Curiously this game was an almost exact replica of their last match, against Bath, when a largely inconclusive first half was followed by a second half in which the tries flowed and the 2nd XV added 36 unanswered points from five tries, one not converted, and a penalty.

Quins went on the attack from the start, but poor handling ended the thrust. Nevertheless, it was clear that they were looking to run the ball and after only two minutes, the ball was spun wide to Tom Williams on the left touchline and he beat three tacklers to touch down in the left corner. Jarvis converted. 7 – 0

Northampton tried to retaliate with a determined attack which led to a penalty in an eminently kickable position. , However, in these games, it seems to be their policy not to kick for points but only to touch. From the resultant line-out they tried to roll a maul over the Quins line but achieved only another penalty. This time Saints gave away a penalty in the line-out and the danger was cleared.

Largely inconclusive attacks by both teams continued to fail due to handling errors. Shortly after the start of the second quarter a jinking 50 metre carry by Luke Sherriff looked to have started another effective attack, but a knock on gave away possession and from the resulting scrum the danger to the Northampton line was cleared.

Northampton now pressed very hard and a series of rucks on the Quins line were stoutly defended. From the resulting penalty Saints took a scrum and were again repelled at the cost of a yellow card for Sherriff in the 31st minute. Again the Saints opted for a scrum and again the defence was good and Quins cleared their line from the resulting line-out.

Saints were still pressing hard and with Quins down to 14 men a good backs move found Ripol on their left wing and the Spanish international raced into the corner. Russell converted and the scores were level at 7 – 7. That remained the score at half-time.

Quins came out in the second half clearly determined to do better. So they did, although some of the Saints more experienced players such as Morris and Ripol were replaced early in the half and that made the task easier. An early penalty was kicked by Jarvis to start the scoreboard rolling. 10 – 7

In the 7th minute of the half a good backs move saw Chris Bell break through the Northampton defence with a 60 metre snaking run to score under the posts. Jarvis converted. 17 – 7

Quins continued to press and eventually a penalty for offside was kicked to touch on the right. The line-out became a rolling maul and resulted in a try for Horstmann which Jarvis again converted. 24 – 7

Shortly after another rolling maul looked to have breached the Northampton defence but was adjudged to have been held up. From the resulting 5-metre scrum the ball was passed quickly to Jarvis who sliced between two defenders to score under the posts. He easily converted his try. 31 – 7

By now the backs were attacking with more penetration and twice in a few minutes the ball was moved wide to Tom Williams, now playing on the left wing, and he added two more tries to his first half score. One conversion was missed leaving a final score of 43 – 7.

This was a good display by the second team. There were a number of positives which can be taken from the game. Chris Bell and Karl Rudski and Josh Taumalolo all returning from injury gave hope that the injury crisis is on the mend. Adrian Jarvis controlled the game well for Quins and his pass out to his three-quarters is hard, flat and accurate on either hand and resulted more than once in a try. His kicking at gaol and to touch was very good. Cameron Dott, now the hooker on the bench for the first team, threw in well, finding his jumpers and put himself about effectively.

The entertainment value of matches such as this is a decent antidote to the tensions of Zurich Premiership games.

Teams:

Harlequins 2nd XV: 15 Tom Williams;14 Rob Jewell;13 Henry Barratt; 12 Chris Bell; 11 Sean Crowley; 10 Adrian Jarvis; 9 Scott Bemand; 1 Ceri Jones; 2 Cameron Dott; 3 Laurent Gomez; 4 Tom Parker; 5 Karl Rudzki; 6 Roy Winters; 7 Luke Sherriff (Capt); 8 Kai Horstmann.
Replacements: 16 Reg Dejager; 17 Gavin Hart; 18 Tom Guest; 19 Josh Taumalolo;
20 Max Evans

Northampton Wanderers: 15 John Clarke; 14 Paul Diggin; 13 Ed Binham;
12 Andy Vilk; 11 Oriol Ripol; 10 Ben Russell; 9 Ben Jones; 1 James Ross; 2 Matt Miles; 3 Robbie Morris; 4 Jon Phillips; 5 John Chance; 6 Brett McNamee; 7 Will Snape;8 Mark Soden
Replacements: Pete Bucknall, Paul Saffy, Jon Golding, James Ball, Scott Lawrence, James Jones, Scott Walker, Rob Millar, Simon Lincoln

Scorers:
Harlequins: Tries: Tom Williams (3) Chris Bell, Kai Horstmann, Adrian Jarvis,
Conversions: Jarvis (5)
Penalty: Jarvis
Northampton: Try: Ripol; Conversion: Russell

Referee: Bruce Robertson

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