By Wyddy
November 12 2014

Back to the rattle and hum of the Aviva Premiership we go after a blitzing start to our Heineken, sorry European Champions Cup campaign and an up and down participation in this years ever more superfluous, LV Cup. 

Alongside all of that we’ve had the glitz and the glamour of the first weekend of Autumn Internationals which remained pretty much on song, apart from the Irish getting the better of the Boks (their one great game this year?). Wales failing to get over the line again against the Australians, France putting in a so so performance against Samoa. Then we have England who remained nearly as on script as the Welsh by failing again in the second half, as the experienced New Zealanders turned the screw in conditions that used to be Englands.

Marler went well at scrumtime and despite missing a couple of tackles came out with credit, as too did Robshaw who typically made 20 tackles in the game and some hard yards. Care struggled with his box kicking in the second half after looking dangerous in the first, but had he been told not to put it through hands? It’s never been the strongest part of his game.

Then we have Browny, who the press will tell you is woefully out of form. For me he hasn’t had too bad a start to the season, he’s been a shining light when we were going through the dudlrums and apart from a stinker at Welford Road has played better than most. He missed one pure gimme in the NZ game and ran into a lot of traffic where he had few options, it wasn’t his finest hour but I’m sure a lot of us are getting ticked off with this sweeping generalisation of his game based off that single game against Tigers. Here’s hoping he comes back with a bang against the South Africans. 

The Quins faithful will be heading up to Kingsholm this Friday to lock horns with those rowdy types in the Shed. Both teams will be depleted, Quins will have Tikoirutuma and the aforementioned England four and Yarde out (looks like he will make the bench). Whilst Gloucester look set to be missing Hibbard, Hook, Puafisi, Laidlaw, Morgan and Jonny May however they will be able to field Billy Twelvetrees after he was returned from the England camp today. 

Gloucester have had a mixed start to the season but have particularly struggled in the Premiership, only picking up two wins against a poor Welsh side and a Tigers side bereft of many assets. They have however been picking up a raft of bonus points so they have not been far away from the sides who have managed to top them. Bearing in mind the amount of new players they have had come in it was always going to be difficult for them to get out of the traps quickly. However now they are shorn of the lynchpins that have given them ballast and hope for the balance of the season – how will they respond? 

Judging by their LV Cup games (which is never the best indicator), it’s a mixed bag. They dominated Exeter in the first round but then combusted to allow Chiefs to pinch the game from them 28-27 , however they then struggled at home to put away this seasons whipping boys, London Welsh. 

Up front they will still be a useful outfit with John Afoa giving them a serious anchor at scrum time, however they will seriously miss the work around the field that Hibbard does. Nick Wood will likely take the other side and Darren Dawidiuk at hooker. The engine room will be manned by Tom Palmer if returned from injury and partnered by Tom Savage. The back row lacking the impact of Morgan will look to Kvesic and Evans to tackle Quins ably supplemented by the rapidly improving Ross Moriarty who looks a real talent after his performances this season backed up those at the Junior RWC. 

At half back Dan Robson gets a lot of praise but for too long he has been hindered by a pack in reverse, he has some serious talent but isn’t getting the platform to demonstrate often enough. With Hook and Laidlaw out Glaws have a serious problem at 10, they could see Twelvetrees step in to do a job there or they could turn to Aled Thomas who they picked up from Scarlets at the beginning of this season. If 36 does line up at 10 then look for them to field their two young England lads, Henry Purdy and Mark Atkinson. The back three will be sure to feature Charlie Sharples and Rob Cook probably joined by Shane Monahan. 

Quins look to the return of some of our senior campaigners who were rested for the LV Cup games, Wallace, Evans, Easter and Robson likely to come back into the line up. In the tight five Mark Lambert will continue in place of Captain Joe, and hasn’t he been a stalwart when he’s played this season, he might be a big unit but hasn’t stopped ticking when he’s come on. Dave Ward will be hoping that all this time off practicing line outs will have worked in his favour and will be joined on the tight head side by whichever one of Sinckler and Collier won the coin toss this week. Robson will resume his partnership with the developing Charlie Matthews at lock… but can Matthews pull performances out of the bag when he’s not fronting up against his old mucka Launchbury? 

The back row will see the return of Nick Easter after he has had some well earned rest, he will partner Luke Wallace who continues to frustrate this writer as he has yet to hit his straps this season. At blindside it looks to be a three way choice between Joe Trayfoot, who has shown in cameos what he is capable of, Jack Clifford, our much under utilised Junior WC winning Captain or James Chisholm, who has really been knocking hard for 1st team recognition with some luminary performances in the A and LV teams. For me I’d be sorely tempted to utilise Chisholm and Wallace would be a lucky chap to keep his place purely by dint of Quins needing someone to combat Kvesic at the breakdown. 

At half back we may well have the oldest pairing in the league as Dickson and Evans reacquaint themselves. Evans has really come through his problematic first couple of games this season and turned in some decent performances, especially from the tee, however there is still frustration over the amount of times we kick it straight down the throat of the oppo back three. Dickson motors on as ever, a couple of season he seemed like he was pushing DC but he has fallen off those levels in the last couple of seasons, however he remains a reliable scrum half. 

Centre remains one of the great roundabouts of the Quins line up. Lowe has recently been rested from front line duties after being pitched straight back in after injury but could well return this Friday. Alongside him Matt Hopper has been playing well but still has the odd infuriating moment, and Turner-Hall continues to invite harsh critique from the crowd with performances far from his best of a few seasons ago. Harry Sloan has looked like he has potential the few times he has played, however hasn’t been lucky with injury. Casson may be fit but it seems like a lottery with him in recent months and he hasn’t put a convincing run of games together for a long while now. So really it could be any combination of the above, I’d very much like to see Lowe and JTH renew their partnership to see if it could spark Turner-Hall into some semblance of his 2012 form, but it really is difficult to predict who will line up. 

The back three is an area which Quins have bolstered this season however, both of our new signings, Yarde and Tiki will be absent. This leaves the door open to Charlie Walker to continue, and even though his right leg was heavily strapped before the game against Dragons he still showed some electric bursts of pace on the right wing, the kid is rapid. Tom Williams is rumoured to be returning soon and his experience and solidity would be welcome, failing that look to see Lindsay-Hague continue skipping his way on the other wing. Ross Chisholm will start at full back and hope to see one of his longer spells in the 15 shirt in recent seasons continue. 

Quins have enough to see off this challenge at Kingsholm, but will need to be wary of kicking into space which has so often been a weakness. In Sharples and Cook they have players that can deliver devastating returns of anything shabbily failing to find touch or not followed up by a strong kick chase. Lambert will need to be on his mettle to face off against Afoa but the rest of the pack have shown they can put in a shift, recently splintering the Wasps pack that is one of the best in the Prem. Serious pressure will need to be applied by whoever takes the 6 shirt for Quins, they need to get up on the 10 channel quickly and pressurise Aled Thomas, if indeed it is he. 

Overall Gloucester probably will suffer more from the lack of their internationals, we should see Quins make some headway during this Autumn International window. 

Quins to win by 7-10pts. 

COYQ!!!!!!! 

Wyddy 

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