Harlequins 2013/14 Season Discussion Thread

[yappysnap]

First topic message reminder :

So a few other teams had their own threads last season, it seemed to work well and seeing as it's far easier to steal someone else's idea then think up your own...

WELCOME TO THE HARLEQUINS 2013/14 SEASON DISCUSSION THREAD!

The Squad for 13/14:
Director of Rugby Conor O'Shea
Head Coach John Kingston
First Team Coach Tony Diprose
Assistant First Team Coach Mark Mapletoft
Assistant First Team Coach Collin Osborne

Hooker
Joe Gray
Rob Buchanan
Dave Ward

Loosehead Prop:
Joe Marler
Mark Lambert
Nick Mayhew
Daryl Marfo

Tighthead Prop
Paul Doran Jones
Will Collier
Kyle Sinckler  

Lock
George Robson   
Charlie Matthews
George Merrick
Sam Twomey  

Blindside
Maurie Fa'asavalu
Joe Trayfoot  

Openside
Chris Robshaw
Luke Wallace

Number 8
Nick Easter
Tom Guest
Jack Clifford

Scrum Half
Danny Care
Karl Dickson

Fly Half
Nick Evans  
Ben Botica
Louis Grimoldby

Inside Centre
Jordan Turner-Hall  
Tom Casson  
Harry Sloan

Outside Centre
George Lowe
Matt Hopper
Charlie Walker

Wing
Ugo Monye
Tom Williams
Sam Smith
Miles Mantella


Fullback
Mike Brown
Ross Chisholm
Ollie Lindsay-Hague

Fixtures:

Harlequins are pleased to confirm an exciting and challenging opening for the 2013-14 Aviva Premiership season.
 
The Londoners kick-off the new season against local rivals London Wasps at Twickenham Stadium during the London Double Header on 7th September, kick-off 4.30pm (Live on BT Sport).

2013 Aviva Premiership finalists, Northampton Saints are the visitors for the first home game at The Twickenham Stoop on Friday 13th September, kick-off 7:45pm (Live on BT Sport).

The second home game welcomes Heineken Cup semi-finalists Saracens on 28th September, kick-off 3.15pm (Live on BT Sport).

Exeter Chiefs will be the visitors to Twickenham Stadium for the sixth Big Game on Saturday 28th December. More information about Big Game 6 will be provided in coming months.

The Londoners will open their Heineken Cup campaign over the weekend of the 11th/12th/13th October, while the defence of the LV= Cup will begin during the second weekend of November. Fixture dates and times are expected by ERC and Premiership rugby later this month.

The only way to guarantee your place at all of the regular season home fixtures is by becoming a Member. Information on the innovative Membership scheme and how to become a Member is available by clicking here or by calling 0208 744 4477.

"There is no such thing as an easy match in the Aviva Premiership and there is no doubt that our opening fixtures are very demanding," said Conor O'Shea, Harlequins Director of Rugby.

"Once again we will be competing in three great competitions against top class opposition from this country and Europe. Our Premiership campaign gets underway with the London Double Header against Wasps on 7th September and is followed during that month with tough home matches with Northampton Saints and Saracens as well as a trip to Sixways to play against Dean Ryan's Worcester.

"Given the quality of the opposition, we hope that our supporters will be looking forward to returning to The Stoop to get behind their team as we set out on the marathon that is the Premiership with all its related ups and downs."

Tickets for the new season's home games will go on sale on Monday 15th July. Tickets can be purchased online or by calling 0208 410 6000
Harlequins Fixtures
Please note fixtures after Round 8 are subject to change

Round 1
Saturday September 7: London Wasps v Harlequins (4.30pm, Twickenham Stadium, BT Sport)

Round 2
Friday September 13:Harlequins v Northampton Saints (7.45pm BT Sport)

Round3
Friday September 21: Worcester Warriors v Harlequins (7.45pm BT Sport)

Round 4
Saturday September 28: Harlequins v Saracens (3.15pm BT Sport)

Round 5
Saturday October 5: London Irish v Harlequins (3.00pm)

Heineken Cup
Fri/Sat/Sun October 11/12/13 Heineken Cup

Fri/Sat/Sun October 18/19/20 Heineken Cup

Round 6
Saturday October 26: Harlequins v Sale Sharks (3.00pm)

Round 7
Saturday November 2: Leicester Tigers v Harlequins (5.30pm BT Sport)

