SKINNER WARY OF HURT SARACENS
Harlequins host Saracens on Saturday April 7 and Will Skinner and his team-mates
are wary that a number of their opponents are playing for their futures.
Last weekend Eddie Jones's side edged out high-flying Sale Sharks at
Vicarage Road following the announcement by their South African owners
that 15 players, including a raft of first-teamers, would be free to
leave at the end of the season in order to make way for a new batch of
personnel.
Glen Jackson, the Saracens' fly-half currently leading the Guinness
Premiership point scorers table, laced 14 points in the 24-23 win over
the Sharks - and he has warned Dean Richards's team that the hurt of
rejection has made the players more determined to prove their worth.
"Something like this actually brings a close team like us together,"
said the 33-year-old named player of the year by his fellow
professionals in 2007. "When you know that half the players in the team
you will never play with again, it can pull you tighter.
"Being told you are not wanted is what happens in life. Clubs normally
get rid of their players at the end of the season - so it is a strange
situation to be in when they announce they don't want you when you are
only half-way through.
"Hopefully as we are professional sportsmen we will do the job on the
field. It would shame if we were to move away from trying to play rugby
and not play for Eddie or each other."
Flanker Skinner acknowledges that Quins will be playing a team whose
pride is wounded - but insists that Harlequins, who moved up to fourth
after Ugo Monye's last-gasp try turned defeat in to victory last Sunday,
will try to remain focussed on their game plan.
"We know Saracens will be hurt and playing for each other," said the
25-year-old skipper. "We are trying not to let their situation affect
our game plan. Whether people are being let go or staying, what has gone
on there will, if anything, make them stronger. They had a great result
against Sale at the weekend."
The Saxons star is hopeful that Quins will improve on their narrow win
over Bristol last weekend. The bottom-placed side stifled and frustrated
their opponents but lost 17-14. Skinner continued: "We came away with
four points so we were happy. Bristol showed they are a good team and
they have a lot of good players. They are fighting for a lot down
there. We did well to come back in the last 10 minutes and get that
all-important try. We were pleased on the bus coming back.
"As the attacking team we felt we were getting penalised quite a bit. It
was frustrating - we didn't play the type of game we wanted to play.
Bristol were playing well - they closed us down well at the breakdown.
"And we moved up to fourth so things are going well. The top six is so
tight at the moment and Sarries are coming up into that group, too.
Anybody could be in the top four and Saracens are fighting. Their
half-back pairing of Justin Marshall and Glen Jackson is very strong.
Adam Powell in the centre played well against us at the start of the
season. He is a very strong, powerful runner who picks good lines. All
three of them need to be closed down very quickly."
Jackson said of Skinner and his back-row partners in crime, Chris
Robshaw and Tom Guest: "Hopefully I will stay out of their way! The
older I get the less I take it to the line. They are a dogged back three
and I think the reason that they are playing so well is because of those
three.
"Both teams like to use the ball and with the conditions getting a bit
warmer and the tracks getting harder, there should be a lot of running
and it should be a good game. Quins are going well, though they were
nearly beaten last week but they might get a bit of a caning in training
and we might face their backlash. They are definitely a form side and it
is going to be a tough one, especially away."
Harlequins host Saracens on Saturday April 7 and Will Skinner and his team-mates
are wary that a number of their opponents are playing for their futures.
Last weekend Eddie Jones's side edged out high-flying Sale Sharks at
Vicarage Road following the announcement by their South African owners
that 15 players, including a raft of first-teamers, would be free to
leave at the end of the season in order to make way for a new batch of
personnel.
Glen Jackson, the Saracens' fly-half currently leading the Guinness
Premiership point scorers table, laced 14 points in the 24-23 win over
the Sharks - and he has warned Dean Richards's team that the hurt of
rejection has made the players more determined to prove their worth.
"Something like this actually brings a close team like us together,"
said the 33-year-old named player of the year by his fellow
professionals in 2007. "When you know that half the players in the team
you will never play with again, it can pull you tighter.
"Being told you are not wanted is what happens in life. Clubs normally
get rid of their players at the end of the season - so it is a strange
situation to be in when they announce they don't want you when you are
only half-way through.
"Hopefully as we are professional sportsmen we will do the job on the
field. It would shame if we were to move away from trying to play rugby
and not play for Eddie or each other."
Flanker Skinner acknowledges that Quins will be playing a team whose
pride is wounded - but insists that Harlequins, who moved up to fourth
after Ugo Monye's last-gasp try turned defeat in to victory last Sunday,
will try to remain focussed on their game plan.
"We know Saracens will be hurt and playing for each other," said the
25-year-old skipper. "We are trying not to let their situation affect
our game plan. Whether people are being let go or staying, what has gone
on there will, if anything, make them stronger. They had a great result
against Sale at the weekend."
The Saxons star is hopeful that Quins will improve on their narrow win
over Bristol last weekend. The bottom-placed side stifled and frustrated
their opponents but lost 17-14. Skinner continued: "We came away with
four points so we were happy. Bristol showed they are a good team and
they have a lot of good players. They are fighting for a lot down
there. We did well to come back in the last 10 minutes and get that
all-important try. We were pleased on the bus coming back.
"As the attacking team we felt we were getting penalised quite a bit. It
was frustrating - we didn't play the type of game we wanted to play.
Bristol were playing well - they closed us down well at the breakdown.
"And we moved up to fourth so things are going well. The top six is so
tight at the moment and Sarries are coming up into that group, too.
Anybody could be in the top four and Saracens are fighting. Their
half-back pairing of Justin Marshall and Glen Jackson is very strong.
Adam Powell in the centre played well against us at the start of the
season. He is a very strong, powerful runner who picks good lines. All
three of them need to be closed down very quickly."
Jackson said of Skinner and his back-row partners in crime, Chris
Robshaw and Tom Guest: "Hopefully I will stay out of their way! The
older I get the less I take it to the line. They are a dogged back three
and I think the reason that they are playing so well is because of those
three.
"Both teams like to use the ball and with the conditions getting a bit
warmer and the tracks getting harder, there should be a lot of running
and it should be a good game. Quins are going well, though they were
nearly beaten last week but they might get a bit of a caning in training
and we might face their backlash. They are definitely a form side and it
is going to be a tough one, especially away."
Labels: Guinness Premiership, London Harlequins, Saracens, Will Skinner
