By kwin
December 8 2003

Quins start their 2003/4 European campaign this weekend with a rare excursion to Spain, where we play League leaders Cetransa El Salvador in Round One of the Parker Pen Challenge Cup.

This is a competition which occupies a special place in the hearts of Quins supporters, being the last trophy we've  actually won -  indeed for this writer, and I daresay for most of you reading this - it's the ONLY trophy that we've won - at least while we've been watching anyway.

That, I hardly have to remind you,  was back in 2001 the season of two finals, in which a relatively ordinary Quins squad played above themselves to defeat Perigeux, Dax, Brive and Newcastle before meeting Narbonne in a memorable, golden afternoon at the Madjeski, our favourite Away ground.

Since then Quins' European ventures have far less than happy: in the following season we were drawn in a very tough Heineken Cup group, and were comprehensively beaten at the group stage by both Castres and Munster (who went on to contest the Semi-Final later in the tournament). Then, in 2002/3, back in the second-tier completion again, we overcame Caerphilly before crashing out badly to Stade Francais in the second round. Perhaps things will be different this year?

Well, we're certainly in with a chance - before looking at this weekend's match, it's worth taking a moment to remind ourselves of the structure of this year's competition: Like last season  it's a straight knockout tournament with every round save the final played over two legs, home and away. There are 28 teams, of which 14 are seeded (we're one) with the first round advantage of playing the first leg away (In subsequent rounds, the home/away sequence was decided by lot).

Given the awkward number of teams in the competition (which is because of the withdrawal of the Welsh clubs) two "lucky" losers from the first round will progress, along with the 14 winners, to the second, to be played on January 12/13 and 17/18.  Quins are fortunate to be drawn to play one of these lucky losers when once again we'll have the additional advantage of playing away in the first leg.

Conventional wisdom would suggest, therefore, a relatively straightforward path through to Round Three - the Quarter finals in fact - where we're likely to renew our acquaintance with either Brive or Castres -  either way a marvellous fixture to lighten up the last two weekends in January.

But I get ahead of myself  - and  in a way that I hope the Club aren't, because before all that we have to attend to the less than glamorous task of overcoming El Salvador, a club whom we'd be foolish to dismiss lightly: Currently lying top of their league after 9 matches Cetransa are unbeaten this season. And, in fact, unbeaten in their league last season - a combined run of 29 consecutive victories which presumably makes them champions of Spain. 

I know what you old hands amongst you will be murmuring now............Treviso!  

Well you never know, and I imagine the Spaniards are quire pleased with the draw - without (in truth) much chance over two legs, their aim must be to snatch a home victory, and the playing a home in the first leg gives them their best chance.

So, who in the Spanish team should this weekend's intrepid travellers be looking out for?  First to catch the eye is undoubtedly the International back row where Churros, the weighty No 8 is flanked by the nimble blind slide, Calamari, famed for running rings round sleeping scrum halves and, bringing aggression to the team, the grizzled many-capped Cojones playing Open.

In the backs look out for the back three: On the left wing is an out-and-out pace merchant, Gonzales, paired with the experienced Franco on the right wing, while at full back is Cortez, famed for his daring expeditionary attacks into enemy territory. At 10, meanwhile,  look out for Quixote, famed for his deft passes and silky handling. Indeed with the inspired leadership of Alvarado at captain (Supremo) this is a team of which Quins should be rightfully respectful, and it will be interesting to see how Quins' team of many 2ndXV players cope with this challenge.

Here's the team

15 - Gavin Duffy
14 - Rob Jewell
13 - Josh Taumalolo
12 - Andy Reay
11 - Matt Moore
10 - Andrew Dunne
9 - Scott Bemand
1 - Ceri Jones
2 - James Hayter
3 - Laurent Gomez
4 - Karl Rudzki
5 - Jim Evans
6 - Roy Winters
7 - Luke Sheriff (Captain)
8 - Kai Horstmann

16 - Tani Fuga
17 - Ace Tiatia
18 - Jon Dawson
19 - Bill Davison
20 - Mel Deane
21 - Simon Keogh
22 - Chris Bell

Led by the growingly-impressive Luke Sherriff at captain, it will be intriguing to see the performance in some of the positions that have come in for scrutiny on the message board - Duffy at 15 for instance should hopefully find two games where confidence can build. The half-back combination of Dunne and Bemand will also be interesting, though I am surprised Evs hasn't taken the chance to experiment with the less-familiar Keogh at 9. Perhaps Keogh will come in from the bench for a short spell.

In the scrum, we see familiar combinations, apart from the Back Row which features three players we haven't seen much of in the 1st XV so far - they'll be keen to impress.

Overall prediction? : Quins to win decisively.