LV= Cup
Fri/Sat/Sun November 9 LV= Cup

Fri/Sat/Sun November 16 LV= Cup

Round 8
Saturday November 23: Harlequins v Gloucester Rugby (3.00pm)

Round 9
Sunday December 1: Newcastle Falcons v Harlequins (3.00pm)

Heineken Cup
Fri/Sat/Sun Dec 6/7/8 Heineken Cup

Fri/Sat/Sun Dec 13/14/15Heineken Cup

Round 10
Saturday December 21st: Bath Rugby v Harlequins (3.00pm)

Round 11
Sat December 28: BIG GAME 6 Harlequins v Exeter Chiefs (3.00pm)

Round 12
Saturday January 4: Northampton Saints v Harlequins (3.00pm)

Heineken Cup
Fri/Sat/Sun January 10/11/12 Heineken Cup
Fri/Sat/ Sun January 17/18/19 Heineken Cup

LV= Cup
Fri/Sat/Sun Jan 24/25/26 LV= Cup
Fri/Sat/Sun Jan 31 Feb 1 /2 LV= Cup

Round 13
Saturday February 8: Harlequins v London Wasps (3.00pm)

Round 14
Saturday February 15: Harlequins v Newcastle Falcons (3.00pm)

Round 15
Saturday February 22: Gloucester Rugby v Harlequins (3.00pm)

Round 16
Saturday March 1: Harlequins v Worcester Warriors (3.00pm)

Round 17
Saturday March 22: Saracens v Harlequins (3.00pm)

Round 18
Saturday March 29: Harlequins v London Irish (3.00pm)

Round 19
Friday April 11: Sale Sharks v Harlequins (7.45pm)

Round 20
Saturday April 19: Harlequins v Leicester Tigers (3.00pm)

Round 21
Saturday May 3: Exeter Chiefs v Harlequins (3.00pm)

Round 22
Saturday May 10: Harlequins v Bath Rugby (3.00pm)

Whether you're a Quins fan or not please feel free to discuss, argue, banter and bicker below. And  to 2014's Aviva Prem Champs!!    

COYQ's!!!!

[ChequeredJersey]

Nick Evans is Nev

[stub]

He is indeed back then!

[George Carlin]

3-27 Quins. Holy crapola.

[BamBam]

Mike Brown owning the breakdown. Legend

[George Carlin]

TBP Quins. Well deserved - great control over this half.

[quinsforever]

had to stop watching at 0-10 due to my little boy attacking me with his nerf gun...

wow, what a great scoreline to come back to!

[quinsforever]

how has mike phillips been since coming on?

[BigTrevsbigmac]

how has mike phillips been since coming on?

Ok - got caught in possession after a dart and gave away pen for holding on - Mike Brown over the ball.

Quins playing excellently though & deserved TBP.

[quinsforever]

english club rugby is alive and well  

[ChequeredJersey]

Who says this group is over?

[Hound of Harrow]

Excellent win by Quins, and just what they needed (5 pts) to get their HC campaign back on track.

Racing are a team that is less than the sum of their parts.

[Poorfour]

Racing will smash Quins upfront. 5 points for them, 0 for clueless Quins

Well, that prediction went about as well for you as it did for Racing.

Mods - if you have banned him, pleasecould you reinstate him? I am starting to think that he's channelling Murrayons [1]


[1] Murrayon, n. Mythical subatomic antiparticle that travels faster-than-light, enabling it to carry information (e.g. a sporting prediction) back in time and ensure that it becomes instantly and completely wrong. First discovered in particle accelrators such as Monaco, Silverstone and Spa Francorchamps

[Cardiff Dave]

how has mike phillips been since coming on?

Gave some go forward from what I saw.
Marvelous win for Quins however.
As for Racing, they may have oodles of cash, but they aint got the balance right.

[Toast]

Never in doubt

[ChequeredJersey]

Beating a French team away. Great. 5 points and our HEC campaign back from the dead. Even better. But the thing that nearly makes me tear up from this match is Evans getting his mojo back

[Toast]

Evans has been playing well since Tigers away but he really stepped up yesterday and the front row were excellent. Until PDJ and Lambert came on. They must be the two worst props in the Prem.

[The Saint]

Very good turnaround from where Harlequins started off in the competition. Well done Quins.  

[yappysnap]

Back from hols abroad. Specifically recorded the last two weekends Quins games and then avoided all scores.

Just watched both matches back to back and stunned.

Falcons was a tidy game and it was great to see so many youngsters play like the Quins we know.

