By Worried of Whitton
February 13 2008

Round 12 of the Guinness Premiership kicks off this weekend for Harlequins  as they prepare to play at home to second from bottom placed Worcester Warriors. Kick off at The Stoop on February 16th is at 15.00, how good is that ! A match at three o’clock on a Saturday afternoon! 

This game is a crucial, must win match for Harlequins, currently lying in sixth but who have been almost caught up by the four clubs immediately below them. It is equally crucial for Worcester who have only one win to their name so far this season.

For Worcester this is match 13 of their Premiership campaign, as they played and lost at Saracens (19-6) last weekend. Three matches were re scheduled for last weekend,  which had been set a side as part of a two week rest during the Six Nations, however as Leicester, Saracens and Wasps have all qualified for the semi final of the EDF Cup, these matches had to be rearranged. A some what staggered Premiership table looks like this, after Wasps postponed their game against Sale at the last minute, it is not yet known when this match will be played and as thing stand the outcome could have an affect Quins’ final position this season, as Quins are sandwiched between the two clubs. 

Two weeks ago Quins made the long Friday night journey to Manchester, together with a few hardy supporters. After recent performances most supporters were nit expecting much from this game, assuming another loss to get out of the way and prepare for the second half of the season after a two week break. The newspaper headlines the next morning read “Sale struggle to shake of dogged Harlequins” and the multi-coloured ones came away with a precious bonus point. Some of the posting of euphoria on the CAW board may well have been over the top, but Sale away in recent years has not been the doom and gloom fixture that it used to be. The few green shoots seen against Stade Francais the weekend before seem to have begun to flourish as one of the strongest line up s in the Premiership struggled to overcome a visiting team determined to make up for a poor January, as Quins proved to be tenacious to the end

One can only hope the confidence that appears to have been regained coupled with a two week break will have worked wonders for those players who were able to rest. We just hope that they come out of the blocks in the same way that they stated the season back in September. Whilst most players will have enjoyed a break, a number of others have been playing for their country. Injuries to Easter and Gomarsall, who will be sorely disappointed, will rule them out of selection this weekend, whilst those players who played for the Saxons this weekend would have gained a great deal of satisfaction and confidence, especially with Jarvis picking up man  of the match and significant contributions made by other Quins. The “A” team had a very good win over Bath on Monday night and winning at home is contagious.

Worcester were mightily relieved and on a high two weeks ago after their first win of the season , a comprehensive one as well, winning 25-5 at home to Bristol, despite being 3-5 down at the break. Worcester were very physical in their play winning all the important “collisions”, in the forwards play, yet they were badly let down by a very poor kicking display with inconsistent and indecisive ball play by Crichton. However there improvement appears to have been short lived. The press was not very complementary about their performance against Saracens, having played far too indecisively for long periods of a tedious game. There most emphatic play started as the siren sounded to signal the end of the match. Worcester with seven consecutive away defeats in the Premiership this season could easy many problems with a couple of wins, but their style of play against Saracens suggests that they are nowhere near improving their cause this season. Despite a wafer thin win in the EDF cup at The Stoop back in the autumn, Worcester look set look set to record their eighth away defeat of the season on Saturday, they may have benefited from an additional week of rest.

This will be a difficult match for Quins and is a potential banana skin.. A home win will boost confidence further ahead of a difficult schedule to come with their next two matches away to Saracens and at home to Gloucester, both to be shown live on Sky. Quins to win a hard fought and physical contest, it is likely Worcester may wrest a bonus point as some consolation in order to inch further away from Leeds at the bottom. 

Other matches this weekend:

The Quins v Worcester match is probably the most difficult match to call, this weekend however I expect to see three home wins for Quins, Bath and Sale, with three away wins for Gloucester, Leicester and Saracens.