HORWILL AND BROWN BACK IN THE STARTING XV FOR QUINS

Co-captain James Horwill and Mike Brown are back for Harlequins as they take on Gloucester Rugby at Kingsholm tomorrow afternoon (kick-off: 15:00).

Second row Horwill, who shares the captaincy with Chris Robshaw, makes his first start for the team since April while Brown, who played on the wing in the first match of the season, is at full-back having recovered from a wrist injury.

Elswehere Tim Visser makes his first start of the season on the left wing and Renaldo Bothma starts at No6.

Head of Rugby Paul Gustard said: “We are delighted to welcome back James and Mike back into the match day squad following differing time periods where they have not been considered for selection due to injury.

“I am also delighted to see Lewis Boyce return to the squad following his lay-off and we are also pleased to welcome Semi Kunatani into the match 23 as a Game Changer as he continues to develop and adjust to the demands of Premiership rugby.

“We haven’t played to our potential in any of our games to date but we have got something out of every match we have played and I have already seen lots of improvements in the squad which encourages me and the coaching staff.

“We are a couple of per cent off here or there which can sometimes feel like a million miles off but after forensically reviewing our performances we can see the growth we are beginning to make. With the on-going evolution of our playing style and developing mindset we feel that our best 80 minutes is around the corner.

“The spirit in the camp is very good and we now look forward to taking on Gloucester who have invested heavily in a strong playing group and will pose a formidable challenge on Saturday. I know from plenty of personal experience that playing at Kingsholm is a fantastic ground and it is a great place to get a win.”


Harlequins team to play Gloucester (Harlequins appearances)
15. Mike Brown (298)
14. Nathan Earle (4)
13. Joe Marchant (60)
12. Ben Tapuai (4)
11. Tim Visser (61)
10. James Lang (26)
9. Danny Care (248)

1. Joe Marler (171)
2. Max Crumpton (2)
3. Kyle Sinckler (123)
4. Matt Symons (4)
5. James Horwill (Co-Captain, 55)
6. Renaldo Bothma (10)
7. Chris Robshaw (Co-Captain, 260)
8. James Chisholm (59)

Game Changers
16. Dave Ward (145)
17. Lewis Boyce (15)
18. Will Collier (129)
19. Stan South (20)
20. Semi Kunatani (-)
21. Charlie Mulchrone (22)
22. Marcus Smith (32)
23. Aaron Morris (21)

Not considered for selection
Rob Buchanan
Demetri Catrakilis
Jack Clifford
Josh Ibuanokpe
Josh McNulty
Francis Saili
Paul Lasike
Nick Auterac
Phil Swainston
Niall Saunders

Good team. Great to see Horwill and Brown, and Boyce too. How does co-captaincy work? Assumed they'd share on match by match basis, not both at the same time.

Wallace dropped altogether - sad to say but I think that's deserved.

Says Brown has 298 starts. I thought this was his 300th? Or have the fiddled it so he gets 300 at home v Sarries?

Horwill and Bothma should give us some grunt in the pack. That is a pretty good pack.
Nice to see Visser back, if that back line can get quick ball we really ought to make some ground.

Want to see a few of those "not considered for selection" to start coming back soon.

Probably the best team we have apart from the long-term injured(cat, saili, Clifford, buchanan). Hopefully ward stays on the bench throughout.

Gloucester Rugby:


15.Tom Hudson; 14. Charlie Sharples, 13. Henry Trinder, 12. Mark Atkinson, 11. Matt Banahan; 10. Danny Cipriani, 9. Ben Vellacott; 1. Josh Hohneck, 2. James Hanson, 3. Fraser Balmain; 4. Ed Slater (capt), 5. Gerbrandt Grobler; 6. Jake Polledri, 7. Lewis Ludlow, 8. Ben Morgan


Replacements:

16.Franco Marais, 17. Alex Seville, 18. Ciaran Knight, 19. Freddie Clarke, 20. Gareth Evans, 21. Callum Braley, 22. Billy Twelvetrees, 23. Jason Woodward


Unavailable for selection:

 Ruan Ackermann, Gareth Denman, Ruan Dreyer, Willi Heinz, Jaco Kriel, Tom Marshall, Paddy McAllister, Henry Purdy, Val Rapava Ruskin, Tom Savage, Ollie Thorley

I like the look of that team. Not short on power. With Brown and Horwill back we won't be short on leadership either.

I'm struggling to see where we could pick better from our squad than that team. I like the fact that we're starting to see a consistent pairing in the centres (something we arguably haven't had since the JTH/GL pairing).
The back three is as solid as any we can put out, and I'm happy to see Lang starting as I think his more structured game is a better platform to establish a game, for Smith to then spark from when he comes off the bench. Mulchrone vs Care is where I might swap them over. Mulchrone's looked sharper in the recent games.
Front Row: I guess with Buchanan & Elia not available, Crumpton must start. I hope Elia (and even more so Buchanan) are fit again soon.
Second row: Well, we're certainly not lacking for umph there. Nice to see big Kev back, as I think our scrum works a lot better with him in there.
Back Row: I think in a way this could be a slight weakness, purely because the three players are too similar. All graft hard, but we're missing someone to jackal & contest at rucks.

All told, happy with the selections. Here's hoping Gussies "around the corner" is coming fast...

JTH & GL, those were the days.. likewise glad to see a consistent and potent centre partnership again!

Good team. Great to see Horwill and Brown, and Boyce too. How does co-captaincy work? Assumed they'd share on match by match basis, not both at the same time.

Wallace dropped altogether - sad to say but I think that's deserved.

Says Brown has 298 starts. I thought this was his 300th? Or have the fiddled it so he gets 300 at home v Sarries?

I was thinking the same thing about Brown. He seems to have lost an appearance since he made his 299th start for the club against Sale: https://www.quins.co.uk/news/robshaw-leads-harlequins-for-season-opening-fixture-at-the-stoop

Any of the stattos able to shed any light on this?