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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

The state of England rugby union – Woodward has a ten point plan

I must begin today by declaring an interest that, despite his illustrious rugby union playing career as a centre threequarters (21 caps for England) and, of course, his subsequent stint as England head coach which culminated in the historic 2003 England Rugby World Cup victory in Australia, I am [...]

December 30, 2023 // 0 Comments

Bath Rugby 25 Harlequins 17

As I have written previously rugby is not tribal. Exactly a year ago I spent a delightful weekend in Bath with a Quins mate and his partner. Quins lost, but as we left we saw a typical Quins toff – resplendent in his blazer – drinking in a pub with the earthier Bath Rugby supporters. [...]

December 24, 2023 // 0 Comments

Harlequins 19 Toulouse 47

Every so often in sport an invincible non-international side that would probably beat an international one appears. I’m thinking of Barbados in cricket in the 1960s, AC Milan in the 1980s and – in rugby union – Transvaal and Auckland in the 1990s. Toulouse, with André Dupont and half [...]

December 18, 2023 // 0 Comments

Harlequins 31 Racing 28

Quins played out another thriller in this Heineken Cup victory over French aristocrats Racing.  Most of the best players in global rugby are to be found in France and Racing had World Cup skipper Siya Kolisi in their side. An interesting question in any elite sport team is whether the good club [...]

December 12, 2023 // 0 Comments

Leicester Tigers 25 Harlequins 29

Quins sit atop of the Premiership but there are cracks. Marcus Smith only converted 2 of the 5 tries and, defensively improved, they still look vulnerable. Joe Marler, Jack Walker, Marcus Smith, André Esterhuizen and Danny Care are all back from the World Cup whilst Will Porter, Nick David, Lennox [...]

November 12, 2023 // 0 Comments

Farewell to The Stoop: Harlequins 22 Exeter Chiefs 14

Yesterday I made what in advance I had billed as “possibly my last-ever visit to The Stoop” as a member of a five-person contingent for the Harlequins home Premiership match against the Exeter Chiefs, eventually won by the hosts by the margin of 22-14. I don’t regard myself as generally a [...]

October 23, 2023 // 0 Comments

Harlequins assessed

On Sunday, whilst most of us were glued to the TV to see the Ryder Cup unfurl, Harlequins were beating their North London rivals Saracens 36-29 in the Premiership Rugby Cup. It was a pleasing victory but one must bear in mind the absentees on World Cup duty. There were some grounds for optimism for [...]

October 3, 2023 // 0 Comments

Gloucester Rugby 25 Harlequins 17

I was initially excited by last night’s visit to the atmospheric Kingsholm until I realised how many Quins players would be absent on World Cup duty: Joe Marler, Jack Walker, Joe Marchant, Marcus Smith, Danny Care, Andre Esterhuizen, Tommaso Allan and Gloucester could not call on wingers [...]

September 23, 2023 // 0 Comments

Saturday TV-watch: football and rugby union

Yesterday, largely by chance, I watched passages of both the England Lionesses playing their quarter-final clash in the Women’s World Cup being held in Australia and also the men’s England rugby union team playing their second Rugby World Cup warm-up game against Wales in seven days, this time [...]

August 13, 2023 // 0 Comments

Bledisloe Cup & Autumn internationals – winners and losers

I recorded the Bledisloe Cup as I was not around at 3-30am on Saturday morning. New Zealand won narrowly 23-20 and Australia made a better fist of it than in last week’s match. Their fly half Carter Jordan had another impressive game. However the All Blacks  had too much pace and power, [...]

August 6, 2023 // 0 Comments

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