But the Racing game was phenominal. Sheer class from Quins and I could never have dreamt it would be that good.

[Geordie]

I see big Charlie Matthews was starting for you. How did he go?

[propdavid_london]

Charlie looked good. There was a massive improvement in the performance of the scrum and I wonder how much of that is down to Matthews returning.
There was a bit of a drop in the levels when the subs came on - PDJ and Kennedy I think!

Fantastic try taken from Charlie walker.
I thought that Molenar had another good game when he came on - and is really going to make JTH work for his spot when he comes back.

NEV is clicking again and hopefully he can maintain levels - good news is that he is getting better as the season progresses rather than dipping at end of season.

Without getting carried away - Quins still need to win next week, and Racing will have a point to prove - they will likely also start Sexton and Phillips.
The have a small chance in the H-Cup to progress, but perhaps stand a better chance of qualifying for the Amlin.

[yappysnap]

Yea we'll know more after next weeks match, hopefully the team can keep these levels up although I expect a far better racing performance.

Really worried about PDJ. He was poor at Saints and I've seen nothing to show he's got better with us, it's early days but he really needs to start upping his game.

Kennedy looked like a guy who hasn't played in a long time which us fair, I just hope he can get back to match fitness quickly for us.

[propdavid_london]

Morning Yappy - How long did PDJ sign for? I have a feeling that he was offered 2yrs.
Sackey was a medical joker wasn't he?

[ChequeredJersey]

Racing will have a huge point to prove but I don't think Phillops or Sexton will improve anything- it's a whole team issue they had on Saturday. I'm sure they'll play better but like our early season poor form, that match was not an isolated event for them and if we are allowed into the match and play a similar quality to Saturday, I think we will back that result up. And then, yes we are more likely to qualify for the Amlin but win at home and we have a great chance of topping the group- ASM are travelling poorly, they would be 3 points ahead of us and our fate in our own hands at home as underdogs.

[Geordie]

Marler is looking very good now would you agree?

And do you think Matthews added the bulk you lost through Kohn and Johnson going?

[propdavid_london]

Marler is looking very solid yes. And Matthews has seemed to added something to the pack - definitely.
Easter looked re-invigorated while he was back in his favoured no.8 position too. Took his try very well and flew through the Racing defence like a missile.
Surely on of the most improved performances came from Collier though - And to answer your question GF - maybe the Collier and Matthews combo does go some way to replacing the Johnston-Kohn partnership.
Collier isn't exactly small!

[BamBam]

Easter looked re-invigorated while he was back in his favoured no.8 position too.  Took his try very well and flew through the Racing defence like a missile.  

   

[ChequeredJersey]

Easter got a lot of stick for not being "dynamic enough" for England. It was Love sacks

[quinsforever]

i thought nick evans was imperious. distribution, game direction, tactical kicking. all of it. that was a world class display. reminded me of sexton on the lions tour. brilliant.

[Poorfour]

If Easter's still in this sort of form in 2015, and England are down a couple of back rows, I can see him getting the call rather than someone untried. Not otherwise, sadly, as Lancaster is building for 2019 as well as 2015.

Anyway, Robson and Matthews both put in big shifts and I was impressed by how stable our scrum was - body positions were holding even under pressure and a couple of times we drove through the Racing front row. Sir was clearly happy to play "if the ball's coming and it's not actively dangerous, I'll let it go", which makes for a better game. (Thought: as a ref, it's probably important to avoid giving an early scrum penalty even if it means resets - otherwise, you end up with one side thinking they can milk it.)

[yappysnap]

Still the best NH 8 around by a country mile.

Parisse who??

[yappysnap]

These last two weekends Evans has looked back to nearly his best. The pace and willingness to take on the line is back as well. Got to say that a lot if this is down to Casson looking like a different player outside him and really adding some threat and options fir Nev to use.

[Poorfour]

These last two weekends Evans has looked back to nearly his best. The pace and willingness to take on the line is back as well. Got to say that a lot if this is down to Casson looking like a different player outside him and really adding some threat and options fir Nev to use.

I think it's the longest that Casson has gone uninjured since our Premiership-winning season. If he can stay fit (and having Molenaar as a bench option should help with that), I think he brings some real vision to the midfield. Hopper seems more willing to try things again, but I still worry that he takes too much on (surely he should have passed to Walker for the disallowed try?) and his defensive positioning can be wobbly against a big attack.

