Humiliated Harlequins bank on the big guns with Marler, Horwill and Visser to return

Clifford and Yarde look dejected after Quins’ heavy defeat to Exeter at the Stoop
Steve Bardens/Getty Images for Harlequins
Chris Jones9 May 2016

Harlequins hope the return of key men James Horwill, Tim Visser and Joe Marler will revitalise the team for Friday’s European Challenge Cup Final against Montpellier.

Quins were hammered 62-24 by Exeter — their heaviest ever home Premiership defeat — on Saturday to ruin any chance of qualifying for next season’s European Champions Cup through the league.

The humiliation came in the last home game for Conor O’Shea, who leaves after six years as director of rugby following the final in Lyon.

For that match, England prop Marler will be back after a two-week ban while Scotland wing Tim Visser should be available after a knee injury.

Australia captain Horwill, flanker Luke Wallace and centre George Lowe all missed the Exeter match due to concussion but are expected to be fit to face Montpellier while Wales prop Adam Jones could be drafted in to shore up the scrum.

England flanker Jack Clifford was one of a handful of Quins players to find their true form against Exeter and has been named in the England squad for a training camp in Brighton ahead of the Wales Test on May 29 and the summer tour to Australia. Saracens, Wasps, Leicester and Exeter are not included due to their involvement in the Premiership Play‑off semi-finals.

Clifford is only thinking about the final and told Standard Sport: “We need to pull together. You cannot just park something like the Exeter result and it will prey on your mind. You have to take that hurt into the build‑up to the final after our terrible performance. We have to show everyone what we’re really about.

“It is tough with just a six-day turnaround and even if you are tired, you have to put your whole body on the line because it’s a final.”

Victory against Montpellier would earn Quins a place in the Champions Cup and O’Shea is urging his men to bounce back.

“It’s gut-wrenching to see a team play so far below what they have,” he said. “We have a good group of players, I know my image of this group isn’t what happened out there but it’s the image we have to carry with us into the summer, unless we show the steel of sports people.”

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