By Old King's No.8
January 8 2007

Following two relatively narrow losses at the Stoop and the Rec in the preceding European Challenge Cup group matches, 6 January saw Quins take on Bath for the third time in five weeks in what most would regard as the more important business of the Guinness Premiership.

This time, Quins came out on top - again by a small margin - thanks to their greater discipline in what could only be described as atrocious conditions and the boot of Adrian Jarvis, who scored three penalties to Olly Barkley’s one, leaving the full-time score at 9 – 3 and sending the majority of the 11,000 crowd home happy if rather damp.

Bath were pinned back in their half of the pitch for almost all of the first 40 minutes, giving the Stoop turf the appearance of a Quins shirt sleeve at half time as the south was churned into a dark sludge whilst the north remained verdant and largely untouched. As Jarvis kicked off towards the south west corner, the rain was already lashing down and it wasn’t long before puddles of standing water began to appear. The conditions therefore dictated the nature of the match from the outset and those of us who had anticipated respectable scores for both teams quickly realised that any hope of scoring many prediction league points had evaporated. Bath collected the kick-off and cleared to touch on their own 10m line and Quins used the line-out ball to set up a series of drives around the fringes before kicking into space in the Bath 22. The ball was again cleared to touch and although, with the conditions becoming even more torrential, Bath won the sloppy line-out only to give away a free-kick, resulting in yet more hard yards from the Quins forwards. Bath were penalised for failing to roll away in the middle of the pitch about 30 metres out and Jarvis made the kick to give Quins a 3 – 0 lead with three minutes on the clock.

Quins seemed to go to sleep at the restart with several players stood looking at the ball as it was knocked backwards off a Bath player, but the torpor was mercifully short lived and Quins were able to take advantage of the first of many inevitable knock-ons to clear the ball to touch. Bath took their line-out quickly, allowing Dave Pearson to make his first dodgy decision of the day when he adjudged another knock-on to have gone backwards. Bath cleared up-field and Quins ran the ball back into contact only to concede a penalty which gave Bath a line-out on inside the Quins 10m line. Quins were tackling well with the quality of the Volley, Vos and Easter backrow combination proving invaluable given the conditions. With the ball squirting around on the floor Keogh was able to hack it into touch inside the Quins 22 to give Bath their best attacking platform of the game to that point, but Ollie Kohn, who had a monumental impact both in the line-out and in the tight, stole the ball and was pulled down. Jarvis cleared the ball away to the 10m line and ease the pressure.

A poor, long line-out saw possession conceded to Bath. However, the lack of discipline that Bath had shown in the ECC (noted before the match by Deano) began to surface again as they gave away a penalty for holding on. Although AJ missed touch, the receiver spilt the slippery ball forwards and Quins had the first scrum of the match inside Bath’s 10m line. With the Bath scrum weakened thanks to the absence of the banned Mears and Grewcock and Borthwick’s lack of match fitness, the Quins pack had the upper hand in the scrum for the majority of the match. After David Barnes, the Bath loose-head, had gone down twice, Nick Easter drove off the base of the scrum and the ball finally made its way down the back line. Despite going through some phases, the ball was eventually (and perhaps inevitably) dropped allowing Bath to clear to touch on the half-way line.

The cycle of clearances, line-outs, mistakes and scrums continued for the majority of the half, although Quins were having the better of the line-outs thanks to Fuga’s more accurate throwing and the imperious Kohn. Bath’s continuing failure to recycle the ball quickly in the face of the Quins back row produced another kickable penalty, although Jarvis’s second attempt was unsuccessful. It was followed by a worse drop-out, which gave Quins a good attacking opportunity through Vos’s drive, only for Jordan Turner-Hall to drop the ball in midfield during an attempted switch that might have been a little too adventurous for the conditions. More handling errors resulted in a Bath scrum almost on the Quins 22, and this time Bath were able to get their act together in the scrum and cause some problems, but the following chip through was knocked on and Quins cleared back down-field to touch. Another quick Bath line-out was taken but when the ball was chipped over the line a Bath player was penalised for obstruction. With play moving back into Bath’s territory, Quins managed to produce good line-out ball which was quickly shipped out by Danny Care, playing superbly in the conditions and allaying the pre-match fears about the loss of both Gommarsall and So’oailo to injury. Jarvis put Strettle through the middle and another battle of attrition began near the Bath line, but solid defence saw the ball turned over and cleared. 

