By Worried of Whitton
January 13 2006

Back to League action at The Stoop this Saturday as NEC Harlequins host the “Yorkshire All Blacks” Otley, on their only visit to Twickenham this season, kick off is at 15.00. The two sides played a very physical game up at Cross Green back in September, which Quins won 18-15.

Despite Otley’s formidable reputation, it was Quins who finally provided the serious upset on the day with Mel Deane’s try in the dying seconds of injury time. His try will probably will be one of the defining moments of Harlequin’s season, and the moment captured by RobShew.  

 
Mel Deane's Try ©RobShew

It is worth seeing that picture again, the contrast of the Quins players’ jubilation with that of the crowd in the background makes me smile!

While the Otley faithful moaned how lucky Harlequins had been to win, which we probably were, the manner of that defeat seems to have defined their season. Their inability to close down a number of games, has denied themselves important victories.  Indeed such memories of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory in, came back to haunt them yet again last Saturday at Cross Green. Otley lost 13-14 to Bedford through a last minute penalty after getting themselves into a winning position. Despite spending  most of the second half  firmly camped inside the Bedford 22, and more importantly preventing their visitors any possession, Otley were able to battle claw back their 3-11 half time deficit to a lead of 13 -11 going into the final stages of the match. Otley were arguably the better side in the second half, but as we have witnessed ourselves this season, Bedford refuse to capitulate and they did not buckle despite sustained pressure from the home side despite having one man in the sin bin and their efforts were eventually handsomely rewarded after slotting over a penalty, when Otley strayed offside in front of their posts. This penalty was scored from Bedford’s only incursion into Otley territory for 25 minutes, and just two minutes from time.

The consensus from Otley site however, is that they were left to rue what might have been by the inconsistent application of the advantage law by the referee. The criticism in the press was that Otley did not play the advantage very well, but their response has been “how can you play it if you don’t know where and when it stops?” With five minutes of normal time remaining, Bedford, who were down to 14 men, infringed in their own 22, the referee signalled "advantage" and Otley, continued to press for the try that would probably have sealed the tie. They had gone through several phases but advanced just a few yards when the referee signalled advantage over. Otley certainly felt that they should have had their penalty in front of the posts; to give a four point lead after their kick through was charged down.

According to the Yorkshire Post” they also conceded that they ought to have forced the referee's hand by deliberately knocking-on – an unedifying act and one that is the last thing on the mind of forwards who are pouring forward, but in this case a pragmatic one. "It's cynical, but it's what you've got to do sometimes," said Captain Glen Wilson. "We weren't clever enough.   Inevitably, Otley soon lost possession as the Bedford player returned from the sin-bin, Bedford worked their way downfield and in the 78th minute, the hosts strayed off-side in front of the posts, the referee, once more, allowed a brief moment of advantage before blowing his whistle, and visiting full-back Mark Harris kicked the penalty that won the game for Bedford.”  The Post added “The advantage law is certainly a grey area, with little consistency in the determination of what constitutes "advantage".  

The Yorkshire Post report concluded “On the previous occasion when Otley came desperately close to an upset – against Harlequins in September – they took a couple of weeks to recover from an ill-deserved defeat.  With a trip to the league leaders next up in National One, they can ill-afford another adverse reaction”.  We will not be sure which Otley team turns up until the match starts, it could be that Quins can expect some release of their frustration and disappointment of losing their quarter final match last weekend, and losing to Quins in September. The opposition will be disadvantaged at The Stoop with its flat, fast pitch and its’ well manicured grass. Stamina and fitness levels will play a part in their game especially as the second half progresses, particularly as the clock in the score board is not working. The Otley team will not be used to playing in front of such a large partisan crowd, which will much greater than the size of their normal gate.

