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Joe Marler returns for Harlequins against Ulster in Champions Cup

Joe Marler of Harlequins receives a pass during the Gallagher Premiership Rugby Big Game 15 match between Harlequins and Gloucester Rugby at Twickenham Stadium on December 30, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)

England prop Joe Marler has been named in the Harlequins squad for their Investec Champions Cup match against Ulster Rugby at the Twickenham Stoop on Saturday.

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Marler, who was selected for Steve Borthwick’s Six Nations squad, has successfully recovered from injury and starts at loosehead. The veteran prop hasn’t played since injuring himself on December 30th against Gloucester. Joining him in the front row are Jack Walker at hooker and Will Collier at tighthead.

In addition to Marler’s return, Quins have made two other changes to their Starting XV. The pack sees Irne Herbst starting alongside George Hammond in the second-row. Chandler Cunningham-South steps in as blindside flanker, replacing the injured James Chisholm. The openside flanker position remains with Will Evans, and Alex Dombrandt, leading the team as captain, completes the back row at number eight.

Fixture
Investec Champions Cup
Harlequins
47 - 19
Full-time
Ulster
All Stats and Data

The backline remains unchanged from their victory over Cardiff. The halfback pairing of Danny Care and Marcus Smith lines up with Andre Esterhuizen and Oscar Beard renewing their effective combination outside them in midfield. Cameron Anderson, Nick David and Tyrone Green make up the back three.

Meanwhile, Ulster Head Coach Dan McFarland has also announced his lineup. The team includes six players named in Ireland’s Six Nations squad by Head Coach Andy Farrell. Tom Stewart, Tom O’Toole, Iain Henderson, Nick Timoney, Jacob Stockdale, and Stuart McCloskey are all set to play key roles in the match before joining the international training camp the following week.

HARLEQUINS: 1. Joe Marler 2. Jack Walker 3. Will Collier 4. Irne Herbst 5. George Hammond 6. Chandler Cunningham-South 7. Will Evans 8. Alex Dombrandt (Captain) 9. Danny Care 10. Marcus Smith 11. Cameron Anderson 12. Andre Esterhuizen 13. Oscar Beard 14. Nick David 15. Tyrone Green

REPLACEMENTS: 16. Sam Riley 17. Fin Baxter 18. Dillon Lewis 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Archie White 21. Will Porter 22. Lennox Anyanwu 23. Will Joseph

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ULSTER: 15. Mike Lowry, 14. Rob Baloucoune, 13. James Hume, 12. Stuart McCloskey, 11. Jacob Stockdale, 10. Billy Burns, 9. John Cooney; 1. Steven Kitshoff, 2. Tom Stewart, 3. Tom O’Toole, 4. Kieran Treadwell, 5. Iain Henderson (C), 6. Matty Rea, 7. David McCann, 8. Nick Timoney.

REPLACEMENTS: 16. John Andrew, 17. Andy Warwick, 18. Marty Moore, 19. Harry Sheridan, 20. Marcus Rea, 21. Nathan Doak, 22. Luke Marshall, 23. Will Addison.

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H
Hellhound 15 minutes ago
Springboks' No.1 status in world rankings coming under increased threat

I disagree. A fair system would include points for EVERY MATCH you play, top guns or dregs. The WC should not influence the points table. No tournament should. It should be simple. This much for a home or away win. The problem with that is that Top Tier nations can point stay by arranging a lot of games against those nations to bring up their points tally, which wouldn't work. At least not on the points table. It would however give Tier 2 nations more game time against the Top Tier nations, which in itself is a good thing. However, that being said, it would dilute the quality of teams as they don't face tough enough opposition to handle the real tough teams, so come WC time, they would suffer for those consequences. There is no points system that currently can be used that would be fair to all, so the best is to try and be as fair as possible. We may not like the current system, but it's the best we have. Some suggested the Soccer system, but it won't work in rugby. No one has come up with a better points system and if they did, WR isn't sharing that. They would rather keep an eye on Dr Rassie with pen in hand ready to declare everything he does as illegal and against the spirit of the game. The SA men are too big, we can't stop them. Maybe we should ban the big men from SA as illegal but keep the big men of other countries? Oh wait, now the SA backs are too fast and slippery. That isn't good for WR so let's declare fast SA backs as illegal too. Yeah, that's how it works in WR isn't it? WR and all other countries hate the Boks. Never give them the respect they deserve, then are shocked completely finding out that no South African care what the world of rugby or its fans or other nations think about us. We don't care about the points system. It's as rotten as World Rugby and it's socialistic communistic rule of laws. The Boks will keep leading the brand of rugby. Keep innovating. Keep pushing boundaries. Keep the game interesting. We respect the AB's because they respect us. They may not like us, but the respect has always been crystal clear. Over 100 years of the biggest rivalry in rugby’s history can't be thrown away just like that. No points system can do that. Between WC's, we care about the AB's, the rest is just preparation for the next WC.

