Harlequins U21s lose against London Irish
By sb September 28 2002
The U21s lost to London Irish 24-20 in a tight game at Sunbury on Friday night. The game was, sadly, spoilt as a spectacle by some incompetent and sometimes incomprehensible refereeing by Mr Kemble from Hampshire.
By sb September 28 2002
The U21s lost to London Irish 24-20 in a tight game at Sunbury on Friday night. The game was, sadly, spoilt as a spectacle by some incompetent and sometimes incomprehensible refereeing by Mr Kemble from Hampshire.
Quins could, indeed should, have won but some poor handling and decision making at crucial moments and an absurd decision by the referee (not my words, those of the referee assessor standing near by) to yellow card No 7 Chris Cracknell early in the second half cost the 21s dear.
Early Irish pressure saw Quins pinned in their own half for the first five minutes and, in an attempted break out, left wing Max Willcocks injured a knee and was replaced by Dipo Osho. Irish were then awarded a penalty just outside the Quins’ 22 and a kick to the corner resulted in a catch and drive from the line out. The resulting try was converted from out wide to give Irish a sixth minute 7-0 lead.
Quins quickly got back into the game and in the 12th minute, with the scrummaging showing a big improvement over previous games, forced Irish to collapse their scrum 10 metres from their line. A quick tap saw No 8 Kai Hortsmann barge his way over. The kick was missed. Score 7-5.
Three minutes later, however, poor Quins’ handling cost them dear. After a good kick and chase out of defence, the ball was spun down the line but dropped in the centre. An Irish back recovered the ball and ran it in from the half way line to score under the posts. Try converted, score 14-5.
On 18 minutes, Irish missed a fairly simple penalty from the right of the posts and, shortly after, some naïve play cost Quins seven points. A great three-quarter move saw fullback Tom Williams sent clear but, with a man available, he chose to take on the defender rather than pass. From the resulting ruck, Irish were awarded a penalty when a Quins’ penalty was reversed for foul play. Quins maintained heavy pressure on the Irish line and, in the 29th minute, Chris Cracknell charged down a clearing kick from inside the Irish in-goal area. Inexplicably, the referee gave a 22 drop out rather than a Quins’ 5-metre scrum.
With the game mostly being played in the Irish 22, handling errors by a variety of players were the only things keeping Quins from scoring but, after Irish sent a clearing kick into the Quins’ half, Tom Williams was late tackled after a return kick. From the resulting penalty, scrum half Ian Martin slotted the ball home. Score 14-8.
Irish then mounted a good attack down their right wing and only an unkind bounce and a knock on prevented them from scoring. The resulting scrum was shunted back and, from a messy clearance, fly-half Ollie Phillips kicked crossfield where another bad bounce flummoxed the Irish defenders. Ugo Monye collected the ball and slipped it to the flying Williams who scored in the corner from the Quins' 10-metre line. The kick was missed, score 14-13.
Half time.
The game was then effectively turned on its head by a poor decision by the referee, aided and abetted by some bad advice from his touch judge. In the 3rd minute, a maul on the half way line broke up with two Irish players wrestling centre Tom Allen. Both referee and touch judge missed the wild upper cut thrown by an Irish player but, after Chris Cracknell intervened to assist his team mate, he was the only player punished when he was sin-binned for a bit of pushing and shoving.
In the ten minutes he was off the field, Irish scored two unconverted tries through their forwards. The first came after 9 minutes when they drove over from a 5-metre scrum. Score 19-13. Four minutes later, a catch and drive from a line-out on the 5 metre line saw them stretch out to a 24-13 lead.
Quins showed great character by bouncing back and putting the Irish defence under huge pressure. A great break by Ollie Phillips set off a series of attacks that were only denied by (in order): two deliberate knock-ons, the deliberate collapsing a maul, an off-side and killing the ball at a ruck just under the Irish posts. At this point (eventually!) the referee awarded a penalty try which was converted by Ian Martin (score 24-20). Incredibly, in spite of the succession of Irish professional fouls, no-one was carded. Another triumph for referee Kemble.
The rest of the game was then played in the Irish half as Quins desperately sought the winning try. More professional fouls, incompetent referring (and some good tackling) kept them out until the referee eventually blew the final whistle in the 48th minute of an injury strewn encounter.
Overall, Quins deserved more from this game than one point for losing by less than seven points. They dominated for long periods and, with more composure at crucial moments and a greater willingness to pass to players in space, they should have won this game. The referee’s contribution was substantial if unwelcome. Both sets of coaches were scratching their heads at his decisions and it is to the credit of both teams that they kept their discipline in the face of some incomprehensible nonsense from the officials.
Generally, work on the set scrum seems to have paid off but the line-out was too often a mess and, with the genuine pace they have on the wings and at full-back, one would like to see the game played with more width. They are not yet playing to their strengths.
