Red Bulls head to the capital

Tomorrow afternoon sees Newcastle Red Bulls make the trip to London to take on Harlequins in the final round of fixtures in The Prem before domestic cup games resume during the autumn internationals.

For me this first block of games seems to have taken its toll on all teams with the physical nature of the competition showing. Red Bulls will take some confidence from their performance against Northampton last weekend where I felt they did deserve something from the game. Harlequins meanwhile had an afternoon to forget down at Exeter

Being Spursy or Quinsy

Part of being Spursy in football is to be inconsistent, that's a really good description of Harlequins. Against Saracens in their last home game they were spot on in all areas of the game and this allowed Marcus Smith to be at his best causing the defence problems. They were emotionally in the right place to take on their north London rivals.

Last week in Devon against Exeter it was a polar opposite, they looked like they'd rather be anywhere else than a windswept Sandy Park on a Sunday afternoon. Given the inconsistency you don't know what Quins will turn up, but I do think there'll be a backlash tomorrow afternoon. No one likes being nilled and in front of their own fans they'll be up for it.

Quins missing some power

Zach Carr starts at number eight for Quins with Alex Dombrandt and Chandler Cunningham-South missing out. That's two big carriers missing for Quins, people have a lot to say about Dombrandt in an England shirt, but I've not seen him have a bad game in a Quins shirt. Red Bulls will have to make sure that they're spot on at the breakdown as the dual threat of Jack Kenningham and Will Evans who cause havoc to every team in the league.

Red Bulls might try and target Jarrod Evans in the centre, more used to being at fly half I think there could be some runners heading in his direction. Quins will look to entertain but sometimes their lineout lets them down, that could be an area that Red Bulls will look to put Jack Walker under some pressure.

Same pack, changes in the Red Bulls backs

Red Bulls go with the same pack that battled against Northampton last Friday night but there are some changes in the backline. Oli Spencer moves into centre with Alex Hearle moving to the wing. Liam Williams and Boeta Chamberlain both miss out through injury. This means Elliott Obatoyinbo onto the wing and Stefan Coetzee makes his first start in Red Bulls colours after an impressive debut from the bench last week. The South African looks to possess some power which opposition defences won't be looking forward to!

Where to target

Quins lineout can go a miss at times, I'd make sure there's competition at every lineout to put Jack Walker under some pressure. The other area is potentially targeting that twelve channel, Evans doesn't play there every week and I'm sure wouldn't relish Mafi running at him!

Play without fear

In the away games Red Bulls aren't expected to pick up any points, with that in mind I'd like to see them play without fear. When they did cut loose last Friday against Northampton they looked dangerous and caused Saints problems. They may as well have a go and play an exciting Red Bull brand of rugby, take a risk and see what happens!

After this game you'd expect some players workload will be managed during The Prem Cup, so they can empty the tank at The Stoop tomorrow afternoon!