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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

A long and arduous rugby season begins

On the eve of its opening tonight, when Northampton Saints host Gloucester at Franklin’s Gardens, as ever the rugby’s Premiership seems tantalisingly unpredictable in prospect. In many respects, the Saints game epitomises what I’m talking about. Saints, the deserved winner of last term’s [...]

September 5, 2014 // 0 Comments

With a wing and a prayer

This weekend the Harlequins will play their final friendly pre-season warm-up match, against the Glasgow Warriors, before the opening of the 2014/2015 Premiership campaign in the London Double Header at Twickenham Stadium next month. It may be a sign of the times but, in contrast to his normal [...]

August 21, 2014 // 0 Comments

Victory … and a chance discovery

This will not become a habit, I promise – posting twice in two days, I mean! Yesterday I offered a snapshot of Harlequins’ coming rugby season from a fan’s point of view and today, having by chance last night alighted on the live BT Sports television coverage, I can now report upon the [...]

August 2, 2014 // 0 Comments

Here we go again

My greetings to National Rust readers as I resume my occasional blogs on the progress of Harlequins FC with the announcement that this season I am dropping the ‘Quins-watch’ tag with which I headed my efforts last year. For present purposes I have arbitrarily taken tonight’s Premiership 7s [...]

August 1, 2014 // 0 Comments

Quins-watch (27): almost beyond belief

Strewth! No sooner than I put away my Harlequins underpants, oncie and jester’s hat, and then signed off for the season, than Stuart Lancaster announced the second batch of his England training squad for the tour of New Zealand next month. We Quins fans mustn’t get carried away, because – for [...]

May 20, 2014 // 0 Comments

Quins-watch (26): over and out

I could never be a journalist because I don’t possess the dispassionate impartiality required and, of course – for me, as a fan – life is about feelings, not objectivity. Yesterday Harlequins duly succumbed to Saracens 31-17 at Allianz Park, a points margin that I’d have accepted if [...]

May 18, 2014 // 0 Comments

Here we go, here we go …

Where I live in south-west London there is a natural preponderance of Harlequins and London Irish fans. The rugby community being what it is, despite the bitter rivalry between us, the ‘craic’ is more important than the relative fortunes of the clubs at any particular time. This is just as [...]

May 15, 2014 // 0 Comments

Quins-watch (25): a narrow squeak

Reflections only from me today, Quins having beaten Bath 19-16 yesterday in what was effectively a knockout match to secure the final place in the Premiership play-offs. Firstly, commiserations to Bath – hampered by late-season injuries to key players – who had occupied fourth spot for [...]

May 11, 2014 // 0 Comments

Quins-watch (24): and now, the time is near …

If there is an avid sports fan out there that has a worse record of predicting sporting outcomes than I do, I’d love to meet them, but here goes. Regardless of the outcome of our ‘winner takes all’ clash with Bath at the Stoop on Saturday, Quins’ season effectively ends this weekend. [...]

May 7, 2014 // 0 Comments

Quins-watch (23): shredding the nerves

Yesterday’s personal plan was built around The Andrew Marr Show, The Big Question, the Sunday Politics Show, a canapé-finger-picking-type lunch and BT’s live television coverage of rugby’s Premiership encounter between Exeter Chiefs and Harlequins. Unusually, the 60-minute build-up to [...]

May 5, 2014 // 0 Comments

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