Saints vs Quins LV=

From Quins website:

With five players named in the senior England squad to face Fiji, two away with Samoa and following short term injuries to Rory Clegg and Charlie Walker in Monday night's Aviva 'A' League, senior starting debuts have been given to Harry Sloan and Dave Ward.

The team has an exciting blend of youth and experience, with Ollie Lindsay-Hague being named at full back while Ben Botica and Karl Dickson partner at half backs. Following injury to Tom Casson in the victory over Gloucester, Sloan will start in the centres with Matt Hopper.

Pete Browne and Joe Trayfoot make their first start of the season, while open side flanker Luke Wallace captains the side for the first time.

Among the replacements, Jack Clifford, Jordan Burns, Louis Grimoldby and Miles Mantella will look to make their first senior appearances for the club.

There are a number of long term injuries to the squad which include Will Skinner, George Merrick and Ross Chisholm amongst others. Skinner's recovery from a neck injury has been slower than expected and the flanker has been sent for consultation and further investigation.

Merrick has undergone surgery on a dislocated knee picked up in training and is expected to be out for four to six months.

Chisholm has had a setback in his recovery from an ankle injury sustained against Leicester Tigers in September and will also have surgery, keeping him out until late January.

Harlequins team

15. Ollie Lindsay-Hague
14. Seb Stegmann
13. Matt Hopper
12. Harry Sloan
11. Sam Smith
10. Ben Botica
9. Karl Dickson

1. Mark Lambert
2. Dave Ward
3. Will Collier
4. Pete Browne
5. Charlie Matthews
6. Joe Trayfoot
7. Luke Wallace (C)
8. Tom Guest

Replacements

16. Rob Buchanan
17. Darryl Marfo
18. Kyle Sinckler
19. Sam Twomey
20. Jack Clifford
21. Jordan Burns
22. Louis Grimoldby
23. Miles Mantella

From Saints:


In naming the team for tomorrow's Round 1 home game against Harlequins the Saints coaches have named one debutant from the Senior Academy in the starting lineup with a potential five more on the bench.
Centre Tom Stephenson starts the game, while props Ethan Waller and Danny Herriott have been named on the bench along with scrum-half Alex Day and outside backs Anders Mogensen and Tom Collins.
All five have played important roles in the Wanderers' run to the Aviva 'A' League semi-finals and Mallinder believes that they have the talent to transfer this form to the first team.
"We have been impressed by the Senior Academy youngsters in training and in the Aviva 'A' League," he said. "The LV= Cup gives us a perfect opportunity to see if they can take a step up in intensity and competitiveness, as well as giving much needed game time for first team squad members. We believe that the team which has been named has the ability to get a good result against Harlequins tomorrow.
"We've got two weeks until our next Aviva Premiership match and places in the first team are up for grabs. Everyone in the squad is aware of that and it hopefully will be good motivation for them.
"Tomorrow will be a difficult match, we know that. Over the past few years Harlequins have put together a squad which has plenty of depth in all positions and whoever they name in their team will be very competitive.
"However we have a record of success in this competition and we want this to continue."
Tickets are still available for Saturday's game, with supporters able to save money on their seat and raise cash for charity just by watching rugby!
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Tomorrow's game will also be preceded by a minute's applause to commemorate the recent tragic passing of Nigel Fox, who played 274 times for the club between 1973 and 1990. This will happen before the teams run out, with the traditional Remembrance Day minute's silence and wreath laying taking place immediately before kick off.
The Saints' management will therefore appreciate that all supporters are in their places no later than 12:45pm.
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS TEAM TO PLAY HARLEQUINS
LV= Cup Round 1
Franklin's Gardens
Saturday, November 10th, 2012
Kick off 1:00pm
15 Tom MAY
14 Scott ARMSTRONG
13 Tom STEPHENSON
12 Luther BURRELL
11 Jamie ELLIOTT
10 Ryan LAMB
9 Martin ROBERTS
1 Alex WALLER
2 Mike HAYWOOD
3 Paul DORAN JONES
4 Mark SORENSON
5 Rhys OAKLEY
6 Calum CLARK (capt)
7 Ben NUTLEY
8 GJ VAN VELZE
Replacements
16 Ross MCMILLAN
17 Ethan WALLER
18 Danny HERRIOTT
19 Christian DAY
20 Teimana HARRISON
21 Alex DAY
22 Anders MOGENSEN
23 Tom COLLINS


Not bad sides all in all

Both teams seem to be taking this match seriously, picking almostteh strongest teams available to them.

2 very strong sides and in Quins case quite surprising. I do feel Saints have been misfiring slightly this year and so the LV can be used to build momentum. But Quins, whilst not on top form at present, are top of the league and fighting in the HC and do some of those players need game time? I'd be pretty annoyed if I were a Quins supporter and the likes of Lambert, Botica or Hopper ended up getting injured in the LV.

true but at the same time those guys may benefit more from playing 60 odd mins and keeping their hands in rather then just stopping for a few weeks.

They're nearly all youngsters and to my mind the more game time the better for them. All of the older experienced guys are geting rested or called up anyway.

Some of the Quins guys probably need the match time ahead of AP fixtures at the end of the month.

Infact there are only two players there that probably need resting and that's Botica and Hopper, but both have seen their replacements injured so have to play.

And while we're at it i'd say Quins are only playing at about 70% at the moment and the more game time the better for some of them if that's going to improve

In fairness to Quins O'Shea does have a tendency not to heavily use subs (I'm pretty sure it was only Botica who came on against Glaws recently), so some of those could do with the game time.

yappy whilst you're only playing at 70% at the moment crucially you're winning. It's a long season and you don't want to peak too soon.

We are resting Easter and Nev at least. Hopper's pick is partially dictated by injuries to everyone who covers his position, such as Walker

I completely trust O'Shea in his management of players over the season

So do I. What I worry about is the perfectly natural problem of the players lifting themselves after such an incredible season last season

Ages and senior caps of todays team:
15. Ollie Lindsay-Hague (22-10)
14. Seb Stegmann (23-29)
13. Matt Hopper (27-26)
12. Harry Sloan (18-0)
11. Sam Smith (22-37)
10. Ben Botica (23-7)
9. Karl Dickson (28-63)

1. Mark Lambert (27-92)
2. Dave Ward (27-2)
3. Will Collier (25-10)
4. Pete Browne (25-27)
5. Charlie Matthews (21-18)
6. Joe Trayfoot (21-6)
7. Luke Wallace (C) (22-31)
8. Tom Guest (26-158)

Actually a pretty experienced side, probably a lot more so then the teams other clubs may field, a think that's more down to us playing more academy youngsters over the season then us targetting this tournament though.

Quins win 31 points to 30

bp win for quins with a try at the death to steal it