Harlequins
Quins 29-23 Saracens: The Triumph of Hope over Expectation
By poorfour
January 16 2016
Before this game there was some debate about why both Eddie Jones and BT Sport had chosen to visit Welford Rosd rather than The Stoop. Perhaps he expected more from the traditionally fiery and close-fought Leicester-Northampton derby than a London one that in recent times has only ever resulted in an easy win for the Men In Black. If the strength of the Quins' teamsheet offered a little cause for hope, few of us can have come to the Stoop today expecting to take more than a losing bonus point away.
(before we go any further, I should point out this piece was written on the day of the match, before any of the disciplinary hearings took place. I delayed the publication in the interests of not overloading the board traffic - DOK)
Three late withdrawals added to the sense of inevitability. Dave Ward came in for Nick Easter, who was released from the squad because his father, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, has apparently been taken ill. Our thoughts are with him and his family.
Tim Swiel's replacement by Charlie Walker was the least concerning. The biggest concern, in playing terms, was Will Collier's withdrawal. Conor said afterwards that we had suffered a spate of concussions to our props in Monday night's A League game, and Will had failed to pass the return to play protocol. He is expected to be back next week, along with Lambert, Evans and Sinckler, but his absence today left us with no recognised tighthead prop on the bench.
Quins kicked off under a deeply overcast sky but without the forecast heavy rain. A strong kick chase saw Quins recover the clearance in an attacking position near halfway. Playing with tempo, Quins worked their way to the 22 over four or five phases and seemed to have won a kickable breakdown penalty only for the TMO to reveal Horwill's arm connecting with the back of Kruis's neck in a ruck. The Australian lock saw yellow, the penalty was reversed and a worrying period ensued as Kruis was carefully lifted off the field. He was replaced by Itoje.
In the after match press briefing, Mark McCall confirmed that Kruis had been knocked out and would be following the concussion return to play protocols but otherwise seemed unharmed. He also claimed that the card should have been red for a swinging arm, while Conor claimed that it was an unfortunate accident, Kruis falling into the path of Horwill's attempt to bind onto the ruck. Nevertheless, he said that he understood the card - - players need to be protected¯.
The resulting Sarries lineout on Quins' 10m line led to a scrum, a penalty against Quins, a lineout, a collapsed maul, another lineout, another illegally stopped maul, a scrum (with Roberts standing at 8), a scrum penalty, another scrum, another scrum penalty, a talking to for Marler, another scrum, another penalty and a final scrum where Robshaw instructed the forwards to allow the pushover try rather than concede a penalty try and a second yellow. De Kock dotted down, and Farrell converted. 0-7.
New-ish referee Craig Maxwell-Keys allowed Quins more leeway than Wayne Barnes had the previous week, and Quins used it effectively. With hindsight, it showed a streetwise aspect to our play that is often lacking, especially against Sarries. By now, ten minutes were gone and - crucially - Horwill was free to return once Goode had cleared the restart to touch..
Quins went on the attack from the lineout, Evans sparking a backs move, but Yarde was too static receiving the ball and got smothered. Clifford generated some momentum, only for Jamie Roberts to drop a pass. Sarries counterattacked and Goode put a slightly-too-clever grubber through that bounced into touch. The lineout was followed by a knock-on, a scrum, a penalty and a lineout from which de Kock broke, winning a kickable penalty at the breakdown for¦ well, I couldn't see what. Fortunately, Poorfour's Law of Undeserved Penalties applied and Farrell missed.
Goode returned the 22 restart with an up-and-under, claimed confidently by Brown, and Horwill chased up Care's box kick, winning a breakdown penalty and a lineout on Sarries' 22, Matthews claimed the ball far back at the tail and popped it to Care, who nipped through the middle of the lineout and released Buchanan to charge over and score. Evans missed the tricky conversion. 5-7, with 18 minutes left in the half.
An exchange of kicks ensued from the restart, ending when Farrell put a very clever grubber through which Yarde fielded but knocked on in the tackle. The scrum did not, for once, result in a penalty, but gave Sarries enough momentum for Billy Vunipola to break from the base and charge through the Quins halfbacks from close range. 5-14.
Quins came back on the attack with a brave catch and scrambling run by Wallace, and after a series of inconclusive moves earned an advantage. A drop goal attempt flew wide, but Evans was good from the tee. 8-14 with 8 minutes remaining in the half.
The next phase of play saw the ball change hands several times, ultimately leading to a scrum as Matthews knocked on while going for an interception. This time Mako Vunipola went down, but the scrum was reset, and reset again before Sarries managed to spark a backs move only for Bosch to fumble a head-height pass. Quins won a free kick from the scrum for a blatant early shove, and ran the ball through multiple phases, with Chisholm making good ground. I wrote that Yarde was still not taking the ball at pace, only for him to take a lovely short pass from Care, at pace and on a strong line that took him, via several hand-offs, to the 5m line. Evans received the ball along with a charging defender, but deftly flicked it back inside to Clifford. With the line in sight and a hole in the defence courtesy of Evans' bravery, he was not going to be stopped. Evans made a straightforward conversion with the clock at zero, and Quins went into the dressing room with the score an improbable 15-14.
Clifford was, officially, replaced by Ward for a Head Injury Assessment, but retook the field after half time. Surely a record for the least time lost to a medical replacement?
The second half started with another kicking battle. Quins were kicking fairly well - Buchanan, for instance, retrieved a Care box kick - but Sarries were edging ahead in territory and launched an attack that lasted multiple phases and only ended when Brown made a tackle and jackal move that won a penalty. But Evans missed touch, and Sarries won a penalty outside the 22 that Farrell converted. 15-17.
