25 April 2005
British and Irish Lion Iain Balshaw has been ruled out of Tuesday’s crunch Zurich Premiership clash with NEC Harlequins at Headingley. Balshaw injured his quad in the Powergen Cup Final and has definitely been ruled out of the game.  

Looking forward to the game, Tykes bos Phil Davis said: "This is a massive match for us and our long term objectives as a club.  We have got ourselves into this position but all credit to our players who have worked hard to give ourselves a chance going into the last two games of the season. Regardless of what happens on Tuesday, relegation will undoubtedly be decided on Saturday.  Just a look at the Zurich Premiership table shows the quality of the Premiership this year, with so many teams separated by four points."

"I  was particularly pleased with the performance of our young players last Friday in the game against Worcester. We had five England Under-19s players and an Under-21 in the team and it was brilliant to see. It was a great buzz to see them all out there and adds more buzz for the build-up for Tuesday’s game. There was a lot to be proud of and they stood up to be counted. The exuberance and enthusiasm to play rugby was great. They showed what we are trying to do with this club and slowly but surely we are getting there."

Davies rates Quins very highly: "Quins are a club with a tremendous history and pedigree and like ourselves they are scrapping for their lives at the bottom of the table. Quins had a good win against us down at the Stoop earlier this season and no doubt they will be hopeful of doing the same thing on Tuesday."

"We will go into the game in good confidence but it is vitally important that we start well and keep performing as we have done in recent weeks.  It is important that we cut out any errors in our game and make sure we do the little things right."

When questioned on the team selection Davies added "The team will not be too dissimilar to the team that played at Twickenham but obviously Iain Balshaw is out and we have got a couple of niggling injuries that we need to give until the last possible moment to clear up.  It is important that you go into a game as intense as this with people who are 100% therefore we will not be able to name our final line up until the day of the game. However, Tim Stimpson and David Rees are both on standby to come back in to cover for Iain. Colm Rigney came through last Friday’s game against Worcester with no side effects so he is also available for selection"

Phil Davies will delay naming his final line up until the day of the game due to injuries but has named the following 24 man squad. 

Backs
Diego Albanese
Chris Bell
Tom Biggs
Phil Christophers
Alan Dickens
Mark McMillen
Craig McMullan
David Rees
Gordon Ross
Andre Snyman
Tim Stimpson

Forwards
Jon Dunbar
Matt Holt
Stuart Hooper (c)
Dan Hyde
Gavin Kerr
Scott Morgan
Tom Palmer
Richard Parks
Alix Popham
Rob Rawlinson
Mark Regan
Colm Rigney
Mike Shelley

NEC Harlequins make three changes to the team that started against London Irish two weeks ago (9th April) for the game against Leeds Tykes in the Zurich Premiership at Headingley tomorrow night (Tuesday 26th April), kick-off 7.45pm.

In the back division, Tom Williams has recovered from a shoulder injury and starts at full back ahead of Gavin Duffy, who drops to the bench. 

In the pack, James Hayter starts at hooker in place of Ace Tiatia, while Simon Maling returns having missed the game against Irish due to concussion. Maling will partner Jim Evans in the second row, with Simon Miall dropping to the bench.

“We’ve been dragged right back into the relegation dogfight following our defeat at home to Irish and the importance of the game tomorrow is clear for everyone to see when you look at the league table,” said Mark Evans, NEC Harlequins Chief Executive.

“Leeds are on a roll at the moment and I’m sure they’ll be very confident going into this match. However, we have worked really hard over the last two weeks to make sure we are fully prepared to deal with the challenge we will face.”    

The full team is as follows: 
15. Tom Williams
14. George Harder
13. Will Greenwood
12. Dafydd James
11. Ugo Monye
10. Arwel Thomas
9. Steve So’oialo
1. Mike Worsley
2. James Hayter
3. Ceri Jones
4. Jim Evans
5. Simon Maling
6. Nick Easter
7. Andre Vos (Capt.)
8. Tony Diprose

Replacements:
16. Ace Tiatia
17. Jon Dawson
18. Simon Miall
19. Luke Sherriff
20. Simon Keogh
21. Jeremy Staunton
22. Gavin Duffy