90 Go to comments
J
Jfp123 18 minutes ago
New Zealanders may not understand, but in France Test rugby is the 'B movie'

It would be interesting to see how the financial deal and viewing figures for these last 3 matches compare with those for previous tours by leading NH nations. I imagine that broadcasting rights are negotiated a fair way in advance, so did the broadcasters realise France would send a B team when they signed on the dotted line? And to what extent were viewing figures affected? I’d have thought die hard fans would tune in anyway, and more casual fans wouldn’t know much about French players, except perhaps Dupont, and wouldn’t care who played on the French side - wouldn’t it be which ABs played that would matter to them? Although the big ‘disrespect’ furore might have had an effect, but whether to increase or decrease viewing figures I couldn’t say.

It’s not only the French national team that sends out B teams, many of their clubs do too, both in away matches in the Top14 and in Champions Cup. But these B teams often play in front of sell out crowds, and the value of the broadcasting rights for the Top 14 have gone up and up.

Of course, home advantage is real, and matches against the Saffas and ABs where they play best is I guess at the current time the hardest test of all. However, it doesn’t look like we’ll actually see France A in NZ or SA for the foreseeable future - the Top14 really is a fabulous competition, almost year round brilliant rugby, with big stars from around the world, madly enthusiastic fans, and a big money earner, I can’t see the French making major alterations (I’m not French, but I’m a big fan too and the only alteration I’d make is a limit on individual playing time for player welfare).

Considering their home record against NZ and away against Ireland, I think that’s enough to acknowledge that the top French players have a very high degree of skill, but if SH fans don’t see things that way, that’s up to them. My point was, if NZ fans don’t think much of them, why are they so bothered they’re not there. Anyway come 2027, France A will travel to the SH, if not NZ or SA, and we’ll see what happens!

100 Go to comments
S
Soliloquin 38 minutes ago
All Blacks squeeze past France to sweep July series in Hamilton

Big question!

I think they would get outsmarted by the A team, outpacked forward and depending on the form of the A team, the score would be more or less 15-20 points a higher or lower victory.

The only issue is that France has a lot of 13s, and they were all in NZ.

This weekend’s team was gassed out, so it’s also very much linked to fitness level.

Just like the ABs were tired at the end of November, while the French were rusty after just one game against Japan.

I fear they will get smashed in Paris without Dupont (confirmed to be still out) by the Springboks as it will be their first game of the international season (a nonsense to me - the biggest game will be the first)


The squad for this France A would be:

Gros-Mauvaka-Tatafu

Flament-Meafou

Cros-Ollivon-Alldritt

Dupont-Ntamack

Moefana-?(all 13s were in NZ) Costes ?

Bielle-Biarrey-Penaud

Ramos


(But if you can take players from the NZ, then Guillard and Barassi or Fickou could be in)


Against the C team:

Erdocio-Bourgarit-Slimani

Auradou-Halagahu

Fischer-Guillard-Brennan

Le Garrec-Hastoy

Fickou-Depoortere

Attissogbe-Villière

Barré


And a B team would be:

Baille-Marchand-Atonio

Cazeaux-Vergé

Jegou-Jelonch-Gazzotti

Lucu-Jalibert

Danty-Frisch

Lebel-Dréan

Buros


———

France A-France C at full fitness: 38-12

France A-France B: 28-17

France B-France C: 32-20


It seems a bit like Toulouse is kind of France A at full power last year, UBB is France B at full power last year and Racing92 is France C at full power this year.

111 Go to comments
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