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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

Quins-watch (22): fading away

Last night, in a match affected by torrential rain that had been falling all day, Northampton Saints defeated the Harlequins 18-10 at Franklin’s Gardens to reach the final of the junior European (Amlin) Cup. I wasn’t on hand to lend my support. It could be an age thing, but the days when I [...]

April 26, 2014 // 0 Comments

Revisiting the hammer of the gods

There are many plusses in being connected with the mighty publishing organ that is the National Rust. One of them is its policy of allowing its contributors to go beyond their given brief. In that context, today I stray from mine into the world of rock music. On match day at the Stoop – the home [...]

April 24, 2014 // 0 Comments

Quins-watch (21) – the pressure builds

[As ever, for a detailed report on last night’s Premiership clash between Harlequins and Leicester Tigers – televised ‘live’ on BT Sport – National Rust readers should turn to their favourite newspaper rather than rely upon my heavily-personal angle upon proceedings.] I am not a fan [...]

April 19, 2014 // 0 Comments

Quins-watch (20): The importance of belief

For logistical reasons, nobody in their right mind would choose their sport to be played on a Friday. Last night, given that the Harlequins had travelled the best part of 200 miles ‘Oop North’ to take on Sale Sharks in a dog-eat-dog clash that would leave one of them out of Premiership [...]

April 12, 2014 // 0 Comments

Quins-watch (19): a night in Paris

The esteemed National Rust has never been a media organ shy of breaking new ground and today is no exception. In the world of Fleet Street, stories – apocryphal and otherwise – of journalists filing stories of wars, soccer matches and similar events of world importance whilst nowhere near [...]

April 5, 2014 // 0 Comments

Quins-watch (18): once more unto the breach …

It remains mathematically possible that the Harlequins could still make the last-four Premiership playoffs: with four matches to go, the ‘top six’ points scores are Saracens 72, Northampton Saints 65, Leicester Tigers 58, Bath Rugby 55, Sale Sharks 51 and Quins 49. However, with four points [...]

March 30, 2014 // 0 Comments

Quins-watch (17): the fat lady is clearing her throat …

Every true club fan, whether they support an elite team or their local village side, has a relationship with dejection. In his feature film Clockwise, John Cleese – playing a stressed school headmaster – summed it up neatly with the line “It’s not the despair, I can take the [...]

March 23, 2014 // 0 Comments

Quins-watch (16) – just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse

It may seem somewhat counter-intuitive, but there is a distinct reason why I wish to begin my piece upon yesterday’s Premiership clash between Harlequins and bottom-of-the-table Worcester Warriors with a representative example of a professional journalist’s report of the game from the website [...]

March 2, 2014 // 0 Comments

Quins-watch (15) – The glass is half-full, of course

The business end of the rugby season is now upon us and, right on cue, the Harlequins have just slipped from fourth position in the Premiership to fifth, defeated away at Gloucester last weekend. A fair assumption being that Northampton Saints and ‘Saffra-cens’  – a common reference to [...]

February 25, 2014 // 0 Comments

Quins-watch (14): one to forget

Yesterday I went to the Stoop to watch the Harlequins keep their quest for a Premiership top-four finish on track with a nervy 18-14 defeat of Dean Richards’ Newcastle Falcons. To be honest, it was not a great game. I’m not suggesting Quins have lost their mojo, but they just aren’t playing [...]

February 16, 2014 // 0 Comments

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