With the rain still pouring down, Quins continued to drive round the fringes and were eventually able to set up a rolling maul which trundled towards the south east corner only for Quins to knock on. From the clearance Quins won their line-out (eventually) with Jarvis dropping on the ball after it went to ground. Having recyled the ball and got back into position, Jarvis chipped over for Strettle who hacked the ball on. Although there was a scramble for the ball over the line, appearing to involve both Vos and Turner-Hall, Pearson decided that the ball had been knocked on and refused to award a try. Much less understandable was his decision to award a scrum to Bath following Easter’s charge down shortly thereafter. 

With half an hour gone Quins had all the possession and all the territory, so it was frustrating that those factors weren’t being converted into points, particularly since Quins had the benefit of the wind in the first half. An opportunity arose when Borthwick was pinged for another obstruction, but AJ scuffed the kick which went under the bar. Care collected the restart and off-loaded to Easter who drove in and set up the ruck for Care to put a sublime box-kick into the corner. Bath’s line-out wasn’t straight and indiscipline at the following scrum saw them penalised again. This time, Jarvis was on target and Quins extended their lead to 6 – 0. 

The restart saw some excitement as Fuga broke through the maul and set off down the pitch with Volley in support. The Quins captain was eventually caught but he got the ball back well and Care span it out left. However, the Bath wing read AJ’s chip into space well and was able to get back in time for the mark. More handling errors saw play move into Quins’ half, but more indiscipline at the line-out saw Bath penalised for diving over and Jarvis was able to clear back into opposition territory. Although the line-out was knocked on, Quins dominated the scrum and won another penalty. This time the line-out was solid, but there was insufficient time left for any serious scoring opportunity to be created before half-time. 

The second half saw a much more evenly matched performance as Bath stepped up a gear and began to exert some serious pressure on the Quins line. Mercifully, the rain stopped during the interval and to the extent that any fell during the second period it was significantly lighter than what we had witnessed earlier. Nevertheless, the ground was thoroughly soaked by this time with standing water and mud everywhere. 

The improved weather had an effect on the quality of the rugby being played as both teams were able to cut down on the unforced errors that had plagued the first half. Quins back row continued to do an excellent job in defence, slowing the ball down expertly without being punished by Pearson. However, a penalty was awarded early on for pulling down in the line-out but Barkley’s kick was short and left of the posts to the south. Following the drop-out, Mike Brown took one of his superb, trademark aerial catches as Bath returned the ball, but he was unable to keep hold of it in the tackle to build on that piece of skill. 

Having stolen Bath’s lineout ball, the Quins pack set up another rolling maul which travelled a good 20 yards up-field with Bath players continually being ejected from an off-side position, earning Quins a penalty. A short throw to Aston Croall in the line-out, which proved a popular and effective choice in the second half, saw more hard yards gained and another penalty for not rolling away, but AJ’s goal attempt flew far to the right. Although JTH chased up quickly, Bath got to the ball first and were able to prevent the first try of the match. 

At this point, Bath began a number of substitutions while Quins stuck with the 15 men on the pitch much further into the half. Ugo also began to get a look in, first chasing an up-and-under from AJ, shortly afterwards clearing well down the touchline from inside his own 22 in the manner than he seems to have been working on this year, such is the regularity with which he makes such effective clearances. Bath now appeared to be kicking away almost all of their possession, presumably in the hope that Quins would give them a set piece up-field. The tactic worked when Brown failed to get his usual distance on a clearance, and Quins were penalised for pulling down in the line-out. Barkley took an age over his kick, but this time he was accurate and Bath recorded their only points of the match, bringing the score to 6 – 3 with 16 minutes of the second half played. 

Quins continued to have the best of it in the scrum, forcing another penalty which, again, Jarvis was unable to convert. Following an exchange of kicks, Bath cleared straight to touch giving Quins a line-out just outside the Bath 22. Quins built some pressure with another good rolling maul, with Bath players coming in from the side again and finally managing to pull it down inside their 22. Following a cross-kick that came to nothing, AJ’s penalty to the north east corner saw the Barnes sin-binned for pulling down in the line-out. A number of solid Quins scrums followed which included another penalty against Bath, although Pearson never looked like walking under the posts and Bath eventually won the ball against the head to clear out. Monye ran the ball back in and Bath were again penalised for killing the ball. Quins took the scrum and proceeded to demolish the Bath pack, producing another penalty that Jarvis converted to put the score at 9 – 3 with only 15 minutes remaining. 