In their quarter final trophy match Harlequins were made to graft against Plymouth. The fine win 37 -24 belied this to be Quin's narrowest winning margin this season! Quins tended to struggle early on and Plymouth were never far behind. Quins definitely missed the controlling influence of Mehrtens who was recovering from a shoulder injury. Jarvis appeared to struggle at the start of the game, having not played a full 80 minutes for over six weeks. As Scotty stated this was not good preparation for a player taking the field in a cup quarterfinal match and therefore Harlequins had to rely more heavily on their forwards pressure to force a win. However all credit to Jarvis, he did settle down and his confidence grew as the game progressed and he went on contribute 17 valuable points to the Quins haul, including a try and a drop goal. Towards the close the game was finely balanced with Plymouth just six points behind. Throwing caution to the wind in a final attempt to score and to snatch the win, Plymouth broke out of their 22 but were thwarted by a superb interception tackle by Harder. The ball recovery was made by Greenwood who scooped it back to Harder who went on to score to a late try. Had he missed the tackle it is almost certain that Plymouth would have gone through for a late winner under the posts. As with Deane’s try, this too will be classed as another defining moment in Harlequins season.

The current ND1 league table shows Otley, mid way in ninth position with just five wins and one draw, ironically against Bedford. Two of their wins have been away from home at London Welsh and more surprisingly at Exeter in early December. Both wins were achieved by a margin of four points suggesting how close those games were. Quins on the other hand remain unbeaten in league and cup competition and this is certainly to continue this weekend.

 

The Harlequins team announced for this weekend is very different to the one that played at Cross Green last September. Harlequins have become battle hardened and wily about the way the game is played in ND1, they are no longer the rookies they were when the two sides last meet, and know what to expect from their visitors.

On the team front notably Jordan Turner Hall and Tom Williams are away training in France with the RL side teaching them the art of real rugby.  It is very good to see the strength and experience of Nick Easter returning from injury, as announced yesterday .His replacement Diprose had a great game last week, and with no team announcements as we went to press, it is possible that Diprose may play this again week if Vos is still injured. Of course Harlequins will miss Mehrtens again this week but his understudy AJ’s confidence would have taken a big boost after last weeks match against Plymouth and he will certainly be looking forward to Otley. If Vos is absent too then Greenwood will need to work overtime marshalling the backs but with Harder in good form he will be ready to pound his way through the Otley defence, as will Keogh wound up and ready to run, without getting lost in the long grass!, assuming that he is back. One expects that our first choice pack will be lining up on Saturday afternoon, but as we’ve seen this season, Dean Richards will pick on merit.

So Otley do get a day at Twickenham, but they would have preferred it to be a Powergen Trophy Final across the road, rather than meeting Quins at The Stoop!  Comparing the performance of the two sides this season, Otley will also not get the result they hope for either, Quins to win in style, with a four try bonus point, providing they play the full eighty minutes.

Come on You Quins !

 

Harlequins   not announced but expected to be
15. Mark Brown,14. George Harder,13. Will Greenwood,12 Gavin Duffy,11 Simon Keogh,10. Adrian Jarvis , 9. Steve So’oialo, 1. Ceri Jones,2. Tani Fuga, 3. Ricky Nebbett,  4. Jim Evans.5. Simon Miall, 6. Andre Vos (c), 7. Luke Sheriff, 8. Nick Easter
Replacements

 

Otley to be confirmed, but probably as  last week
15. Ian Shuttleworth,14. Kyle Dench,13. Chris Hyndman,12 Rob Whatmuf,11 Waisale Sovatabua, 10. Simon Binns, 9. Dave Scully, 1. Justing Wring,2. Mark Luffman, 3. Kris Fulman,  4. Jason Oakes    5. Howard Parr, 6. Scott Connor, 7. Matt Stockdale, 8. Glen Wilson (c)
Replacements: 16 Paul Mooney, 17.Tom Rock, 18. Nathan Bland, 19. Andy Brown, 20. Steve Tretewey,  21.Paul Williams, 22. Duncan Sayers

Match Officials:
Referee:  tba
Touch judges: Richard Phillips, Nick Clarke