Quins v London South Africa (Sarries)

[longlivethecrumbie]

Having watched the game at the Stoop this afternoon I can't help but have that feeling that the Quins bubble has burst. Two losses at home already this season and we're only at round 5, teams seem to have worked out how to defend better against them and shut them down and finally, but most tellingly, their bench seems to not be quite up to the mark of some of the other sides.

I know it's early in the season, but do those home defeats to Stains and London SA effectively put them out of the hunt for the top two already? Or am I being a doom monger on their behalf?

[northerntiger]

Puts them out of the top 4 for me. Didn't think Sarries were especially good, Quins look to have far too many weak links

[Bill W (2)]

Very early days in the season.

Bath are the dark horses IMHO.

[Granby]

I expect we will lose at home to those two teams too - so I hope that doesn't mean we are done for

[Darc Tiger]

It seems they just don't have the pack to match the better sides for 80 minutes any more. Think they will struggle to turn over us, Sarries, Saints and possibly Bath. Still a dangerous running team though, and more than a match for the rest of the sides.

[PM76]

I expect we will lose at home to those two teams too - so I hope that doesn't mean we are done for

Would be very surprised if Tigers lost at home to Bath, obviously a lot can happen before January but I don't see Bath or Quins threatening the top 3 (Tigers, Sarries and Saints). Although Bath will probably be a comfortable fourth place with Glaws, Quins and Exeter competing for the other "HC" places. Sarries yet to be tested yet either- Glaws had a man sent off v.early, Bath sent a B team, Quins not the team they were (and have lots of injuries) and Irish won't be relegated but they won't be threatening the top 8/9.

[SilebyTiger]

Quins have major problems. Since they won the league they've not signed anybody of note who could take them forward as a team. Evans and Robshaw's form has dipped and their backline is made a lot less dangerous given JTH's loss of form. Nullify Care and you're halfway there.

[drc_007]

Two yellow cards did not help their cause.

[BJ.]

Can we still refer to them as London South Africa?

I never thought I'd hear myself defending them but, according to figures in today's The Rugby Paper, 71% of the Saracens' squad is English qualified whilst Leicester has just 60.1%

FYI, the rest of the Premiership are:

Quins 86.9%
Wasps 84.0%
Glaws 78.3&
Saints 76.8%
Chiefs 66.6%
Falcons 66.6%
Bath 62.3%
Sharks 59.4%
Worcester 56.5%
Irish 47.8%

[Johnnyg]

It is both inaccurate and provocative to call them London SA. I think our criticism of them in general and of their new ground may be reflection of innate fear! I loath much of their marketing methodology but they should be applauded for investing in a good new ground and in a strong rugby union business. They don't want to be us (or vice versa) but they are becoming a force in the game.

[tigerburnie]

I seem to recall this time last year there were plenty predicting the same about us, did we not lose 5 out of the first 6 games, some of them at home. Yet here we are champions. Is patience now a thing of the past in this fast food , instant demand world?

[tb1]

Can we still refer to them as London South Africa?

I never thought I'd hear myself defending them but, according to figures in today's The Rugby Paper, 71% of the Saracens' squad is English qualified whilst Leicester has just 60.1%

FYI, the rest of the Premiership are:

Quins 86.9%
Wasps 84.0%
Glaws 78.3&
Saints 76.8%
Chiefs 66.6%
Falcons 66.6%
Bath 62.3%
Sharks 59.4%
Worcester 56.5%
Irish 47.8%

How many of them are SA qualified?

[Granby]

It is both inaccurate and provocative to call them London SA. I think our criticism of them in general and of their new ground may be reflection of innate fear! I loath much of their marketing methodology but they should be applauded for investing in a good new ground and in a strong rugby union business. They don't want to be us (or vice versa) but they are becoming a force in the game.

Don't think they would be too upset - http://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/sar ... london.htm

[WhitecapTiger]

I seem to recall this time last year there were plenty predicting the same about us, did we not lose 5 out of the first 6 games, some of them at home. Yet here we are champions. Is patience now a thing of the past in this fast food , instant demand world?

That was 2 years ago was it not Tigerburnie? with RWC11 at the start of the season. We ended up losing to Quins in the final IIRC.

But you are correct in principle, it's a marathon not a sprint.

We did have a lot of resources heading back into the fold after RWC11 - I'm not so sure Quins have that luxury to fall back on. They're far from done yet but they are nowhere near as good as they were, they have been figured out or they are running out of ideas, for now at least.

[Old Hob]

Don't think they would be too upset - http://www.thesouthafrican.com/news/sar ... london.htm

Great quote Granby. I loved the breathless prose about the massive open evening with "nearly 250 people"