Team: 15 Tom Williams, 14 Max Willcocks (rep Dipo Osho), 13 Tom Allen, 12 Andy Reay, 11 Ugo Monye 10 Ollie Phillips, 9 Ian Martin, 8 Kai Horstmann, 7 Chris Cracknell, 6 Tom MacCormick, 5 Tom Parker, 4 Chris Gorbell, 3 Ben Hopkins, 2 Rob Chapman, 1 Sam Walton.
Rep not used: Ryan Storer, Jay King, Rob Outen, Pete Whitfield, A Ambrose, ? Higham.
Early Irish pressure saw Quins pinned in their own half for the first five minutes and, in an attempted break out, left wing Max Willcocks injured a knee and was replaced by Dipo Osho. Irish were then awarded a penalty just outside the Quins’ 22 and a kick to the corner resulted in a catch and drive from the line out. The resulting try was converted from out wide to give Irish a sixth minute 7-0 lead.
Quins quickly got back into the game and in the 12th minute, with the scrummaging showing a big improvement over previous games, forced Irish to collapse their scrum 10 metres from their line. A quick tap saw No 8 Kai Hortsmann barge his way over. The kick was missed. Score 7-5.
Three minutes later, however, poor Quins’ handling cost them dear. After a good kick and chase out of defence, the ball was spun down the line but dropped in the centre. An Irish back recovered the ball and ran it in from the half way line to score under the posts. Try converted, score 14-5.
On 18 minutes, Irish missed a fairly simple penalty from the right of the posts and, shortly after, some naïve play cost Quins seven points. A great three-quarter move saw fullback Tom Williams sent clear but, with a man available, he chose to take on the defender rather than pass. From the resulting ruck, Irish were awarded a penalty when a Quins’ penalty was reversed for foul play. Quins maintained heavy pressure on the Irish line and, in the 29th minute, Chris Cracknell charged down a clearing kick from inside the Irish in-goal area. Inexplicably, the referee gave a 22 drop out rather than a Quins’ 5-metre scrum.
With the game mostly being played in the Irish 22, handling errors by a variety of players were the only things keeping Quins from scoring but, after Irish sent a clearing kick into the Quins’ half, Tom Williams was late tackled after a return kick. From the resulting penalty, scrum half Ian Martin slotted the ball home. Score 14-8.
Irish then mounted a good attack down their right wing and only an unkind bounce and a knock on prevented them from scoring. The resulting scrum was shunted back and, from a messy clearance, fly-half Ollie Phillips kicked crossfield where another bad bounce flummoxed the Irish defenders. Ugo Monye collected the ball and slipped it to the flying Williams who scored in the corner from the Quins' 10-metre line. The kick was missed, score 14-13.
Half time.
The game was then effectively turned on its head by a poor decision by the referee, aided and abetted by some bad advice from his touch judge. In the 3rd minute, a maul on the half way line broke up with two Irish players wrestling centre Tom Allen. Both referee and touch judge missed the wild upper cut thrown by an Irish player but, after Chris Cracknell intervened to assist his team mate, he was the only player punished when he was sin-binned for a bit of pushing and shoving.
In the ten minutes he was off the field, Irish scored two unconverted tries through their forwards. The first came after 9 minutes when they drove over from a 5-metre scrum. Score 19-13. Four minutes later, a catch and drive from a line-out on the 5 metre line saw them stretch out to a 24-13 lead.
Quins showed great character by bouncing back and putting the Irish defence under huge pressure. A great break by Ollie Phillips set off a series of attacks that were only denied by (in order): two deliberate knock-ons, the deliberate collapsing a maul, an off-side and killing the ball at a ruck just under the Irish posts. At this point (eventually!) the referee awarded a penalty try which was converted by Ian Martin (score 24-20). Incredibly, in spite of the succession of Irish professional fouls, no-one was carded. Another triumph for referee Kemble.
The rest of the game was then played in the Irish half as Quins desperately sought the winning try. More professional fouls, incompetent referring (and some good tackling) kept them out until the referee eventually blew the final whistle in the 48th minute of an injury strewn encounter.
Overall, Quins deserved more from this game than one point for losing by less than seven points. They dominated for long periods and, with more composure at crucial moments and a greater willingness to pass to players in space, they should have won this game. The referee’s contribution was substantial if unwelcome. Both sets of coaches were scratching their heads at his decisions and it is to the credit of both teams that they kept their discipline in the face of some incomprehensible nonsense from the officials.
Generally, work on the set scrum seems to have paid off but the line-out was too often a mess and, with the genuine pace they have on the wings and at full-back, one would like to see the game played with more width. They are not yet playing to their strengths.
Team: 15 Tom Williams, 14 Max Willcocks (rep Dipo Osho), 13 Tom Allen, 12 Andy Reay, 11 Ugo Monye 10 Ollie Phillips, 9 Ian Martin, 8 Kai Horstmann, 7 Chris Cracknell, 6 Tom MacCormick, 5 Tom Parker, 4 Chris Gorbell, 3 Ben Hopkins, 2 Rob Chapman, 1 Sam Walton.
Rep not used: Ryan Storer, Jay King, Rob Outen, Pete Whitfield, A Ambrose, ? Higham.
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