By AlanQuin
October 10 2006

Despite their best performance of the season, Harlequins lost by a single point to Sale Sharks at The Twickenham Stoop to end their interest in the EDF Energy Cup.

The final score, 27 – 28, reflects a poor afternoon with the boot by fly-half Adrian Jarvis whose failures saw some thirteen points missed and a touch-seeking penalty which might have set an attacking platform find touch in goal.

The disappointment at the loss, however, is tempered by what was far and away the best performance by Quins this season.  They played good rugby, moving the ball wide at most opportunities and with good handling and support quickly to the breakdown.  They outscored their opponents by four tries to three.  They showed real determination, passion and skill. They played to the very end with commitment.

The determination manifested itself from the start as Quins claimed the kick-off and with a series of pick-ups and drives began moving towards Sale territory.  Then a fine break by Mike Brown and good support play pushed the visitors deep into their own twenty-two for the first scrum of the game on Quins’ put-in.  Quick ball went right to Luscombe who managed to pass out of the tackle to Craig Mc Mullen, a very late replacement for Stuart Abbott, to cross for the first try after only three minutes.  Jarvis added the conversion and Quins led 7 – 0.

Sale were soon on the attack and good pressure following a line-out aided by some slackness in defence allowed the Sale lock, Sean Cox, to stretch over the try-line to score.  The easy conversion levelled the scores with only seven minutes elapsed.  Quins were soon back on the attack and a scorching 40 metre break down the centre by Chris Hala’ufia took play deep into Sale territory and the ball was moved right to Hal Luscombe whose pass to Strettle allowed the winger to twist and force his way over for Quins’ second try.  Jarvis’ kick sailed wide and Quins led 12 – 7.

It took only a couple of minutes for Sale to narrow Quins’ lead as from the restart Quins conceded a penalty for not releasing the ball in the tackle and Larrechea kicked the points.  12 – 10 after only thirteen minutes.  Quins continue to press, gaining turn-over ball and seeking to run the ball through their backs but were forced into touch short of the line.  A penalty against Sale for pulling down a maul saw Jarvis increase the lead after twenty-three minutes but Quins almost immediately conceded a penalty for a high tackle by Hala’ufia and Larrechea kicked the points to bring the lead back to two points at 15 -13.

As the half-hour was reached Jarvis missed a penalty kick similar to that he had earlier scored from before injuries caused substantial hold-ups in the play.  First the Sale flanker, David Tait, appeared to have damaged his knee.  He was replaced by Fernandez Lobbe and then a few minutes later David Strettle appeared to receive a similar injury almost from the restart.   The Quins’ winger was stretchered off with what appeared to be an injury similar to that he sustained against Gloucester four weeks earlier and was replaced by Tom Williams.

Sale went on the attack as the half neared its end, driving Quins back and then managing to move the ball out to allow Ripol to squeeze in to the corner for a try that gave them the lead.  Again Larrechea converted and Sale led 15 – 20.  As time ran out the Sale centre Seviali’i received a yellow card for a dangerous tackle.  Despite attacking hard, Quins could make no immediate headway until Chabal was penalised for holding on in the tackle, but Jarvis again missed with his penalty kick and the half ended.

With a man advantage, Quins started the second half with determination and attack.  They made only one change at half-time with Aston Croall replacing Jimmy Richards.  A good attack down the left saw Monye just put into touch short of the line.  Sale regained possession from the line-out and pushed Quins back towards their own half until a careless back pass allowed possession to be returned to Quins.   Another penalty saw Quins call for a scrum and good movement of the ball again saw Monye on the attack but just put into touch again.  But with Quins keeping up the pressure it was Ugo Monye, with a repeat of the try he scored against Llanelli last week, who scythed through the centre to score under the posts leaving Jarvis an easy conversion and the lead at 22 – 20.

Despite Sale now being back to full strength, Quins continued to attack with Gommersall providing good ball from the rucks and Jarvis distributing with fine passes to move the backs into action.  Monye continued to threaten but was contained. He was not alone, however, and Mike Brown, Jarvis, Luscombe and Mc Mullen all continued to cause problems and pin Sale back into their own twenty-two.  Quins created chances but were  unable to finish them off in the face of desperate defence.