Quins applied good pressure from the restart, giving Brown field position to break to the Sarries 22. The ball span wide to Roberts, who also made a break, but the Sarries defence reorganised and Quins made limited progress until Brown got the ball again and was tip-tackled by Farrell. TMO review resulted in... nothing; the only explanation I can offer is that perhaps Brown was not taken beyond the horizontal, though it looked very close to me. As a result, the previous play stood: Sarries had turned the ball over and kicked through to the Quins 22. Quins took the lineout and Care kicked to Vunipola on half way, but the kick chase was good enough to stop him getting momentum. The rain was falling heavily now and Sarries spilled the ball. Clifford broke from the resulting scrum, but after another exchange of kicks Itoje kicked the ball free from a ruck and Quins had to scramble to clear to their own 22.
The Quins defensive line was containing Sarries, but they earned a penalty outside the 22, which Farrell converted. 15-20 with 27 minutes to go, and a sense that the game was slipping away from us. Evans, having injured an ankle a few minutes earlier, hobbled off, with Botica taking over.Sarries, meanwhile, had brought Wigglesworth on for de Kock, and Burger (Jacques, rather than Schalk) on for Fraser.
A poor Quins lineout that Sarries recovered led to a break from Ellery and Saracens crossed the Quins line, but the TMO revealed a block at the start of the move (though Quins were perhaps lucky to avoid sanction for an off-the-ball tackle in the same move). The penalty led to a lineout near the Sarries' 22, which was again not taken and led to a Saracens scrum. Unable this time to shift the Quins 8, the Sarries pack stayed bound and Wigglesworth span the ball to Farrell, who ran across to the blindside and into a Robshaw-shaped wall.
A half-break from Botica came to nothing, and more kicking ensued. Ellery returned a clearance with interest that would make Wonga blush, and Botica smartly dotted it down with a foot over the dead ball line. The resulting scrum was reset once for an early shove, but then Quins won a penalty. Adam Jones looked shattered, but very happy, and Botica rewarded his efforts with 3 points. 18-20, and we were into the last 20 minutes with some new faces off the bench. For Saracens, Mako gave way to Gill; for Quins, Buchanan came off for Ward. .
A scuffed clearance gave Sarries a lineout near the 22, and an early shove on the maul gave them a chance at 3 points, which Farrell took. 18-23 and 16 minutes left.
Then came the decisive moment of the game. Gill and du Plessis each tackled Lowe and ended up delivering him to the ground head first. Fortunately he was not injured, and the initial yellow shown to Gill was changed to red when Assistant Ref Ashley Rowden suggested to Maxwell-Keys that he take another look. McCall had no complaints this time.
Quins took a lineout near the Saracens 22, but when Saracens conceded a second penalty for not releasing, Botica took the points. 21-23.
From the kick off, Quins cleared to their 10m and edged the depleted Saracens maul so close to the touchline that Wigglesworth clipped it trying to break down the blindside. Saracens took Horwill out in the air at the ensuing lineout, and Quins kicked to the 10m line. The lineout led to a fast-moving maul that went down very quickly. Saracens were not penalised for that, but conceded another penalty for not releasing in front of the posts and inside their 10. 24-23.
After another exchange of kicks, Brown fielded one from Farrell and found space behind the defence. The return fell through Yarde's arms but bounced backwards and he regathered. Botica received the ball and broke with support in tow, and tried to chip through but it bounced off Saracens legs. Fortunately, Robshaw recovered it, but eventually a knock on gave Saracens a scrum in midfield and - after a reset - a penalty. Saracens took a lineout outside the 22 and drove into the red zone through multiple phases. But Robshaw found a chance to kick the ball loose from a ruck, with the referee watching and waving play on, and it was claimed by Clifford, who stepped the Saracens backs and broke from 22 to 22. He had Chisholm in support and in space, but delayed the pass a fraction too long and was tackled. Fortunately for Quins, Sarries conceded a breakdown penalty, coming into the ruck from an offside position.
Aware that time was running down, Quins took the lineout option and after multiple pick-and-goes near the Saracens line, Horwill powered over. It felt right that Botica scuffed the conversion wide when Saracens charged it, preserving their hard-earned losing bonus point. The score ended 29-23.
Conor was keen to stress that this was only one game, but he was proud of the players and performance and felt the team had made huge progress. He singled out the way the team had responded to Saracens' early scores, and Adam Jones for lasting the full 80 minutes rather than expose a non-specialist to Mako or Gill. - From minute one we were very physical, and I'm delighted for these players because these matches are the ones we don't forget.¯
Perhaps the finest compliment was paid by Mark McCall: - I don't think we deserved to win. Our discipline was not good enough on the day.¯ Saracens' great strength (apart from their squad) has been their discipline and skill at playing smart rugby from 1 to 15. That they lost that today shows how much this Quins side rattled them.
With Leicester winning the Midlands melee and Exeter conquering Gloucester in the weekend's third derby, the top 4 in the AP strengthened their grip on the playoffs. Eight points separate Sarries in first from Tigers in fourth, with Exeter and Quins between them, and seven separate Tigers from Saints in fifth.
We are well-placed as we go into what is likely to be a disruptive 6N period for all the top teams. Steve Borthwick was apparently in the crowd and would have seen strong performances from many of the two dozen or so EQPs on show. The best were probably from Brown - back to something like his best, Robshaw, Farrell, Mako, George and Clifford. Quins mostly had the better of the breakdown, so maybe Wallace has done his case some good. But as Conor put it - We've all talked to Eddie and like you we're having a good old guess at who will be there [in the EPS].¯ It won't be too long now til we know.
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Quote:DOK
I think this report is jinxed. That's the third time I've had to redo it. But so worth reading that I persevered!
Thanks DOK, appreciate your persistence.
Points out the two moments of small but significant genius from the senior players. The NEV pass down to Clifford and the Robshaw kick out of the ruck
