Quins get a lift with key men back for semi

Harlequins have received a boost with the return to fitness of scrum-half Karl Dickson and centre George Lowe for tonight's LV-Cup semi-final with Newcastle at the Twickenham Stoop.

Newcastle defeated Quins in the Aviva Premiership at Kingston Park 33-18 a week ago.

However, an impressive home record plus the return of key players Dickson and Lowe is giving Conor O'Shea belief that a place in the final against either Gloucester or Newport Gwent Dragons is a real possibility.

The Quins director of rugby said: "We have won 13 games, lost one and drawn one at home this season and that gives us a huge amount of confidence going into this match.

"We have been stretched by injury problems but the return of Karl and George is great and there will be other players making their comebacks shortly to boost our strength.

"We have made massive strides this season and we now want something tangible to show for it and winning this competition would be a significant step forward for the club.

"We were frustrated and annoyed at what happened at Newcastle. It was 13-12 after 53 minutes when we allowed in two tries in four minutes and that was the game."

Newcastle have made changes from last week with Danny Williams replacing Luke Fielden on the right wing, Gcobani Bobo taking over from Jeremy Manning on the other flank and Alex Tait being moved to full‑back.