RugbyRebels

Harlequins: Brown; Yarde, Marchant, Roberts, Walker; Catrakilis, Care; Marler, Gray, Sinckler; Merrick, Horwill (capt); Robshaw, Ward, Clifford.

Replacements: Elia, Lambert, Collier, Glynn, Luamanu, Lewis, Smith, Stanley.

Gloucester: Woodward; Thorley, Scott, Symons, Purdy; Burns, Heinz (capt); Hohneck, Hibbard, Balmain, Savage, Thrush, Ackermann, Ludlow, Clarke.

Replacements: Matu'u, Rapava Ruskin, Afoa, Slater, Rowan, Vellacott, Twelvetrees, Sharples.

Smith the scapegoat for Quins. Very harsh - I thought he was quite good and worth persevering with.

You'd have to fancy Glaws for this one, wouldn't you?

Puja

Yeah Smith is a bit hard done by. I thought he was fine.

Got a feeling Quins will bounce back.

Hmm. Smith the only alteration to the team at all*. Catrakilis came in and made less mistakes, through doing less of absolutely everything. Yep. Problem solved.

*Well that's obviously not the case.

Difficult one to call. I've got a feeling Glos will edge it.

Think this one could go either way... a scott/symons midfield looks interesting, can't abide Heinz still in at 9, captain or not. Ackermann over Morgan speaks volumes on how the coaching staff saw Morgan's anonymity last week. VRR on the bench is exciting. I would have started Slater.

Head is saying home advantage may well be the telling factor.

Gloskarlos wrote: I would have started Slater.

I was wondering about that. He got a glowing write up in the Rugby Post.

Difficult to drop Thrush after last week probably and Savage gives his all and is a home grown favourite - so maybe there is some sense for a half and then bring Slater on. Wouldn't be surprised to see Slater/Thrush as the 1st choice 4/5 bfore long though.

Gloskarlos wrote:Difficult to drop Thrush

Not really. Nothing five days of Canesten wouldn't solve.










Puja, move this to the crap jokes thread. Cheers.

5 days?

Canesten's improved!!

fivepointer wrote: Got a feeling Quins will bounce back.

Not so sure about that.
If Glaws and Irish were to both win, the season will have become very interesting after only 2 weeks. Almost worth a flutter in the hope it happens.

kk67 wrote:

Gloskarlos wrote: I would have started Slater.

I was wondering about that. He got a glowing write up in the Rugby Post.

He did look very handy from the bench. I completely understand Glaws starting the local lads until he proves himself, but I think it's only a matter of time before one of Savage or Ludlam is pushed out of the XV.

Puja

kk67 wrote:

fivepointer wrote: Got a feeling Quins will bounce back.

Not so sure about that.
If Glaws and Irish were to both win, the season will have become very interesting after only 2 weeks. Almost worth a flutter in the hope it happens.

I suspect Worcester will still provide the backstop.

Puja

Puja wrote:

kk67 wrote:

fivepointer wrote: Got a feeling Quins will bounce back.

Not so sure about that.
If Glaws and Irish were to both win, the season will have become very interesting after only 2 weeks. Almost worth a flutter in the hope it happens.

I suspect Worcester will still provide the backstop.

Puja

Yeah. I'm sure Quins will bounce back.......just not sure it's going to be this week.

Puja wrote:

kk67 wrote:

fivepointer wrote: Got a feeling Quins will bounce back.

Not so sure about that.
If Glaws and Irish were to both win, the season will have become very interesting after only 2 weeks. Almost worth a flutter in the hope it happens.

I suspect Worcester will still provide the backstop.

Puja

Yep. They're looking shite on and off the field.

Mikey Brown wrote:Hmm. Smith the only alteration to the team at all*. Catrakilis came in and made less mistakes, through doing less of absolutely everything. Yep. Problem solved.

*Well that's obviously not the case.

Perhaps he's not 100% after the hit he took against Irish?

I really can't call this one. Yes Quins were awful last week, but we're generally better at home and Gloucester are historically poor on the road.

He gets a lot of stick for his kicking, usually, but Care is having a great day with the boot so far.

Smith looking smooth for Quins. Hope Catrakalis is ok from a human PoV, but it's better for Quins that Smith plays...

Apparently catrakilis crushed his windpipe!

Yikes ... sounds pretty bad. He was on oxygen so that would explain it.

Today was a professional job done by quins. Gloucester didn't offer huge amounts but quins went about their business fairly well. The odd mistake but overall, good basics.

Marchant, gray, care and yarde the quins standouts for me, with Jamie continuing to offer very little - be good to see Saili come back soon

Oh and Charlie Walker seems to have become even faster, he also did well today!

So, Atkinson plays and Glos beat the champions. Atkinson doesn't play and they lose to mid-table mediocrity who last week lost to the promoted club. Coincidence? I think not. #Eng12shirt

Bloggs wrote:Today was a professional job done by quins. Gloucester didn't offer huge amounts but quins went about their business fairly well. The odd mistake but overall, good basics.

Marchant, gray, care and yarde the quins standouts for me, with Jamie continuing to offer very little - be good to see Saili come back soon

Can't say I noticed Gray all that much TBH. Stand-outs for me were Yarde, Brown and Robshaw. I also thought Clifford had a decent game.

Saili can't race Roberts soon enough. Presented no obvious threat whatsoever.

That said, none of the Gloucester players really stood out for me either, apart from the odd break from Purdy and some nice touches from Billy Burns.

Just watched the extended highlights and Marcus Smith looks a hell of a talent. Can see why he's being fast tracked in the England set up.

Smith finished what was a scrappy game with 10 points and two missed kicks but he showed enough glimpses of the talent that has already the eye of Eddie Jones, the England coach. “I spoke to him last week about controlling the game and [today] he was excellent,” added Kingston. “Bear in mind he didn’t train all week, that’s why he didn’t start. He couldn’t train until Friday, because he was on HIA, so to come on 15 minutes into the game, yes he missed two pots at goal, but he showed unbelievable composure for a man of that age.”

Does this sound a bit dodgy to anyone else?

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/ ... tch-report