Articles by Derek Williams

Tonight I shall be travelling down to the Stoop to see the Harlequins take on Castres in the first-ever game in the new Rugby Champions Cup, the new pan-European competition that replaces the 19-years old and now defunct Heineken Cup. It’s basically the same competition with slightly more weight [...]

Last night, at the end of a long and arduous day, I flopped onto my sofa with a large gin & tonic and a takeaway pizza, switched to BT Sports channel 2 on my cable box and settled in to watch the Leicester Tigers versus Harlequins Premiership clash at Welford Road. For a fan, hope springs [...]

After four matches of the new Premiership season, Harlequins now languish in 9th position with just 8 points – above only Sale Sharks, Newcastle Falcons and the hapless London Welsh, whom we happen play next weekend – and have scored just five tries, equal fewest in the league. This is the [...]

I am in favour of Premiership Rugby’s ‘A’ League – broadly speaking, a competition with eligibility limited to non-regular-starting 1st XV players. From a fan’s point of view, it provides the opportunity to assess those players who are who (1) are returning from injury; (2) otherwise [...]

FACT: The Stoop has a reputation as something of a fortress and a forbidding place for opposition teams to visit. The Harlequins fans pride themselves on the length of the gaps between home losses and, until last night, the current period had been twelve months and counting. REALITY: As regular [...]

This was not how it was supposed to be. Harlequins began last season with a poor run of results and yesterday at Twickenham Stadium opened their 2014/2015 account with a truly laboured 20-15 victory over an abject London Irish. In stark contrast, the London Double Header game immediately preceding [...]