Harlequins
Match Report: Harlequins 39-8 Newcastle
By Sundance
November 28 2011
At this time of the year, with the long, dark nights drawing in and months of winter ahead, the Sunday evening blues can really start to kick in. Thank goodness, then, for the amazing antidote of the Mighty Quins, who continue to carry all before them. Monday mornings have never felt so good.
This game had ‘banana skin’ written all over it, and for at least 30 minutes of the first half, Newcastle looked keen to continue their role of bogey side for Harlequins.
Conor O’Shea had reminded anyone who wanted to listen during the week that Newcastle had beaten Quins twice in the latter half of last season. In particular, the Anglo-Welsh semi-final defeat at home to the Falcons still stuck painfully in the memory.
That may well have helped galvanise Quins into an impressive performance. Once they had started to loosen the Newcastle shackles, the running moves and offloads started to come and, in the end, the home side were extremely good value for their six tries and bonus point win which took them nine points clear of Saracens.
If Quins can keep their feet on the ground and the squad can remain durable, surely a top four finish is theirs this season. Perhaps they could even go one step further than the second place they secured in Dean Richards’ last season in charge.
With Robshaw a late withdrawal and Easter going off towards the end of the first half after a vintage 35 minutes of number 8 play, suddenly Quins found themselves playing with an unbalanced back row of three number 7s.
On another day it might have cost them but Skinner returned to the fray looking like a man with a point to prove. Wallace, stepping into Easter’s position, may have struggled to control the ball at the base of a dominant scrum but he still produced a trademark try from a rolling maul — the decisive score 15 minutes into the second half — and did all his now-customary quality work in the loose.
Injuries may yet start to hurt Quins though. York is out, Guest is yet to return and Easter went off. Big Mo was also replaced towards the end of the match. How much depth is left in the squad?
On the plus side, Hopper continued his accelerated learning curve with an improving performance in the centre, alongside a superlative Turner-Hall, who, worryingly, had to leave the field after a clash with Fa’asavalu.
Clegg also stepped up to the plate against his former club once Evans had left the field to a standing ovation for another masterclass, around the hour mark, with the result safely in the bag. Clegg’s passing is sublime, his kicking is reliable and he will be needed in the weeks to come. Evans cannot play every game.
Another man probably due a rest soon — although try telling him that — is Mike Brown. A second consecutive man-of-the-match performance from the full back showed that he must be pressing Foden for the England jersey now.
He has added real pace and attacking threat to his game since he first played for England and his running from deep, particularly in the second half, was devastating.
Smith and Stegman also looked extremely dangerous with the ball in hand and Stegman took both of his tries really well. His score in the first half came after Quins looked like they might squander several minutes of dominance without putting any serious points on the board. As he seemingly ran out of options down the right wing, he decided to back himself and went scooting past three or four defenders on the outside to give Quins their first try.
Newcastle replied with a really well taken try after an old-school switch move off the back of a scrum. With the whole back line spread out to the right, Gopperth ran the ball back left and the Falcons worked an overlap to bring the tally back to 10-5.
That looked like it might be the half-time score until Smith made a lovely break down the left and found Turner-Hall in support who delayed his offload out of the tackle long enough to give an easy run in to Care.
In the second half concerted Quins pressure forced two yellow cards from Newcastle which seemed to suck all the wind out of their sails. Wallace’s try put Quins almost out of reach and from that moment on it was just a question of whether the home side could find the bonus point try.
In the end, Brown, Stegman and then, triumphantly, Johnston proved that Harlequins are well worth their nine point lead at the top of the table.
Now, with 13 wins from 13, it becomes a question of how far can this team go on all three fronts. O’Shea faces a highly congested fixture list over the next few weeks and has some juggling to do as the injuries start to mount. He may well consider resting some players against Wasps next Sunday, to be able to put out his strongest side against Toulouse at home only five days later.
In the past, we might have considered the away trip to Adams Park as a lost cause. Now Quins may regard it as, strategically, a battle to be conceded for the sake of winning the bigger wars ahead.
However, a winning habit is not one to be thrown away willingly. Tough decisions for the coach.
But in the meantime, let’s just look at that table again. Nine points clear and unbeaten going into December. Is this the blues I’m singing?
Tries: Stegmann 2, Care, Wallace, Brown, Johnston; Cons: Evans 2, Clegg; Pens: Evans
Tries: Manning; Pens: Gopperth
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Stumbleupon28/11/2011 09:35
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"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to bleat about it all over the internet"
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[www.guardian.co.uk]
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[www.premiershiprugby.com]
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Edit: One from up north:-
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2011:11:28:11:15:04 by Bolly-Quin.
It does make Monday morning a smiley one!
One thing from the above posts though - why does anyone think that by resting players we will be a weakened squad? I wouldn't suggest that a rotated side will struggle against Wasps! There will be no sacrifice
