By Worried of Whitton
October 1 2004

Round 5 of the Zurich sees NEC Harlequins away to recently promoted Worcester Warriors, at Sixways. Please note this match kicks off at the earlier time of 14.00 in what will be the first ever meeting of the two clubs.

Both teams are without a win this season and this match, billed as a basement battle, is targeted by both sides as a must win game. The winning side gets a respite the loser & well it does not bare thinking about.

Worcester has worked long and hard for their place in the Premiership. Near misses and frustrations of recent seasons has heightened the expectation and strengthened the determination at Worcester.Chairman Cecil Duckworth has certainly down his homework but has essentially had to invest heavily to build a team for the Premiership. Among their recruits are no less than four Harlequins old boys. These being their Captain, Pat Sanderson, utility back Ben Gollings, scrum half Matt Powell and winger Darren O'Leary. Other notable signing are Thinus Delport from Gloucester, Thomas Lombard from Stade Francais and the potential future England scrum half, Clive Stuart Smith from Leeds.  The signings of Chris Horsmand from Celtic Warriors and Phil Murphy from Leeds offer a durability and knowledge that has been beneficial to the less experienced members from the original squad. John Brian Director of Rugby and Head Coach Andy Keast (also ex Quins) are well experienced and very ambitious men of rugby who have no illusions about life in the Premiership. The press believe that Worcester may be forewarned by Rotherham s demise but are not necessarily fore-armed for the Premiership,

Both teams have had an appalling start to their respective seasons. Worcester face Quins after being on the receiving end of a comprehensive 57-3 demolition by Sale last Friday night. Quins in turn were beaten by Bath 18-10, whom Worcester, coincidentally had run quite close only the week before.

A number of changes to the team have been made since last weeks spanking at Sale. News from Worcester RFC has not been forthcoming as this goes to press. However, according to the Worcester Evening News ,Matt Powell  has been picked ahead of Neil Cole and Chris Stuart-Smith to play  as scrum half following his performance in Monday nights 'A' game. The theory being as an ex Quin he'll have more hunger to do well. Dale Rasmussen replaces another former Harlequin Darren O'Leary on the wing, although O'Leary is on the bench. Neil Lyman is expected to make a return to the front row dependant upon a late fitness test. Drew Hickey wears the no 8 shirt in place of Brad Macleod- Henderson

This would have been ex Rotherham prop Colin Noon's last game as his Worcester trial is ending however he signed for Leicester earlier this week.

Worcester coach Andy Keast has agreed "that this is a massive game there is no point in trying to play it down & our respect has been seriously dented after our defeat at Sale and we want to get it back. The only way we can do this is by playing well, competing and winning games."

This is a crucial game for both sides, which both need to win and gains some league points. It is all up for grabs on Saturday, and rest assured that both sides will fight it out right down to the final whistle.

Interviewed earlier this week by the BBC, Will Greenwood said of Quins start to the season;"We haven't played very well. We've had patches when we've been okay but we've not consistently been performing at a high enough standard in a league that demands excellence. "We've really let ourselves, the supporters and the club down by performing badly in the first four games and there is a chance on Saturday to put that right."  He added "The longer you go without a win the harder it becomes but we are not at panic stations. We know we have talent in the squad, plenty of ball winners, plenty of grafters, plenty of finishers and we've got to start putting it together sooner rather than later." After the Bath match  Mark Evans said "Coming off the back of a pretty good year I still think we have a better squad (than we did last year) but we've stopped doing well the things that made us into a good team and we need to sort that out. Morale is very good, but to an extent, confidence has taken a knock and that is when you've got to front up mentally.

The commitment and desire to win is definitely there. We all had a grandstand view of that last Saturday at the start of the second half when Quins defended with vigour for over ten minutes with Bath camped on their line. The issue is removing all those basic errors we are making, both in set pieces and in open play. Yes, the ball and pitch were very greasy last week but there were just too many handling errors that should not have occurred.

Quins make just one change to the starting line up for Saturday and have slightly shuffled the pack at the back, as Mark Evans lets loose the Lions! Dafydd James, who gave a good, but too brief account of himself last Saturday, starts his first match alongside the welcome return of Will Greenwood. This, of course, is the centre pairing that we've all been waiting to see, but maybe not Worcester.  Harder moves across to the wing to partner Simon Keogh. It is therefore, Ugo Monye, who seems to have lost some of his form this season, is on the bench. Worcester have been exposed as lacking  pace outside and maybe Monye should be in the starting line up, especially if you recall how he took the Rotherham defence apart last season. Keogh and Harder are no slouchers, and rightly they get the nod ahead of Monye, who lacked some conviction last week.  Evans keeps faith with So'oila at scrum half, at least for one more week. I very much like the line up at the back.  All in all this is a canny selection, bearing in mind the number of multi functional players that have been picked who can be moved to alternative positions. Maybe we will see Keogh revert to scrum half later in the match if Monye comes on as a replacement.

Despite the criticism from Stuart Barnes in Monday's Daily Telegraph, Evans had kept the same pack, including its Ace!  We will have to wait and see whether the 'impetus' issue, highlighted by Barnes as our Achilles heal has been resolved in training this week. Tani Fuga remains on the bench, he did have a good outing on Monday night, and he even scored a try. Another Samoan on the bench is Opeta Palepoi, who has put in number of very good performances with the 'A's in the second row. I m sure we will see him take t the field this week.

With Fitzgerald out following his knock out last week and Worsley still recovering from his back injury, Senior Academy member Mark Lambert takes the vacant place on the bench as prop.

  
So it is all up for grabs on Saturday, it will be which team wants it the most and who is better prepared for this one off game.  As Mark Evans summed it up last Saturday, "Worcester is a big game now."

Come on you Quins!

Away Supporters guide:  Substantial investment has created an easily accessible stadium, just of Junction 7 of the M5. Set in open countryside the facilities are excellent BUT there is limited parking reserved for pass holders only. Worcester RFC recommends that visitors either park and walk from the Shire Business Park or use the City's park and ride system.

Players to Watch:  Daffyd James & Will Greenwood

Prediction:  A very tight hard fought match but Worcester's woes to continue however, they will collect another loser's bonus point

NEC Harlequins:
15. Gavin Duffy,  14. George Harder, 13. Will Greenwood 12. Daffyd James, 11. Simon Keogh, 10. Jeremy Staunton, 9. Steve So'oialo, 1. Ceri Jones, 2. Ace Tiatia, 3. Jon Dawson, 4. Karl Rudzki, 5. Simon Miall,, 6. Luke Sherriff,  7. Andre Vos (c), 8, Tony Diprose
Replacements:  
16. Tani Fuga, 17. Mark Lambert, 18. Roy Winters, 19.Opeta Palepoi, 20. Nick Easter, 21. Andy Dunne, 22. Ugo Monye

Worcester Warriors: to be confirmed

15. Thinus Delport, 14. Dale Rasmussen, 13. Ben Hinshelwood,12.Thomas Lombard, 11.Ben Gollings, 10. James Brown, 9. Matt Powell 1. Tony Windo, 2. Ben Daly, 3. Neil Lyman, 4.Tim Collier, 5. Craig Gillies, 6. Leon Greef, 7. Pat Sanderson (c), 8. Drew Hickey
Replacements: 16 Steve Sparks, 17.Lee Fortey, 18. Andre van Nierk, 19. Mark Gabey, 20. Saosi Vaili, 21. Darren O'Leary, 22. Clive Stuart- Smith

Match officials:

Referee:                 Steve Leyshorn
Touch judges:       Peter Huckle and Stuart Terheege