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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

Missing out (again) …

All sports fans are familiar with the influence of random chance upon sporting contests. It’s part of what makes following sport such an addictive pastime, prompting in advance endless speculation about likely outcomes – up to and including betting decisions – and, after any specific contest [...]

May 17, 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

Prospects in rugby, even at the top, are limited

In 2010 I read somewhere that the average career longevity in English rugby’s Premiership was less than four seasons. Of course, the factors contributing in this brevity can range from informed personal choice (e.g. an active change of career direction, a family illness, shifting [...]

May 14, 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

It may be a stage of life thing …

If media reports are to be believed, some 500,000 tickets for the 2015 Rugby World Cup matches will be dished out to RFU-affiliated clubs this month, with another 2.3 million tickets going on sale in September. Whilst fully accepting that this may partly be a product of advanced age, I find that my [...]

May 8, 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

A hardy annual appears again

To begin, let me declare an interest – when it comes to English club rugby union, I always have been, and will remain, a support of league promotion and relegation. You could call me old-fashioned and a traditionalist for holding this view and I wouldn’t care. There’s both logic and romance [...]

May 4, 2014 // 0 Comments

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