Articles by Derek Williams

Aviva Premiership Round 20: Saracens v Harlequins at Wembley Stadium; result Saracens 22 (4 league points) Harlequins 12 (0 league points). Almost certain outcome: Saracens to secure a home draw in the Premiership play-offs; Quins now unable to reach them. One day I would like to make a visit to [...]

9th April 2016 – European Challenge Cup Quarter Final – Harlequins v London Irish at the Stoop. Result: Harlequins 38 London Irish 30. This was a hard-fought, at times entertaining, but ultimately wholly unsatisfying contest that left this Quins fan still sipping from his ‘glass half [...]

Aviva Premiership Round 19: Harlequins v Newcastle Falcons @ The Stoop: Harlequins 46 Newcastle Falcons 25: (Harlequins 5 points for a 4-try bonus point victory – position 6th in the league table). And so the Harlequins’ stuttering season continues. Our loss to Northampton Saints a week ago [...]

Saturday 19th March: Aviva Premiership Round 17: Harlequins 15 Worcester Warriors 21 It is not often that I have the opportunity to write the phrase ‘Words fail me …’ but this is definitely one of them. First up, a salute to the Worcester Warriors – a mix of promising young players and [...]

Aviva Premiership: Round 16: Friday 11th March 2016: Harlequins v Bath Rugby at the Stoop: Result – Harlequins 35 (5 league points, win plus bonus for 4 tries), Bath Rugby 28 (1 league point for finishing within 7 of the winner). Through force of circumstances unable to attend this [...]

Aviva Premiership Round 15: Saturday 5th March – A.J. Bell Stadium – Sale Sharks 29 Harlequins 23. There are times in this life where one really does have to be thankful for small mercies and yesterday afternoon may just have been one of them. With BT Sport, having annexed the Aviva Premiership [...]

Edvard Munch (1863-1944) was a Norwegian artist best known for his iconic work The Scream, which has become a staple of Western culture for the past 120 years for symbolising not only personal depression and horror, but – in a general sense – modern man’s angst at the direction in [...]

Saturday 13th February 2016: Aviva Premiership Round 12: Gloucester v Harlequins at Kingsholm: Gloucester 28 Harlequins 6. Regular readers of my column will know that I have been enduring having a hard time of it recently. Given Quins’ propensity to blow hot and cold – best expressed in [...]

Saturday 6th February 2016: Aviva Premiership Round 11: Harlequins v Northampton Saints at the Stoop: result – Harlequins 23 Northampton Saints 27. Yesterday I had a near-perfect rugby day in prospect, having bought four additional tickets to the Saints game upon request for a cousin, a [...]