[yappysnap]

Yea Hopper definitely struggles with his decision making. He's the opposite of those players that look like they have a lot of time on the ball; he seems to hurry himself and then make the wrong decision at times, always ends up looking harried to me. Saying that I think he is a good foil to Casson because defences pay him a lot of attention. Hopefully if they can just keep on getting a good run of games the kinks will keep on ironing out.

[AsLongAsBut100ofUs]

Evans has been playing well since Tigers away but he really stepped up yesterday and the front row were excellent.

That must have hurt!   

[yappysnap]

Quick someone's hacked Toast's account! Or he's got back on the medication...

[ChequeredJersey]

Thank you for your acknowledgment of the match, Toast. Care to make a prediction on the reverse game?

[yappysnap]

Good to hear that none of the injuries are bad (at the moment).

Hopefully it'll be an unchanged team for this weekend.

When is Chisholm back anyone, was it Dec time or later?

[ChequeredJersey]

Out for the season

[propdavid_london]

Any news on the Hopper injury too?

[yappysnap]

Hopper was apparently all fine. Some reports that he was out partying after the natch with the rest and said he was all good for next week.

Gutted about Chisholm, I must have been muddling him up with OLH

[propdavid_london]

I was more upset when Lowe was out for season.
But, you are right Chisholm has had rotten luck with injuries and not been able to build up any momentum.
JTH is back in the new year isn't he?

[Poorfour]

I was more upset when Lowe was out for season.
But, you are right Chisholm has had rotten luck with injuries and not been able to build up any momentum.
JTH is back in the new year isn't he?

Fortunately we have a pretty good track record of bringing players back from serious injury. In recent times, Robshaw, Kohn, Sam Stuart and Chisholm himself have all come back from season-ending injuries (as have Stegmann and Brooker - though not for us!)

[propdavid_london]

Stegmann and Brooker both did the rehab time with Quins and then left. Admittedly that wasn't the best move for Stegmann.

[ChequeredJersey]

Harlequins have announced the team to play Racing Metro in Round 4 of the Heineken Cup at The Twickenham Stoop on Sunday lunchtime, kick-off 12.45pm (live on Sky Sports 2 from 12.30pm).There is just one change to the starting side which won last week in Nantes as Tim Molenaar is named at inside centre, replacing Tom Casson who picked up a knock last week.

Charlie Walker continues on the wing, partnering Sam Smith and Mike Brown in the back three.

In an unchanged forward pack, Chris Robshaw captains the side with Nick Easter continuing at number 8.

Among the replacements, Joe Gray makes his return from injury, with Ollie Lindsay-Hague named at 23.

Harlequins team

15. Mike Brown
14. Charlie Walker
13. Matt Hopper
12. Tim Molenaar
11. Sam Smith
10. Nick Evans
9. Danny Care

1. Joe Marler
2. Dave Ward
3. Will Collier
4. Charlie Matthews
5. George Robson
6. Luke Wallace
7. Chris Robshaw (C)
8. Nick Easter

16. Joe Gray
17. Mark Lambert
18. Paul Doran Jones
19. Nick Kennedy
20. Joe Trayfoot
21. Karl Dickson
22. Ben Botica
23. Ollie Lindsay-Hague

[ChequeredJersey]

Racing Metro team,

15. Juan Martin Hernandez; 14. Adrien Planté, 13. Henry Chavancy, 12. Jamie Roberts, 11. Virimi Vakatawa; 10. Jonny Sexton, 9. Mike Phillips;

1. Davit Khinchagishvili, 2. Virgile Lacombe, 3. Soane Tonga'uiha, 4. Fabrice Metz, 5. Karim Ghezal, 6. Dan Lydiate, 7. Antoine Battut (c), 8. Camille Gerondeau

16. Jeremie Maurouard, 17. Eddy Ben Arous, 18. Luc Ducalcon, 19. Juandre Kruger, 20. Bernard Le Roux, 21. Maxime Machenaud, 22. Jonathan Wisniewski23.


Can't wait.

[yappysnap]

Fricking love that Quins team!!

Although I can't imagine Racing will bend over to receive another performance from the team like last weeks, but still I expect a win on Sunday and fingers crossed 5 points. Although we should be fine just with the 4.

[thomh]

Tonga'uiha at tighthead?

[ChequeredJersey]

Marler should have fun there then

[Toast]

Good win for Quins. Sexton is rubbish now he has to play every week. What a joke the Crapo league is.

[quinsforever]

yup, good win.

so annoying that this HC format means that the interesting pools are only ever going to have a single qualifier. what a joke.

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