until he picked up an injury in the match against Newcastle from which he has only just recovered.

Fuga also looked to be in good form until be himself was injured during the next game against Gloucester. His position was taken by James Hayter.

By all accounts, Hayter had a disappointing match against Gloucester (as did the whole team) and he really struggled with his throwing to the lineout. In the games which followed he put up much improved performances, especially when you consider that he was also suffering from an injury during this time.

Fuga returned for the home game against Northampton and had kept possession of the shirt until he missed this weeks game against Leeds, I presume due to injury.

This is the first of the really contentious positions and caused quite a bit of comment on the message board before Tiatia was injured. The discussions centre around his rather aggressive style of play which does sometimes result in trouble with the officials.

In the first game of the season against Wasps, Tiatia was sin-binned for illegal use of the shoulder and during this period we conceded 9 points and were lucky that a try was disallowed. He was also cited for a challenge on Nick Greenstock in the game against London Irish, but was cleared of the charges.

It appears that there are two opposing views about Tiatia amongst the fans. Some believe that he gives Quins an edge which we miss if he isn't playing. They say that without him we lack the required aggression to make us real challengers. He is certainly a very popular player, as was shown on Saturday by the roar that went up from the stands every time he made one of his powerful runs at the defence.

Others say that his occasional indiscipline is a liability which can be the difference between winning or losing a match. A sin binning usually results in points being conceded and giving our opponents ten minutes playing against 14 men isn't something we can afford to do.

It isn't that clear cut though, and many people share my opinion that the truth is somewhere in between. A valid criticism of Quins in recent years is that we are too “nice” a team, and the aggression and edge which Tiatia brings to the team is necessary. However, there are certainly times when he oversteps the mark. I have found myself a number of times at The Stoop saying “Ace, why did you do that” just before he is called over by the ref. He has to try to keep himself from going too far without losing the benefit of his style of play.

Due to the injuries, it is difficult to tell for sure who Mark Evans prefers as the starting hooker. Tiatia had that position before his injury, but I believe this was because his recovery from surgery was more advanced than Fuga's.

Personally, I would start with Tiatia in preference to Fuga. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, I think we do benefit from his aggression. Secondly, as he has experience playing in the back row it can sometimes seem as if we have an extra flanker on the pitch. His turnover against Rotherham which led to a try, ripping the ball away in a maul, was superb work.

That's not to take anything away from Fuga though. His form last season was very good and he will always be pushing for the starting position. James Hayter recovered well from his rather shaky start in the first team and, should anything happen to one of the others, he has proved that he can do the job.

Second Row

One area which was identified before the season as potentially weak was the second row, following the departure of Alex Codling.

The two criticisms which were brought up on the message board were that the players in this position weren't up to scratch and also that there was lack of depth which would be exposed in the case of injuries.

The first point was quickly proved wrong, as Bill Davison, Jim Evans and especially Simon Miall had a very good start to the season. However, when Miall was injured against London Irish, the second criticism was proved to be valid. With Karl Rudzki still recovering from a fractured ankle, Roy Winters had to cover this position. Rudzki is now back and it appears that a signing may have been made to provide additional cover.

With Miall probably out for the season, the starting second row will probably continue to be Davison and Evans and they have proved to be an effective unit. Rudzki has performed well when he has come off the bench and we will have to wait and see what the new signing is like.

Back Row

Probably the least contentious area, the back row team of Pat Sanderson, Andre Vos and Tony Diprose is amongst the best in the Premiership and have been working well together, although there has been a bit of a dip in form lately. It has been especially nice to see Sanderson have a long spell free from injury. He appears to add a bit of spice to the back row. I wonder whether it is a coincidence that the two sending offs against Quins this season have been as a result of offences against him.

Roy Winters has the position on the bench as cover for these three at present and he has played well when required. Luke Sherriff is also available for back-up and now that Ace Tiatia has returned from injury he is another option for back row cover.

Scrum Half

It is amongst the backs where there has been the most debate on the message board. Much of this debate is fuelled by the fact that many of the players are new to the squad and we are still to see all of their strengths and weaknesses.

Scrum Half is a case in point. Currently, Ben Willis is in the starting position and he has settled in reasonably well. However, there have been calls for Simon Keogh to be given a try in this position. He has played at scrum half for the reserves and received good reviews. Meanwhile, Scott Bemand has also been putting up some good performances in the reserves and remains in the picture.

Bemand made a promising start a couple of years ago, but was quickly overtaken by Nick Duncombe and never really seemed to recover. He spent some time earlier this season on loan to Bristol I believe that he will struggle to find his way back into the first team.

Willis did his cause no favours against Leeds, when his pass was rather wayward, and I feel that it is time to give Keogh some time at Scrum Half. I wonder whether this would have happened by now had George Harder not been injured, as this has resulted on Keogh playing on the wing. Hopefully he will get his chance soon.

Fly Half

The subject of some very heated debate on the message board. Many people believe that Paul Burke's style of play hinders the team, whilst others point out the games which have been won with his boot, and put some blame on the service he receives from his scrum half.

On occasions this season, Burke has looked a different player in open play, whilst on others he has appeared to return to his kicking game. He has the ability to control a game when he is on song, but sometimes I feel that he can be a bit predictable and as a result we find it difficult to get the backs involved.

