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Harlequins are 'mad keen' to resume hectic season - flanker James Chisholm

By PA
James Chisholm of Harlequins. (Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images)

Harlequins flanker James Chisholm says players are “mad keen” for the restart of the Gallagher Premiership and is viewing the busy schedule ahead as a positive thing for clubs. After a 159-day break owing to the coronavirus pandemic, the season resumes on August 14 with seventh-placed Quins hosting second-placed Sale, and the final is scheduled for October 24.

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There are nine rounds of matches to complete and clubs are set to play midweek fixtures.

Chisholm said: “It’s a good one to come back to. It’s just a massive challenge for us.

“We’re still in the hunt to make the top four. Sale are a great team who did one on us up there earlier in the year (they lost 48-10 at Sale in January).

“The players are just mad keen to get going. Everyone’s looking forward to kicking it off next week.”

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    Asked about the relentless nature of the schedule ahead, Chisholm said: “To be honest, I think it’s a good thing. Obviously it wouldn’t be a good thing if you played every minute of every game, but I think it’s a really good thing for the squads.

    “There’s a great opportunity to rotate the squad, mix the squads up. All these clubs have got great strength in depth and we’re no different. You can dive deep in most positions and still come up with good Premiership players.

    “I think it is going to be really good for our club and all the clubs in the Premiership.”

    While Chisholm has no doubt the experience of playing behind closed doors will be “a bit weird”, he has stressed “everyone is hungry” to perform well.

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    “I think most people understand it’s all going to be empty and a bit weird and you’re not going to get a buzz off a crowd, but ultimately I think the hunger is there to win,” the 24-year-old said.

    “It (no crowd) will be a real shame, especially at the Stoop on a Friday night, but ultimately it’s just rugby, it’s stripped it right back to what it is. Everyone’s hungry to perform and win so ultimately that is your motivation.”

    The game could see wing Chris Ashton make his Harlequins debut following his arrival in March after leaving Sale.

    Chisholm said: “Chris Ashton is very, very fit, works very, very hard. He’s come in and sort of pushed himself and pushed the lads around him.

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    “There’s quite a lot of new guys that have come in and they’ve fit in really well, and everyone’s hungry for it.”

    Chisholm – who has described Quins’ Agen-bound winger Gabriel Ibitoye as “a fantastically talented lad and a big loss” – was also asked about talk of the possibility of ring-fencing the Premiership.

    And he said: “In terms of relegation, that is up to the powers that be. I’ve got some good suggestions I think if they want to listen to me, but I’m not sure they will.

    “It’s up to them, how they want to build the game and where they want the game to go – if they think ring-fencing is the best option, that’s up to them and they should do it, but if it’s not, they need to decide on the model they’re happy to keep ploughing money into to ultimately create great players and a great game.”

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    T
    Tom 6 hours ago
    What is the future of rugby in 2025?

    Briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiistol! Briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiistol! Briiiiiiiiiiiiiiiistol!


    It's incredible to see the boys playing like this. Back to the form that saw them finish on top of the regular season and beat Toulon to win the challenge cup. Ibitoye and Ravouvou doing a cracking Piutau/Radradra impression.


    It's abundantly clear that Borthwick and Wigglesworth need to transform the England attack and incorporate some of the Bears way. Unfortunately until the Bears are competing in Europe, the old criticisms will still be used.. we failed to fire any punches against La Rochelle and Leinster which goes to show there is still work to do but both those sides are packed full of elite players so it's not the fairest comparison to expect Bristol to compete with them. I feel Bristol are on the way up though and the best is yet to come. Tom Jordan next year is going to be obscene.


    Test rugby is obviously a different beast and does Borthwick have enough time with the players to develop the level of skill the Bears plays have? Even if he wanted to? We should definitely be able to see some progress, Scotland have certainly managed it. England aren't going to start throwing the ball around like that but England's attack looks prehistoric by comparison, I hope they take some inspiration from the clarity and freedom of expression shown by the Bears (and Scotland - who keep beating us, by the way!). Bristol have the best attack in the premiership, it'd be mad for England to ignore it because it doesn't fit with the Borthwick and Wigglesworth idea of how test rugby should be played. You gotta use what is available to you. Sadly I think England will try reluctantly to incorporate some of these ideas and end up even more confused and lacking identity than ever. At the moment England have two teams, they have 14 players and Marcus Smith. Marcus sticks out as a sore thumb in a team coached to play in a manner ideologically opposed to the way he plays rugby, does the Bears factor confuse matters further? I just have no confidence in Borthers and Wiggles.


    Crazy to see the Prem with more ball in play than SR!

    7 Go to comments
    J
    JW 10 hours ago
    Does South Africa have a future in European competition?

    In another recent article I tried to argue for a few key concept changes for EPCR which I think could light the game up in the North.


    First, I can't remember who pointed out the obvious elephant in the room (a SA'n poster?), it's a terrible time to play rugby in the NH, and especially your pinnacle tournament. It's been terrible watching with seemingly all the games I wanted to watch being in the dark, hardly able to see what was going on. The Aviva was the only stadium I saw that had lights that could handle the miserable rain. If the global appeal is there, they could do a lot better having day games.


    They other primary idea I thuoght would benefit EPCR most, was more content. The Prem could do with it and the Top14 could do with something more important than their own league, so they aren't under so much pressure to sell games. The quality over quantity approach.


    Trim it down to two 16 team EPCR competitions, and introduce a third for playing amongst the T2 sides, or the bottom clubs in each league should simply be working on being better during the EPCR.


    Champions Cup is made up of league best 15 teams, + 1, the Challenge Cup winner. Without a reason not to, I'd distribute it evenly based on each leauge, dividing into thirds and rounded up, 6 URC 5 Top14 4 English. Each winner (all four) is #1 rank and I'd have a seeding round or two for the other 12 to determine their own brackets for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. I'd then hold a 6 game pool, home and away, with consecutive of each for those games that involve SA'n teams. Preferrably I'd have a regional thing were all SA'n teams were in the same pool but that's a bit complex for this simple idea.


    That pool round further finalises the seeding for knockout round of 16. So #1 pool has essentially duked it out for finals seeding already (better venue planning), and to see who they go up against 16, 15,etc etc. Actually I think I might prefer a single pool round for seeding, and introduce the home and away for Ro16, quarters, and semis (stuffs up venue hire). General idea to produce the most competitive matches possible until the random knockout phase, and fix the random lottery of which two teams get ranked higher after pool play, and also keep the system identical for the Challenge Cup so everthing is succinct. Top T2 side promoted from last year to make 16 in Challenge Cup

    207 Go to comments
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