Sarries vs Quins

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An absolutely massive game for both teams this weekend- first vs second in the league at what is basically a neutral venue in front of a massive crowd. Both teams have very different gameplans, though in their most recent matches these seemed to be reversed with Sarries playing some fast-paced rugby to win by a big margin and Quins winning ugly against Bath by taking their chances in a match where Evans' unfortunate drop-off in form and Wayne Barnes' pernickety refereeing counteracted the fine weather to lead to torrid display from both sides. Both sides suffered some poor games during the 6 N but have gotten back to winning ways. Now they will both have all their England players back and very strong squads out. This will lead to some very interesting battles all across the park- as the teams are not yet finalised, some of this is conjecture

15- A Goode vs M Brown

Both good fullbacks with solid defence and good attacking instincts and capable kicking games, all-round fullbacks if you like, Brown with 6 tries this season and unlucky to be behind the classy Foden at 15 for England, Goode one of Saracens more attacking-minded players. Both are definitely possibilities to tour SA, and with Goode arguably winning the head to head against Brown in their last encounter, I am sure that we will see some good rugby from both men

wings- Strettle vs Monye. Both men have played together in the Quins team of a few years ago, both men have represented England. Both looked like being "yesterday's men" not long ago, with Strettle struggling with injuries and form and playing at a club where wingers are not utilised as often as they might and Monye being played out of position and also out of form. Both have looked better of late, both have made some telling defensive contributions and both are capable of making great breaks and tries. On the other wing, presumably Williams will face off against Short (though with Wyles' good match last week I am sure he will contribute somewhere).

Inside Centre- Barritt vs JTH. Frankly Brad Barritt has been a revelation for England, acting as the defensive glue in the midfield. JTH plays a very similar game for Quins, probably worse at general passing but a bit quicker and better at (or more likely to use) "offloads". He looked out of sorts in January but hopefully that is better now and he can press for his England starting place. With Lowe probably starting outside him against either Farrell or Wyles, both centre pairings are defensively sound (less so if either Hopper or Casson plays) but Quins have more to offer, for me, in attack. The question is will Sarries let Quins get the ball and space to do so?

Flyhalf- Farrell/Hodgson vs Evans. Evans' form has dropped off of late, but I am desperately hoping that this big game is the one where he gets it back. Some people feel his talents have been over-exaggerated. They are welcome to their opinion, but having watched the man at the Blues, in his few games for the ABs and at Quins, I feel he is one of the most complete Flyhalves in the game at the moment, with beautiful kicking out of hand, for goal, decision making, game dictation, passing and running as a individual threat. He is a proven game winner and leader, though since that loss to Saracens in December something has been wrong, both with his boot and his ability to control the game (see Connaught). Farrell on the other hand is on the up and is a nerveless goal kicker, with great temperament (though not necessarily decision-making) in big games and equally deft as Evans as kicking out of hand. He lacks a running threat or the ability to fire up attacking moves but Saracens play to their strengths so this may not be necessary. He has also had a good debut International tournament and a brave defence. As does Hodgson, so no plans of sending Maurie and the other forwards down the 10 channel. Hodgson's nerve is a little more suspect as is his kicking under pressure, but he CAN get a backline flowing so he covers the fly-half skills that Farrell does not. If Evans is on form, I feel he is a better 10 than either but, unless something has changed this week, he is not so this will be a great battle to watch.

The back-row- Quins have Robshaw back and his work-rate, utter consistency in the tackle and leading by example are hard to overvalue. Together with big Mo, Wallace and Easter (still with a huge point to prove) the Harlequins back-row covers all bases, has a strong balance and is very competitive at the breakdown, especially as Robshaw has somewhat improved his breakdown game playing out of position for England. Saracens have lost two huge presences in the back row- Kelly Brown and Burger. Most other teams could not cover for this, but Sarries still look very strong with Saull (an out and out 7 who could be competing with Wallace for future England honours) and Joubert in the mix. I expect, but am not convinced, Quins to win in this area.