Bath began to play their best rugby of the day, looking for the converted try that would win the match. They managed to put together a run of good phases, taking play deep into Quins territory. With their forwards battering the fringes on the Quins line, one feared the worst, but an error on the line allowed Quins to clear the danger. 

With play back in midfield, Mike Brown went up after Danny Care’s box kick and collided with a Bath player who, perhaps inevitably given the full-back’s apparent invincibility, came off worst but was fortunately able to play on. Quins were awarded the scrum and AJ kicked into space in the Bath 22, the ball eventually being cleared by Bath to the half-way line. Again, the ball went to Croall and a further drive was initiated but Bath came away with the ball, only for their 18 to get nailed in mid-field by a crunching hit from Turner-Hall. Scrum Quins. However, when Sonic took the ball into contact, Quins were penalised for diving over and Bath found touch just outside Quins’ 22. Quins stole the lineout again and Bath were penalised for a high tackle on Care. Jarvis put Quins on the Bath 10m line with four minutes to go. 

Pearson saw a knock on by Quins in the line-out and the home side were then pinged for offside at the scrum. Barkley put Bath in the south west corner with his kick, despite a good effort by Mike Brown to take what looked like a very quick line-out. However, the touch judge wasn’t impressed and the packs lined up for a nail-biting end to the match – if Bath could win their line-out and push over, a good kick from Barkley would steal it. However, up went Spanghero and Danny Care’s spectacular box-kick cleared the danger. Bath frantically tried to counter-attack but a chip over went too far. Brown called the mark and the ball was cleared to touch on the Quins 10m line. As the countdown clock ran out, Quins stole the line-out again and hoofed the ball into touch. Pearson pointed to the tunnel and the Stoop went bananas, although my Bath-supporting chum Rob appeared rather less enthused. Ollie Kohn was deservedly named man of the match. 

Dean Richards was obviously pleased with the result and the four points, and praised the efforts of the back row and the pack as a whole. Whilst he felt that Quins should have avoided being back on their 5m line in the dying minutes, he felt the line-out steal was superb. When asked whether Quins had turned (yet another?) corner, Deano pointed to the hard start to the season and said that it had simply been a matter of keeping the confidence up. He also noted the strength available on the bench. As for the exclusion of Mel Deane, despite his great performance in the Newcastle match, Deano felt that Jordan’s greater physical presence was more appropriate for the Bath game and that he confirmed the selection with an exceptional performance. As for the England A squad, Dean said that he was disappointed more Quins players were not in both the A squad and the full squad, pointing to Will Skinner, Jordan Turner-Hall and Andy Gommarsall as players who he felt should be involved. It seems Gommers will be back playing for Quins soon though. Dean was pleased with the way Stuart Abbott had been playing since his return from injury and expressed surprise that he wasn’t in the senior England squad. As for the referee, Dean revealed that the last time Dave Pearson had reffed a Quins game we had conceded 21 penalties, so the discipline for the Bath game had been very important. As for Quins’ league ambitions, Deano said that as long as the team performed well he was unconcerned about the league position. Let’s hope that things stay that way for the remainder of the season.

Teams:

NEC Harlequins
Mike Brown, David Strettle, Stuart Abbott, Jordan Turner-Hall, Simon Keogh, Adrian Jarvis, Danny Care, Aston Croall, Tani Fuga, Mike Ross, Ollie Kohn, Nicolas Spanghero, Andre Vos, Paul Volley, Nick Easter
Replacements: Jimmy Richards, Ricky Nebbett, Simon Miall, Chris Hala'ufia, Will Skinner, Hal Luscombe, Ugo Monye

Bath Rugby
Michael Stephenson, Joe Maddock, Chev Walker, Olly Barkley, Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu, Shaun Berne, Andy Williams, David Barnes, Pieter Dixon, Terry Sigley, Steve Borthwick, Hottie Louw, Andy Beattie, James Scaysbrook, Zak Feau'nati
Replacements
: Rob Hawkins, Aaron Jarvis, Peter Short, Rob Fidler, Gareth Delve, Nick Walshe, Chris Malone

Scorers:
NEC Harlequins: Penalties: Adrian Jarvis (3)
Bath Rugby: Penalty: Olly Barkley