Substitutions began on both sides.  For Quins, Andre Vos replaced the injured Hala’ufia and Kohn gave way to Spanghero while Sale brought on Welsh international Mark Taylor in place of Chris Bell.  Harlequins continued to chase hard and harry their opponents at every opportunity and generally looked a better team than in any previous match this season. 

Despite holding on to their lead and threatening to increase it for almost half an hour of the second half, a penalty conceded at a scrum also cost the leas as Larrechea with his last kick of the match before he hobbled off with an foot injury slotted the kick to give Sale a one point lead at 22 – 23.

Jarvis continued to have a poor game with the boot. A penalty kick for touch which might have left Quins with a very good attacking platform found only touch in goal.

Then as time began to run out Chabal broke down the right touchline evading attempted tackles and was able to put Martens in for a try and although the conversion was missed as the ball hit the post, only a converted try in the remaining few minutes could give Quins the victory.

Another determined Quins’ attack saw Jim Evans almost across the line but a stoppage for repairs to Mark Cueto and a penalty to Quins led to another lineout.  Despite valiant efforts Quins attempt to drive over was stopped and the ball had to be spun wide out to the left where Tom Williams took the pass to score.  Jarvis was left with the daunting task of a conversion to win the match from near the left touchline.  He failed and another game was lost by a single point.

At the press conference following the game, Philippe Saint-Andre expressed his concerns at his injury list with two further injuries that afternoon to add to his already long list.  He was particularly concerned at losing Larrechea who was likely to be out for six or seven weeks and leave him with little cover when Hodgson was on international duty.

Saint-Andre, who rested a number of key players including Hodgson, Jason Robinson, Andrew Sheridan and French hooker Sebastien Bruno, said: "We've come here and changed a lot of players, a lot of young kids played and we looked OK when we had the ball.  When you change nine or 10 players it's difficult and the defence was sometimes shaky but I'm pleased with the character of my team and we won the game.  I can't say it was a very good performance but I was very pleased with the young guys. There were a lot of positive things today."

Despite seeing Harlequins lose for the sixth successive match, there were positive signs for Dean Richards, the Harlequins director of rugby.

"We scored four tries to three and played a hell of a lot of rugby and should have come away with the win, But we missed a lot of points with the boot and gifted them two soft tries.  But it was a better performance and we are starting to play better rugby."

Richards, who revealed that England centre Stuart Abbott was withdrawn three minutes before kick-off after his knee "tightened", refused to blame young fly-half Adrian Jarvis, who missed 13 points including the injury-time conversion attempt which could have snatched victory for Quins.

"I would never blame him.” He said. “We scored four tries and he was instrumental in all of them. He's improving with every game. With the amount of opportunities we had we should have scored a couple more tries so it shouldn't have come down to that," said Richards,

Asked about new signing Andy Gomarsall, the former England scrum-half who made his first start for the club, Dean said "I thought Andy played extremely well. His passing was excellent and he certainly gave us the go-forward we needed. He dictated the way we played," Richards added.

So effectively that ended Harlequins involvement in this year’s EDF Energy Cup leaving only a dead match against Newcastle Falcons to be played.  This is a team that is beginning to meld together and when Volley, Abbott and Mehrtens return will be well able to keep Quins in the Premiership.

Harlequins: M Brown; D Strettle (T Williams, 38), H Luscombe, C McMullen, U Monye; A Jarvis, A Gomarsall; C Jones, J Richards (A Croall, 40), M Ross (L Ward, 61), O Kohn (N Spanghero, 59), J Evans, N Easter (capt), C Hala'ufia (A Vos, 56), W Skinner.

Sale Sharks: M Cueto; O Ripol, C Bell (M Taylor, 59), E Seveali'i, S Hanley; D Larrechea (L Thomas, 72), B Foden (S Martens, 77); E Lewis-Roberts (S Turner, 40), N Briggs (P Gaona, 80), B Stewart (Lewis-Roberts, 66), S Cox, C Day (M Hills, 79), J White (capt), S Chabal, D Tait (JM Fernandez Lobbe, 31).

Referee: S Davey (Sussex).

Attendance: 10,219