RugbyRebels

v

Harlequins Starting XV:
1. Jordan Els (1)
2. George Head (1)
3. Simon Kerrod (27)
4. Dino Lamb (33)
5. Glen Young (19)
6. Chris Robshaw (299) - Captain
7. Will Evans (20)
8. Alex Dombrandt (51)
9. Danny Care (282)
10. Brett Herron (14)
11. Nathan Earle (29)
12. Andre Esterhuizen (5)
13. James Lang (67)
14. Joe Marchant (92)
15. Aaron Morris (52)

Game Changers:
16. Jack Musk (11)
17. Marc Thomas (5)
18. Wilco Louw (3)
19. Tevita Cavubati (20)
20. Tom Lawday (17)
21. Martin Landajo (20)
22. Ben Tapuai (29)
23. Louis Lynagh (1)

Nice too see Steward has really cemented himself in that 15 shirt.
Would've have been a very easy call to start Taute at 13 and Murimurivalu at 15.

Prob one positive of this last 7 weeks is that the likes of Steward, Smith, Henderson, Chessum, Martin all got good chances.

One vc and three backrow players. Borthers just got serious.

Louis Lynagh on the bench!! Excellent news!! Did very well with Richmond earlier in the season.

Some odd selections in that Quins side, but a few interesting ones too. I’ve never seen Lynagh play I don’t think.

Interested to see what he does should he show talent.

Both he and his dad view him as a aussie and his dad has been pretty vocal about hoping he plays for Aus.

Italian/Australian has been the family line

I want to see a performance from Leicester. Our 1st XV against somebody else's reserves (finally!) after plenty of time together - I want a collar around Ben Young's neck that shocks him every time he box-kicks good ball away. I want us to actually *do* something this game.

Puja

Hope Will Evans has a stormer.

It's a interesting battle.
Quins rated Evans better than Wallace and Wallace got pushed out.
Tigers rated Reffell as better than Evans so didn't push as hard to keep him.

Herron really is a bit rubbish.

Tigersman wrote:It's a interesting battle.
Quins rated Evans better than Wallace and Wallace got pushed out.
Tigers rated Reffell as better than Evans so didn't push as hard to keep him.

Absolute war at the breakdown. Turnovers for Evans, Wallace and Reffell already.

Quins rather lucky not to concede a penalty try and have a forward sin binned when giving a penalty away just before the Tigers opener.

Ben Youngs then gives Dombrandt an early Christmas present.

Mikey Brown wrote:Herron really is a bit rubbish.

Solid but unspectacular so far. He's kicked well enough.

FKAS wrote: Ben Youngs then gives Dombrandt an early Christmas present.

How... unusual...

FKAS wrote:

Mikey Brown wrote:Herron really is a bit rubbish.

Solid but unspectacular so far. He's kicked well enough.

Solid?

Haha. Why did Leibenberg just stand back to watch George Ford attempting to clear that ruck on his own?

Which Tyler wrote:

FKAS wrote: Ben Youngs then gives Dombrandt an early Christmas present.

How... unusual...

Youngs has had an awful half. Being put through one on one with Morris and just allowed himself to be tackled into touch. Kicking has been too long.

Carley has been frustrating, set out his stall well for the first half an hour and then in the last 10 minutes before half time his decisions at the breakdown were all over the place.

Phenomenal finish by Marchant for the try at the end. Just a quick reminder to Eddie with Manu injured.

Takeaways from that first half:

Marchant is on fire and had absolutely no right to score that try on the cusp of halftime.
Youngs *won't* *stop* *box-kicking* and is having a similar quality game to the RWC final.
George Ford works so hard at everything and is very good in the ruck. Why we have to discover this regularly, I don't know.
Genge is so talented, but might be a better player if he forgot that every now and again and didn't try to make a superstar play.
Is Matt Scott even playing?

Puja

Mikey Brown wrote:

FKAS wrote:

Mikey Brown wrote:Herron really is a bit rubbish.

Solid but unspectacular so far. He's kicked well enough.

Solid?

Just created the break for the Quins try.

FKAS wrote:

Mikey Brown wrote:

FKAS wrote:
Solid but unspectacular so far. He's kicked well enough.

Solid?

Just created the break for the Quins try.

Yes, I'm glad he's done something good. I still think even the unflattering 'solid' is a generous way to describe his play.

Has the ref just stopped calling forward passes or something?

Nadolo skirting down the wing is hilarious. He’s not that quick but he just rumbles down the wing with blokes hanging off him

Mikey Brown wrote:Has the ref just stopped calling forward passes or something?

Ref had a solid start but has been all over the place for some time.

FKAS wrote:

Mikey Brown wrote:Has the ref just stopped calling forward passes or something?

Ref had a solid start but has been all over the place for some time.

Yep. A few more odd calls in those closing minutes. I think we Quins just about deserved to sneak by with that one. Felt like both teams were trying to throw it away at points though.

Mikey Brown wrote:Herron really is a bit rubbish.

He had a good game today.

He strikes me as the archetypal confidence player. Earlier in the season he had a couple of decent games. He had a couple of shockers against Bristol and Worcester, but he’s actually pretty capable when he’s in the right frame of mind.