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Articles by Derek Williams

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About Derek Williams

A recently-retired actuary, the long-suffering Derek has been a Quins fan for the best part of three decades. More Posts

Harlequins 28 Bristol Bears 53

It was no sort of farewell to Quins’ stalwarts André Esterhuizen, Will Collier and live-wire Louis Lynagh as we were routed by Bristol though neither side qualified for the play-offs. A more significant departure may be that of defensive coach Jerry Flannery to the Springboks as Quins have [...]

May 19, 2024 // 0 Comments

Exeter Chiefs 58 Harlequins 26

Maybe it was that gruelling Investec Cup semi -final against Toulouse – or maybe the injury to Caden Murley leading to a reshuffle with Marcus Smith going to full back – but, whatever it was, Quins collapsed 6-37 in the second half. Give Exeter their due. In Immanuel Feyi-Moboso they [...]

May 13, 2024 // 0 Comments

Harlequins 42 Northampton Saints 31

Although the press dubbed this match a “thriller” and “entertaining“, I remain disappointed by the fare the two most attacking teams in the Premiership served up. Northampton Saints did not maximise the three Quins players sin-binned. Marcus Smith won his match-up with Fin Smith and [...]

April 29, 2024 // 0 Comments

Harlequins 28 Glasgow Warriors 24 (Investec Cup)

The Comeback Kings are fast becoming the collapsible ones. 41-3 up against Bath Rugby, the game finished 41-34. Last night, after a sluggish start, Quins went 0-7 down but recovered to 21-7. In the second half Glasgow Warriors made it 24-21 and only a late try by Sam Riley and conversion by Marcus [...]

April 6, 2024 // 0 Comments

Harlequins 40 Bath Rugby 36

Bath almost “out-Quinsed’ the hosts with a mighty come back after being 40-0 down. It did reflect well on the Premiership. Quins, after being hammered by Saracens last time out, achieved an important win whilst Sarries lost to Northampton Saints, who themselves were beaten the previous weekend [...]

March 31, 2024 // 0 Comments

Rampant Saracens thrash Harlequins 52-7

Yesterday – along with 61,000 others – I went to the impressive Tottenham Hotspur stadium to see Quins play Sarries. The stadium is renamed Stonex – the NFL pitch is used – and in the modern style, loud disco music is played with ex-England international James Haskell the [...]

March 24, 2024 // 0 Comments

Rugby Union – van der Merwe’s second try for Scotland yesterday

Yesterday afternoon, as it happened for the first time in this season’s Six Nations rugby union tournament, I settled into my favourite armchair shortly before 4.30pm in order to watch the BBC’s live television coverage of the match between Scotland and England that took place at [...]

February 25, 2024 // 0 Comments

Harlequins 19 Leicester 20

With Quins losing 6 players to England for Six Nations training in Girona – and Leicester losing all 3 props – both sides had to field scratch sides and it showed. Quins were not their fluid normal selves and did not really assert themselves till the final quarter. In the 79th  minute [...]

January 27, 2024 // 0 Comments

Harlequins 45 Ulster 19

For the second week running Quins trounced their British opposition in the Investec Cup and are now assured a home game in the next round. Louis  Lynagh scored two tries which was ironic as he only played because of  a late injury to Cameron necessitated a reshuffle with Nick David going into the [...]

January 21, 2024 // 0 Comments

Cardiff Rugby 15 Harlequins 54

Cardiff Rugby, bottom of their Investec Challenge division, had little to play for and it showed. They started brightly but soon the heft of the Quins scrum wore them out and Quins ran out easy winners. The tribute to Welsh  legend JPR Williams was moving. JPR was both brutal in the tackle and [...]

January 14, 2024 // 0 Comments

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