This is one of the bigger match-ups the PWR has known.
Not only are you getting another chance to see Iona Maher up close and personal, but here is one club desperate to make the semi-finals, the other desperate to ensure a home-tie.
6,000 tickets have already been purchased, but there’s still room for latecomers. Roll up, roll up!
The head coaches, Ross Chisholm and Dave Ward, have selected these squads:
Quins
1 Turani 2 C. Powell 3 Hanlon 4 Fleming 5 Leaney 6 Bonar 7 Grant 8 Konkel (captain) 9 Packer 10 K. Powell 11 Neumann 12 Tuima 13 Pena 14 15 Kildunne
16 C. Phillips 17 Spurrier 18 Delgado 19 Shirley 20 Meuller 21 Aucken 22 Parry 23 Prins
Bristol
1 Botterman 2 Atkin-Davies 3 Bern 4 Cunningham 5 Ward 6 A. Joyce-Butchers 7 Balogun 8 Gallagher 9 Bevan 10 Aitchison 11 Maher 12 Reed 13 Murray 14 Bonner 15 Keight
16 H. Phillips 17 Pam 18 Clarke 19 Burns 20 Nigrelli 21 Lewis 22 Varley 23 David
An extra little game for you: spot the non-test players in the starting XVs.
Quins’ good news is the return of Jade Konkel as captain. They attempt a record by posting an all-Scottish back-row, but this may have a precedent.
Their recent record has been iffy. They squeezed home by a point against Chiefs, but lost to Sarries in the London derby. Now at least they will be at home, encouraged by a big crowd and Konkel’s presence.
Dave Ward has made a single change, reintroducing Hannah Botterman to the No 1 shirt. He’s quite aware of the challenge set his team. Despite all the talent they possess, they simply haven’t produced a consistent set of results to make a last-four position safe. They defeated the champions and demolished Chiefs away last week, but struggled to beat Trailfinders by a point. They lost 34-19 to Quins in the reverse match.
The table is complex. Bears’ maximum possible is 54 points; the Stoop game is their last. Chiefs lie three points behind them, but have two games left. So their target is 56 points. It’s still possible for Sarries to fall short, but they would need to lose both their remaining games. That is not going to happen.
Kick-off is adjusted to 19.45. Television is king, or TV schedulers are incompetent. We all love playing in the freezing cold.
Live on TNT Sports and BBC iPlayer.