The alternative to Burke is Andy Dunne, and people have been impressed when he has played this season. It has been pointed out that when he came on against both Saracens and Sale we scored some late tries which made the scoreline more respectable. This should be viewed with some caution though, as teams who have build up a big lead to tend to relax a little (as we did against Northampton) and late tries can be rather easier to come by in these situations.

This weeks game against Leeds saw Dunne get his first chance to play a full game at The Stoop, and I felt that he had a pretty good game, especially as he was having to pick the ball up from his feet, or pluck it out of the air for much of the game. He made a couple of breaks and looked threatening at times.

On the other hand, he had a crucial kick a few minutes from the end which he missed. I'm sure that Burke would have kicked the points.

In my opinion, the fact that we have two rather different fly halves should be used to our advantage, and the decision should be based on the type of game we are expecting. If we feel that our forwards have the edge then we should start with Burke, who can control the game from behind the pack and use his kicking game. However, if we feel that the forwards are more evenly matched then Dunne may be more effective at getting our backs going and perhaps can do more with some slightly scrappy ball.

We always have the option of changing round if things aren't going well. Maybe if we had had the option of bringing Burke on against Leeds the change could have made the difference.

Centres

Obviously, we would expect Will Greenwood to claim the number 13 shirt now he has returned from Australia, but there is quite some competition for the other centre position.

At the end of last season, Greenwood teamed up with Mel Deane and they worked well together. I expect this to be the starting centre pairing now. Chris Bell has now established himself and I would expect him to be on the bench if it was decided to have a specialist centre amongst the reserves. However, Josh Taumalolo, Gavin Duffy and George Harder can all play in the centre if required, so Bell could well lose out.

A player who had an excellent start to the season, when called up due to injuries was Andy Reay and many people felt that he was very unfortunate to lose his place when others returned. He is certainly an exciting talent and I hope that he is given more opportunity, but now Greenwood is back his chances will be more limited. Expect to see a lot of him over the coming seasons though.

Wings

Another area which has provoked lots of discussion. The main point of discussion has been what should happen when George Harder returns from injury, as both Ugo Monye and Simon Keogh have been playing very well.

Mark Evans has made no secret of the fact that he wants to play with a speedster on one wing and a basher on the other. He is obviously a big fan of Harder's and I expect that when Harder recovers he will return to the team in the place of Keogh. The evidence that we have is that Harder and Monye on the wings presents a huge threat, but we should remember that this evidence is restricted to the game against Rotherham and a pre season friendly against Saracens. I believe that they should be given more games together to see if they can continue to build on this.

Many people will disagree with this, especially as Simon Keogh has just been voted player of the month on this site. It would be very hard on Keogh, but I feel that there is a real chance to build a back line that is feared throughout the premiership. As discussed earlier, I believe that Keogh should be tried at scrum half when Harder is back.

We are also going to lose Monye to the England Sevens team for some games, so there will be the opportunity to try out Keogh and Harder together.

We also have Rob Jewell and Matt Moore in the squad. I feel that Moore has struggled since he was dropped in favour of Dan Luger last season, after having a good start to the season. He has been criticised for not backing himself sometimes, when he has cut back inside rather than going down the wing, and does have a tendency to turn the ball over.

Rob Jewell is a solid player, but doesn't appear to have that little extra something which Monye, Harder and Keogh display.

Finally, after giving the matter some thought, I would have to leave Harvey on the bench.

Full Back

I have to admit that I don't think there is much between Josh Taumalolo and Gavin Duffy. Duffy came to Quins with glowing reports and was mentioned by some as a possible for the Irish World Cup squad. In his first game against Rotherham he worked well with Monye and Harder and was the subject of very good reviews.

Taumalolo has also looked good in his games so far, but Duffy appears to be favoured by Mark Evans at the moment. I feel that on present form Taumalolo maybe just has the edge.

Overall, the players have performed reasonably well so far this season, with a couple of excellent team performances and some gutsy wins when things weren't going so well. There have also been some rather disappointing games, but in my opinion these have been more to do with the team not clicking on the day, rather than poor individual performances.

In some areas (i.e. second row and back row) there are not too many selection issues, but others (front row, and almost every position amongst the backs) there is real competition for places.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the front row now that Jason Leonard is back. Laurent Gomez was the player left out of the 22 for the Leeds match, which probably indicates where he is in the pecking order. As Leonard can play on both sides of the scrum, there doesn't necessarily have to be two props on the bench. This would mean the end of the policy of replacing both props. The main benefit of this would be an extra space on the bench for a back. As I said earlier, I would start with Tiatia at hooker in preference to Fuga

At fly half, I would alternate between Burke and Dunne, depending on the opposition, and I would like to see Keogh given a try at scrum half so we could compare him to Willis. The upcoming European games may be the opportunity to experiment with this. There is always the opportunity to replace these players during the game, which will offer some variation.

My preference on the wing would be Harder and Monye, with Keogh replacing Monye when he is called up for sevens duty.

Here's my ideal 22.

1.Leonard
2.Tiatia
3.Dawson
4.Davison
5.Evans
6.Sanderson
7.Vos
8.Diprose
9.Keogh
10.Burke (or Dunne)
11.Monye
12.Deane
13.Greenwood
14.Harder
15.Taumalolo

16.Fuga
17.Worsley
18.Rudzki
19.Winters
20.Willis
21.Dunne (or Burke)
22.Duffy

What do you think?