By The Prof
December 9 2003

The weather was dry and fair for the match although the forecast had predicted rain and cold. A band played much to the delight of the local fans before there was a minute’s silence before the game in honour of the Spanish peacekeepers who were recently killed in Iraq. Andy Dunne kicked off for Quins and good pressure was exerted before Centransa kicked to touch on their own 10m line. The throw was long to the debutant Kai Horstmann who took the ball well and set up a rolling maul before sending the ball right but, unfortunately, we had the first of many knocks on of the day.

Duffy charged down a kick but it bounced into touch, Quins were penalised at the line out and then again for slowing the ball down. The home side’s kicker Roqué kicked to touch on the halfway line but Jim Evans stole the ball in the lineout.

Andy Reay made a good break through the middle and chipped the ball forward to Matt Moore who juggled it before getting right to the line but the Centransa pack infringed and Quins had a penalty just 5m short from the line. A tap penalty was taken and a rolling maul was set up and Ceri Jones was driven over the line for the first try of the game. Andy Dunne converted the try. 0-7, 6 minutes.

The restart ball was taken well and the ball was passed to the backs but a good move in the centres was prevented when the French referee spotted crossing although the majority of the large Quins contingent in the crowd seemed to think differently.

Kai Horstmann was again the target of James Hayter’s lineout throw, Dunne chipped the ball forward but it was caught by one of the Centransa backs who countered but Dunne made up for his mistake with a good covering tackle.

Quins tried attacking through the middle but the Centransa defence was excellent as was their forwards’ work at the breakdown and the ball was turned over far too many times.

A good break by Duffy, who was well supported by Rudzki, came to nothing when Quins were penalised for not releasing. Then Horstmann made a good break and Duffy supported him well but again the ball was turned over and Quins were penalised were penalised for coming in at the side.

Jewell ran a missed touch kick back and Quins were awarded a penalty for not rolling away from the tackle. Hayter went off with blood pouring from his face and Fuga came on as a blood replacement.

The Quins captain on the day, Luke Sherriff, decided to scrum the penalty but there was a knock on. The referee then gave a free kick for feeding but there was yet another knock on by Quins. More handling errors and penalties at the breakdown kept coming before Centransa were awarded a penalty for offside about 30m out, in front of the posts. Absolute silence greeted the Roqué’s kick which went straight between the posts. 3-7, 19 minutes. He tried another kick, this time from 10m further out, just moments later when Quins were using hands in the ruck but the ball sailed just wide of the posts.

Quins were awarded a penalty for not releasing and Dunne kicked to the corner. The ball was thrown long to Sherriff who set up a rolling maul and again Ceri Jones was the one who got the ball over the line. Dunne kicked the conversion. 3-14, 27 minutes.

Horstmann took the restart ball well and the rolling maul went 20m over the halfway line, then invented a new and undecipherable hand signal which I presume must have been for the maul stopping and then restarting and Centransa were awarded a scrum.

The ball was turned over and Jones and Hayter ran the ball back and Quins were awarded a penalty for hands in the ruck. The ball was kicked to the corner, Evans caught the ball well, a rolling maul was set up, trundled forward and this time Horstmann scored. The conversion was wide. 3-19, 32 minutes.

The rest of the first half was one knock on or infringement after another by both sides. 3-19, HT.

The first ten minutes of the second half was all Centransa with only a stolen line out by Jim Evans and a good break by Horstmann to show for it. Just three minutes in Centransa scored their first try through Brower but the conversion was missed. 8-19, 43 minutes. Muñoz then came on for Souto on the blindside and soon after Quins were caught offside and Roqué slotted the kick from in front of the posts. 11-19, 48 minutes.

A knock on gave Centransa the ball and Roqué put in a great kick behind Jewell and Velazco beat him to it and touched the ball down but the referee decided to award a penalty try anyway for Jewell pulling back one of the three Centransa backs who were chasing the ball. Roqué got the conversion from in front of the posts to leave Quins with the most slender of leads. 18-19, 50 minutes.