The front row- The second row looks to be Sarries' to me, but the front row and the scrum looks fascinating- Sarries' have Brits, Smit and George at Hooker, all class acts, one a likely England candidate at some point, one is one of the AP's standout players and a threat across the whole park, probably his team's most important player for me and the other has captained SA to a World Cup and covers prop to boot. Quins have Grey, pressing for an England tour place, very mobile in the loose but seen by many to be too small he will want to put in a big show against players of his opposition's calibre. Nieto and Gill are good scrummagers but Johnston's scrummaging has come on leaps and bounds as has Marler's (our scrum has looked to be a strength rather than a weakness since he has been trained by Rowntree) and the latter is an important player in the loose for Quins. He may also face up against Stevens, who currently holds the final matchday prop place for England but has looked less than convincing in the loose or the set piece and whose spot Marler will fancy.



The weather for Saturday is overcast but dry, with some moderate wind, with warmish temperatures of about 14 degrees, which will neither particularly aid nor detract from either team's style. I feel Quins will need to keep the ball tight in hand until an opportunity for quick ball comes, then pile the flankers into the rucks to let Care run it or get it the backs at real pace. Then they should aim to keep the ball alive with proper support and offloads for as long as possible (as we did back in Autumn) until a mismatch inevitably presents. Sarries won't miss upfront tackles often, their defence is too strong, but gaps can still be manipulated and once we are through I would hope we can finish our chances better than we did at HQ 3 months ago. Brown will have to be on it at FB to stop Farrell and Hodgson playing the territory game and if the real Nick Evans turns up, I think this is completely doable. Sarries cannot afford to shut the game down as they have done with so much success prior to the last couple of months.


I have my fingers crossed for Quins to win by 7 but my heart will be in my mouth as I watch this (bizarrely with a contingent of mostly Wasps fans) at Wembley. I cannot wait

By contrast, Quins played a more structured attacking game that I think was designed to exploit Sarries' relative defensive weakness in the back row and at 10-12-13. Farrell made 11 tackles - second only to Robshaw - but I think Sarries really felt the lack of Barritt, Burger and Saull.

I think Farrell was targeted but not because he is a weak tackler (he is quite the opposite). He was given Barritt's job of leading the defensive line and that is a tough job. Farrell as a tackler likes to set his feet and then drive from that stable position, that meant when he chose the line speed it was slow in order to allow him to plant his feet. Sarries with Barritt in the team go up a lot quicker as Barritt sets a fast line speed as he uses a lot of momentum in the tackle. Quins knew that by fixing Farrell by attacking his channel the defensive line speed overall would be next to nothing as he planted his feet ready for the tackle so it was a good option from which to make yards.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

By contrast, Quins played a more structured attacking game that I think was designed to exploit Sarries' relative defensive weakness in the back row and at 10-12-13. Farrell made 11 tackles - second only to Robshaw - but I think Sarries really felt the lack of Barritt, Burger and Saull.

I think Farrell was targeted but not because he is a weak tackler (he is quite the opposite). He was given Barritt's job of leading the defensive line and that is a tough job. Farrell as a tackler likes to set his feet and then drive from that stable position, that meant when he chose the line speed it was slow in order to allow him to plant his feet. Sarries with Barritt in the team go up a lot quicker as Barritt sets a fast line speed as he uses a lot of momentum in the tackle. Quins knew that by fixing Farrell by attacking his channel the defensive line speed overall would be next to nothing as he planted his feet ready for the tackle so it was a good option from which to make yards.

That's a good insight. Farrell is a good tackler, but I felt before the game that Sarries were placing a big burden on his shoulders by asking him to be the lead defender against the Quins attack. The pattern of tackling was almost reversed from the Big Game, when Sarries were up quickly and preventing Quins ball. Quins were much more dynamic in the tackle on Saturday - undoubtedly helped by having almost a full-strength team on the pitch.

Sounds like we've learnt a lot from the last few months of tough games too. Changed the tackling tempo a bit and focussed first on defense then stealing points where ever we can.

Actually that's pretty much how we started the season and how we won most of our big games. Fingers crossed we keep it up.

We can beat Toulon, I think. We need to get the same balance of intensity and composure that saw us good against Toulouse and Stade the past couple of seasons, but whilst they are to be respected, I think we can compete with them all over the park if they don't have Shaw or Botha playing. Meanwhile, some teams have played us and been caught cold, so I'm hoping Toulon make the same mistake and underestimate what we can do.