Quins honoured to pilot fans-return scheme
THE return of fans to the Twickenham Stoop cannot come soon enough for Quins attack coach Nick Evans.
Harlequins have been permitted to let 3,500 ticket holders attend their home match against Bath on September 5 as part of a government-backed, crowdreturn pilot.
Evans said: “It’s a funny one because you are sitting there watching these games and are so enthralled in them as a player and coach that you kind of forget there are no fans in the ground at times, so it’ll be interesting to have that noise.
“Hopefully having the fans back gives you that atmosphere, that lift to the players. It is almost going to be new sensation for them going from the first few games of not having fans and then having a crowd that is yelling and you’re getting that murmur in the background and feeling the anticipation that they feel.”
The selection of the Stoop as a host venue follows on from the decision to schedule the first game back after the re-start there, on August 14 against Sale.
“It was an honour to be the first game back, that was fantastic,” Evans added.
“The club are united in terms of the excitement and to lead by example and show it can be done.
“We just want to get fans back in the grounds, not just at Quins but everywhere. We are honoured to get to do that.”
Meanwhile, Evans has revealed that Quins head of rugby, Paul Gustard, showed remarkable restraint after seeing his side trail Worcester 26-0 at the break in midweek.
“I’ve been in a few changing rooms where we’ve had the hairdryer. But this was controlled, everyone knew where we were lacking,” Evans said.
“It wasn’t quite like when (former Quins DoR) Conor O’Shea tried to smack over a radio box but only just managed to hit the top it, and then it just closed!
“We’d lost the fundamentals of the game, the physicality and work rate, and the set-piece was failing us. We weren’t creating quick ball in attack. It wasn’t too technical; it was an attitude thing.
“At least we showed a reaction and ‘won’ the second-half, 14-3.”