By KevT
September 25 2003

NEC Harlequins take on London Irish on Saturday 24th September 2003 (Kick off 3.00pm). Quins are top of the league and will be looking for a win to stay on top. London Irish will be seeking to avenge their two defeats, home and away against Quins last season. Quins make two changes to the team that beat Rotherham 43 – 15 last week. Rob Jewell replaces George Harder who has tweaked a knee ligament and is likely to out for two to three weeks. Rob’s selection is seen as a like for like replacement for George. Andy Reay is very unlucky to miss out at inside centre. Mel Deane moves from outside to inside centre and Josh Taumalolo moves to outside centre.

Quins’ new signing Mike Worsley has enjoyed his first few weeks at Quins. “It’s been good. It’s still early days but we’ve got off to a good start. Everyone believes in what we worked on in pre season training and the wins have reinforced that belief. Our forward pack seems to be doing really well which has helped. Most of them have been together a while but you’ve got other players like Simon Miall who have come in at the end of last season and done really well. We’ve got a very experienced back row who are playing well and of course Ace and Daws (Jon Dawson) who have been very good. We also have Andre Vos who is a very good Captain, a very good player and a very good bloke.”

I asked Mike how it felt playing against his old club London Irish. “It will be a bit different not wearing the London Irish jersey which I had been wearing for five years. I’ll be wanting to play very well and am really looking forward to it. I know all of the Irish boys well. I’m up against Rob Hardwick who I’ve never played against before other than in training so I’m looking forward to that.”

London Irish make two changes to the team that beat Gloucester. Barry Everitt replaces Mark Mapletoft at Fly Half after an excellent second half performance against Gloucester. Nick Greenstock makes his League debut against his previous club at inside centre and replaces Nils Mordt.

Irish’s win against Gloucester was built from up front. They have a front row which is used to playing together and which proved too strong for Gloucester. Neal Hatley plays loose head prop. He is a strong scrummager (hence the nickname Beefy) and toured with England in the summer. At hooker, Irish have the excellent Naka Drotske who has proved to be a thorn in Quins’ side on many occasions. He is good around the park and knows how to hit his jumpers. He won 26 caps for South Africa. At tight head, Irish have 34 year old England international Rob Hardwick. He will no doubt enjoy his battle with ex colleague Mike Worsley.

In the second row, Bob Casey and Ryan Strudwick are the second row pairing. They are a solid couple of individuals who rarely disappoint but who are not perhaps as mobile as the Quins second row. The back row has a good look about it. Kieran Dawson is a very mobile open side who is good on the floor and pretty feisty. Ex Leicester player Paul Gustard provides a strong physical at blind side flanker and the ever youthful 36 year old Chris Sheasby renews acquaintance with the Stoop as number eight. “Sheas” has never been your typical number eight, he loves to run from deep and will have added incentive in playing against his former club.

Darren Edwards has made the scrum half berth his own this season and has enjoyed good quality ball behind his pack. The much travelled Welshman will provide ball for Barry Everitt at Fly Half. Ex Quin Mark Mapletoft has held the starting position for Irish but after suffering an injury against Gloucester moves to the bench and gives way to Everitt. Barry did a great job in controlling the game against Gloucester and if his boot is on form, he can prove a dangerous opponent. I have always been of the view that Everitt is a confidence Fly Half. If he is playing behind a pack that is going forward then he is excellent. He also gained a great deal from playing alongside former Irish coach Brendan Venter. It will be interesting to see how Everitt copes on Saturday. He is not so great at dealing with poorer quality ball under pressure. Academy player Nils Mordt has held the inside centre berth this season but he makes way for ex Quins favourite Nick Greenstock who will line up alongside former England international Geoff Appleford. Greenstock is a lovely runner who chooses great lines. Centre has been the area of most concern for Irish as their midfield has been unable to create too much space for Irish’s excellent back three of Sackey, Bishop and Horak. Paul Sackey is quick and strong. It is a mystery to me why Clive Woodward has not given the 24 year old Sackey a run in the England squad. Former Irish international Justin Bishop usually plays left wing and he definitely knows how to find the try line. Unlike Sackey, he doesn’t always have the pace to beat a man from a standing start but he is a great open field runner. Full back Michael Horak always seems to have something up as sleeve to hurt the Quins. He is quick and comes into the line very well. His defence is good and it is only England’s strength in depth in this position that has prevented him from getting more caps.

London Irish have played two games, won a game and lost a game. In their first game of the season they lost 29 –19 away at Leicester and last week beat Gloucester by 16 – 10. In both matches London Irish had plenty of possession but have had trouble converting possession into tries. This was a recurring theme in their play last season as well and is in marked contrast to Quins’ start to the season. Quins have struggled for possession, but when given the ball they have managed to score heavily.

So where will the match be won or lost? Quins will have to hold the Irish scrum which was so dominant against Gloucester. Quins will need to compete in the tackle area and try to get to Barry Everitt. If they give Everitt time then he can start to dictate the game as he did against Gloucester last week. If Quins can get to him quickly then his confidence may start to go.

Much as it is a pleasure to see Sheasby running at defences from deep, he can get himself isolated and the Quins back row will hope to turn over ball through him. Irish have always played a multi-phase game and the Quins’ forwards were able to slow their phases down last season and turn over ball. They will be looking to do the same on Saturday. If Irish do get a good share of possession then Quins will need to be careful in the tackle area as Everitt can rack up points very quickly with his boot. The battle between Ugo Monye and Paul Sackey will also be interesting. It will be a real test of Ugo’s defence.

Quins know how to beat the Irish. They did it twice last year and since then have really strengthened their backs. I’m looking forward to seeing the centre pairing of Mel Deane and Josh Taumalolo. Irish have strengthened their backs this week with the selection of Everitt and Greenstock but I think the Quins centres will create more space for their very exciting back three. Irish have had trouble scoring tries and if Quins can keep their discipline and secure reasonable possession then I can see them winning by more than a converted score.



NEC Harlequins: 15 Gavin Duffy; 14 Rob Jewell; 13 Josh Taumaololo; 12 Mel Deane; 11 Ugo Monye; 10 Paul Burke; 9 Ben Willis; 1 Mike Worsley; 2 Ace Tiatia; 3 Jon Dawson; 4 Bill Davison; 5 Simon Miall; 6 Pat Sanderson; 7 Andre Vos (Capt); 8 Tony Diprose

Replacements: 16 Tani Fuga; 17 Ceri Jones; 18 Laurent Gomez; 19 Jim Evans; 20 Luke Sherriff; 21 Simon Keogh; 22 Andy Dunne


London Irish: 15. Michael Horak; 14. Paul Sackey; 13. Geoff Appleford; 12. Nick Greenstock; 11. Justin Bishop; 10. Barry Everitt; 9. Darren Edwards; 1. Neal Hatley; 2. Naka Drotske; 3. Rob Hardwick; 4. Ryan Strudwick (captain); 5. Bob Casey; 6. Paul Gustard; 7. Kieron Dawson; 8. Chris Sheasby

Substitutes: 16. Pierre Durant; 17. Adrian Flavin; 18. Kieran Roche; 19. Phil Murphy; 20. Nils Mordt; 21. Kevin Barrett; 22. Mark Mapletoft.