By Nick
March 24 2004

In the first of two back to back encounters a weakened Quins side eventually went down by a score of 30-21. After a wait of around a month since their last minute defeat by Wasps, Harlequins Zurich Premiership campaign finally got back underway with a trip to the ever daunting Welford Road.

The starting line up for Quins showed a couple of important changes to the one announced on Thursday. George Harder was missing with a shoulder problem that should clear up in a week or two and Burkey was still out as a result of his attempt to take on Sarries back row single handedly. The two players stepping in to the breach are no second raters: Andy Dunne and Matty Moore, but you just felt that on a night like this that an experienced head like Burkey’s and the physical presence of George would be greatly missed.

Tigers kicked off in front of a near capacity crowd. The one thing that Mark Evans would have wanted was to avoid shipping early points, but after only 2 minutes a penalty was awarded by the referee (more on him later!!!) against Quins, apparently for the front row popping up in a scrum. Andy Goode, who was to have one of his “hot” nights with the boot made no mistake 3 – 0 to the Tigers.

Eager for a response, Quins pressurised and turned over a Tigers line out. Ben Willis put in a superb kick down the touchline to within 5metres of the Tigers line, where it was taken into touch by a Leicester defender. However, from the ensuing lineout, Quins knocked on and an excellent attacking platform was lost. On a night of limited chances, such mistakes proved costly indeed.

Pic: Bognorquin

Worse was to follow within minutes. After an apparently innocuous bit of handbags Tani was binned for punching. As can be imagined, such a crime was met with shock and outrage by the home crowd who apparently never witness any such behaviour from their own players!!!!!!!. However, as it turned out, this was probably the most crucial part of the game. With Tani off the pitch, Tigers added two converted tries to take a 17 – 0 lead after only 19 minutes. The first followed a neat attacking break down the right from Austin Healey, who passed to Van der Westhuyzen to score unopposed under the posts. The second was a clean break through the midfield by Daryl Gibson, again scoring under the posts, without a Quins player landing a hand on him. Anyone who saw the away game against Bristol last year would have had a sense of déjà vu as Gibson scored a very similar try then.

An excellent run down the right by Simon Keogh was halted close to the Tigers line but within a minute the referee had awarded Quins a penalty in front of the posts, which Andy Dunne slotted comfortably.

Just before the half hour mark Mel Deane was involved in an incident that saw him very lucky to escape a yellow card. A garryowen from Andy Dunne was coming down just on the Tigers 22m line and as Andy Goode went up to meet it Deane tackled him early. After a stern talking to by the ref, Mel must have been relieved to have stayed on.

After both sides wasted potentially dangerous lineouts Quins drove upfield and were awarded a penalty in front of the uprights. Again, Andy Dunne slotted home.

As half time approached some good work from the backs gave Mel Deane a bit of room on the left touchline. After beating a Tigers defender his chip ahead unfortunately went directly into touch. Perhaps if it had been Ugo then we could have kept the ball in hand and run at the defence, but it was narrow gap and Mel only had a split second to make his mind up.

Right on half time we witnessed what must surely have a high rarity value. From an excellent grubber kick by Van der Westhuyzen, Quins conceded a lineout. Tigers caught the ball and proceeded to attempt a typical rolling maul. Not only did Quins stop it we actually were awarded a penalty for a Tiger’s infringement.

As the half time whistle went (17 – 6) it certainly seemed as though we weren’t out of the game by any means, and that if we managed a quick score in the second half then there would be all to play for.

Within a minute of the restart Quins were presented with an excellent attacking opportunity. Following a deep kick from Andy Dunne, Andy Goode knocked the ball over the dead ball line giving Quins a 5m scrum. Unfortunately the Tigers pressurised the set piece, stole the ball and were awarded a scrum of their own.

Within a few minutes though Quins were again on the scoreboard. After fielding a wayward defensive kick by Tigers Gavin Duffy set off on one of his trademark mazy runs, cutting a swathe through the heart of the Leicester midfield to score under the posts. Andy Dunne converted to bring the score to 17 – 13.

A couple of minutes later Martin Johnson was tackled in the air at a line out. After a severe talking to, the offending Quin was relieved to stay on the pitch.

Following 2 or 3 minutes of solid pressure from the Tigers, a penalty was conceded right on the Quins line. With the crowd demanding a kick to the corner, Johnson instructed Goode to take the points which he duly did. 20 –13.

The next 5 minutes saw Quins exerting a deal of pressure on the Tigers without ever really threatening to score, and this lack of incision was compounded when the referee awarded Tigers a dubious penalty within kicking range. A Tigers scrum was being successfully wheeled by Quins when, just as it got to 90 degrees, the front rows popped up. Quite why the referee believed the Quins would do this when they were about to gain possession is slightly baffling, but the ensuing penalty was slotted by Goode to take the score just before the hour to 23 –13.

On 60 minutes the usual spate of replacements were made, with Jones, Leonard and Ace replacing Worsley, Dawson and Sheriff.

Within a few minutes a successful penalty from Dunne brought Quins to within 7 points at 23 – 16. The home crowd were getting slightly nervous now, as the home team wasted a number of potentially dangerous overlaps.

On 67 minutes Billy Davison replaced Karl Rudzki, and following a rare miss by Goode, Quins pounced on a defensive mistake to score their second try of the night (71 mins). A high ball was knocked backwards by a Leicester defender into space where Tani picked it up, made good ground and released Josh. He still had plenty to do to score but showed strength and pace to force his way over the line right in the corner. The crowd obviously believed the scoring pass to have been forward but the referee awarded the try. Andy Dunne missed a difficult touchline conversion to leave the scoreboard reading 23 – 21.

The next 5 minutes showed both sides pressing for a decisive score. Following a Tigers scrum about 10m from the Quins line Jaco Van der Westhuyzen burst through the centre to go in under the posts. Again Goode added the conversion to make the score with only 3 minutes to play 30 –21.

In the last minute of normal time Quins were awarded a penalty just inside the Tigers half. With Andy Dunne having been replaced by Rob Jewell, the ball was handed to Josh to attempt the kick, his first in the first team. Despite striking it well the ball sailed wide left of the posts to dent Quins a deserved bonus point.

The last few minutes of injury time saw Quins attempting to run the ball from all parts of the pitch, but a potentially promising back line move ended with a floated pass to Harvey the Invisible winger. This was effectively the last move of the match and the referee blew shortly after.

After the game Mark Evans seemed satisfied with the commitment and spirit shown by the team, particularly in not giving in when 17 – 0 down. He pointed out that we were a number of key players short and seemed confident that we can turn it round at the Stoop next Saturday. Players like Vos, Monye, Harder, Bell and Burke will certainly make a difference.

Overall a disappointing result, again highlighting the damage that a moment of indiscipline can cause. In our last two games we have conceded 6 tries of which 5 have been when we are down to 14 players. The forwards acquitted themselves well, and the Tigers only managed one of their trademark rolling mauls on a couple of occasions. Evans and Rudzki looked sharp and Pat Sanderson won a number of important balls from the Tigers. The backs never really had enough quality ball to produce many dangerous attacks, but I thought Josh and Mel did well in the centres. The main concern would still appear to be a lack of consistent kicking from hand.

Although I do not usually believe in criticising the referee, he did have a very poor game, missing numerous knock ons, offsides and forward passes. Quite how Graham Rowntree escaped unpenalised all night is a mystery as, at rucks and mauls, he was usually to be found on Andy Dunne’s toes before the ball got there!!!

Anyway, we must look forwards not backwards, and with some players back and a bit more discipline, we can get our revenge next week.