Quins made more breaks through Rudzki, Reay and Moore but each time the ball was turned over. Centransa replaced Asís with R. Turrión and the Quins management pulled off seven men in one go: Tiatia replaced Winters; Fuga replaced Hayter; Bell replaced Taumalolo; Davison replaced Rudzki; Keogh replaced Moore; Deane replaced Reay and Dawson replaced Gomez. After Roqué had missed another penalty Paris replaced Serrano.

Davison was then sin binned three minutes after coming on – it looked like he legally put boot to ball in a ruck but the referee saw something amiss. The tempo of Quins’ play was lifted by the replacements even though they only had fourteen men on the pitch. Good breaks followed from Keogh and Bell but they came to nothing.

Fuga threw long to Horstmann who passed to Evans on the charge who passed to Tiatia who made more yards before the ball was knocked on again.

Bell made a good break, Deane then made more yards before feeding the ball to Bell who dived over near the right touch line. Dunne got the conversion from about 7m in from the touch line. 18-26, 71 minutes.

Quins were awarded another penalty after the restart for not binding at the scrum and Dunne kicked to the half way line. The ball was won and spun to Deane passed to Ace who thundered forward, bouncing one defender, before being tackled and the Centransa pack went over the top giving Quins a penalty. Fuga threw to Evans who passed back to Fuga who then offloaded to Davison, to Bell who made an excellent break before offloading to Fuga to score. Dunne missed the conversion. 18-31, 77 minutes.

Quins won a scrum against the head by driving the home pack backwards, Horstmann made a great break from the back of the scrum before finding Bemand who made more yards before passing to Deane who went over the line but failed to ground the ball. Instead of giving a scrum to Quins the referee gave a penalty for not releasing. The final score remained 18-31.

So what can Quins take out of this game? Well a win for one thing and a 13 point lead in to the second leg. There were also very good displays from Bell, Fuga, Deane, Jones, Evans, Bemand and Tiatia. John Kingston awarded the travelling Quins fans the man of the match award but, for me, Kai Horstmann had an excellent first game for the first team, Diprose will have to be on good form to keep him out for the rest of the season.

Quins will now know that the Centransa UEMC team are no pushover, their defence is solid, their pack are very competitive at the breakdown and they have a good kicker in Roqué. We will need to commit more men to the ruck when the two sides meet again on Saturday.

On behalf of the travelling Quins supporters I would like to thank the players and supporters of Centransa UEMC for their great hospitality and also to the players and supporters of VRAC who looked after us so well after the VRAC v Newcastle game and finally we would like to thank the Newcastle fans who gave us a lift back from the stadium after the game on Saturday.

Scores:
Try: Jones, Conversion: Dunne, 0-7, 6 minutes
Penalty: Roqué, 3-7, 19 minutes
Try: Jones, Conversion: Dunne, 3-14, 27 minutes
Try: Horstmann, 3-19, 32 minutes
Try: Brower, 8-19, 43 minutes
Penalty: Roqué, 11-19, 48 minutes
Penalty Try: (Velazco), Conversion: Roqué, 18-19, 50 minutes
Try: Bell, Conversion: Dunne, 18-26, 71 minutes
Try: Fuga, 18-31, 77 minutes.

Centransa UEMC
Caballero (Insausti, 71), Zarzosa, Serrano (Paris 60), Garachana, Gallopa, Souto (Muñoz), Asís (R. Turrion 57), Mata, Jaime Alonson (Maeda 71), Roqué, Lamela, Toché, G. Martínez (Toca 68), Brower, Velazco.

NEC Harlequins
Ceri Jones, James Hayter (Tani Fuga 57), Lauren Gomez (Jon Dawson 57), Karl Rudzki (Billy Davison 57), Jim Evans, Roy Winters (Ace Tiatia 57), Luke Sherriff (c), Kai Horstmann, Scott Bemand, Andy Dunne, Matt Moore (Simon Keogh 57), Andy Reay (Mel Deane 57), Josh Taumalolo (Chris Bell 57), Rob Jewell, Gavin Duffy.

Referee: Bernard Berdos (France)
Crowd: 3,800