Harlequins
Harlequins 16-17 London Wasps, 9th February 2013
By poorfour
February 11 2013
We can’t say he didn’t warn us. It was right there on ESPN before the game. Dai Young clearly stated that you can’t win games against Quins by sitting back and letting them come to you. You have to get up on the line and attack them. And his team were as good as his word.
The game started brightly with Charlie Matthews recovering the ball from the kick-off. Quins were making ground and moving the ball well, even though the first possession ended in a penalty to Wasps for diving over at the breakdown. Wasps own attack, though industrious, didn’t seem to be making much headway and Nicky Robinson kicked away possession after a couple of phases.
The pattern was repeated: Quins making some good yards only to give away a penalty, this time in kickable distance. Robinson’s attempt drifted wide, and Quins recovered the dropout, only for Nick Evans to find a pass from Joe Gray bouncing between his knees. Although he fielded the ball, the Wasps line was closing and his pass to Ugo was telegraphed. Varndell picked it off and trotted under the posts to score. This time, Robinson’s kick was good. 0-7, 9 minutes played.
Quins responded by recovering the restart and winning a kickable penalty, but Evans pushed it wide. Quins recovered the dropout and after a couple of forward drives, sent the ball wide to Williams whose chip and chase was a good idea but left him with just too much to do once Varndell’s smart positioning forced him off his running line.
Wasps recovered possession following an exchange of kicks and Wade burst down the right wing, exchanging with Daly and Bell before receiving the ball back to run in the try. Robinson again made the kick. 0-14, 14 minutes.
Quins began to claw themselves back into the game, finding some momentum despite a committed Wasps defence, and eventually earning a penalty in midfield, followed by a kickable one directly from the resulting lineout. This time, Evans converted. 3-14, 19 min.
Quins came back blazing from the restart, Wasps conceding one penalty for a high tackle, and then Chris Bell failed to wrap his arms on a marginally late tackle on Dickson and received a yellow for his trouble. Quins continued to play at a frantic tempo. Not all the passes went to hand, but somehow they kept the ball moving until the Wasps defence was stretched. JJ barreled through a gap in the first line of defence, barging his way through Simpson. The ball found Hopper from the breakdown, and he chipped down the line, where it bamboozled Wade and Southwell before bouncing obligingly into Hopper’s hands for an easily converted try. A touch of good fortune, perhaps, but also a reward for some fast, exciting play. 10-14, 22 minutes.
Quins dealt with restart poorly but the ball somehow found its way to Wallace, who floated a lovely pass to Ugo, who in turn skinned Wade and made his way upfield… only for the pass to be ruled forward. Scrum to Wasps, deep in the Quins 22… but Rhys Thomas engaged early. Quins cleared, Wasps kicked it back, Ugo claimed the mark and Wasps decided to run the ball back, earning a long range penalty when Luke Wallace failed to roll away. Daly’s kick was comfortably short.
The first half ended as the second half would be played, with a string of inconclusive passages of play. Eventually Quins win a penalty and opt for the lineout with the clock nearly dead. When the rolling maul fails to drive over, Quins still have another penalty coming and Evans converts to end the half. 13-14.
The second half began with a couple of stunning attacking sequences featuring great breaks by Evans and Chisholm, but somehow the sequence ended with a penalty to Wasps that took them back to the Quins 22. Quins defused the attack, forced their way back to the Wasps 22, won a penalty, went for the scrum and conceded a penalty. Wasps then worked their way upfield with the help of a string of penalties conceded by Quins, until Robinson converted one. 13-17 with 20 minutes to go.
Then it was Quins’ turn to win a string of penalties, only this time Evans missed the pot at goal. Quins once again worked their way upfield, only to be turned over – but Wasps then made a forward pass in their own 22 and conceded a penalty from the scrum. This time, Nick Evans’ aim was good. 16-17.
It proved to be the last score of the game. The inconclusive passages continued. Daly had a long pot that missed, and Evans missed a long but central chance in the dying moments of the game.
A ten game winning streak had come to an end, but Conor O’Shea was phlegmatic. He was happy with the number of opportunities Quins had created, but disappointed that we hadn’t taken advantage of them. If you can create that many opportunities, you’ll win a lot of games but you won’t win them all. Otherwise the job would be too easy.
Overall, I share Conor’s lack of concern. It wouldn’t be winter without the odd disappointing loss, but even so Quins probably had the better overall game. Evans missed three makeable penalties, any one of which would probably have been enough to win. Guest, Hopper, Matthews and particularly Wallace had very good games. The only real cause for concern for me was leadership. At the moment, Quins lose something important but intangible when Robshaw isn’t on the field. It’s hard to know the answer, but as a start I would be inclined to make Wallace the captain rather than Easter. Appropriately enough for a man who would have been a med student if he hadn’t become a professional rugby player, there’s something clinical about Luke that I think a captain needs.
Ultimately, though, you can’t give Wasps a 14-point lead and expect to overhaul it. At least not twice in a season.
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Stumbleupon11/02/2013 12:26
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I guess the key thing for me this season is that even when we lose, we lose well. Last season we had a few games where Quins just weren't in the running at all, but in the Sarries and Wasps games in particular we've generally shaded the opposition in most aspects of the play and the loss has been down to a missed kick or two. It's definitely progress.
