By Poorfour
April 23 2013

In 1791, Mozart wrote The Magic Flute with his friend Emmanuel Schikaneder. The plot lurches around oddly and makes little to no sense. The music was written to fit the limitations of the available singers, and Mozart’s own health was failing as he wrote it. After the glories of the three Mozart-da Ponte operas - Cosi Fan Tutte, Don Giovanni and Le Nozze de Figaro – all tautly plotted and exquisitely orchestrated, The Magic Flute is a mess. 

And yet, somehow, it is a triumph. The story of Prince Tamino’s quest through multiple ordeals to achieve enlightenment and prove himself worthy of the fair Pamina is an extended advert for Freemasonry, and has moments that are wandering and sometimes downright incomprehensible, but it’s tremendous fun and its high points are as sublime as it gets. Mozart, even off-form, still had what it took.

On Saturday, what is arguably Quins’ first fifteen took the field for the first time since the brilliantly conceived and exquisitely executed Premiership final last year. Struggling for form and with the glories of last season looking a little faded, a coachload of dedicated fans were desperate to discover if Quins still had what it takes. We arrived in the late spring sunshine to a packed and buzzing Sixways where Worcester’s fans were taking it seriously enough that the programmes had sold out half an hour before kick off. Suitably fortified with beer, we took our seats to what turned out to be a statement of intent: Joe Marler’s newly bleach-blond Mohawk vying with the crest on the home mascot’s helmet. Fun, if you like that sort of thing.

The opening minutes were all over the place, both literally and figuratively, Andy Goode made a mess of the kick off, good attacking play was undone by lazy rucking and committed counter-rucking. Easy penalties were given and squandered in sloppy lineouts. And then Quins incomprehensibly left a ball lying free on the ground after a ruck, Worcester picked it up and worked it wide to Drauniniu, who fixed Mike Brown and timed his pass to send the excellent Chris Pennell, at fullback, in for an easy try. 7-0 in the 13^th minute.

Evans reduced the deficit with a penalty earned moments later, followed by a penalty won from Worcester’s kick off. Easter took the lineout on half way, Evans made a half-break and released Fa’asavalu who charged downfield and was stopped just short. A couple of quick phases saw Evans with options outside him but also with a lock, a prop and a chink of light in front of him. He shimmied over to score and coolly added the extras. 7-10 at 18 minutes.

Goode levelled  the scores three minutes later; Quins were penalised when Chris Robshaw’s invisible twin didn’t roll away. At least, I assume that’s who it was, because Joe Marler had already released and Robshaw himself was a) not the tackler and b) on his feet and contesting the ball. A failed short kick off saw Worcester hoof the ball downfield and isolate Care to earn a less disputable pop at goal. Goode, as is his idiom, made no mistake. 13-10 with only a quarter of the game gone.

An extended sequence of knock-ons and scrums followed which eventually ended up pretty much where they had started, 5 minutes of game time later. This time, like Tamino, Quins responded to this ordeal with actions, not words. Finally securing the ball and getting it away without knocking on, Quins produced a sequence that I’ve described in my notes as “languid”. It all looked too relaxed to result in any forward progress, but suddenly Quins were on the 5m line and a trademark drive-and-place-back from Brown gave Care plenty of time to put a long pass in the path of Tom Williams. Evans wasn’t able to convert from the corner, but we were back ahead, 13-15, with ten minutes to go in the first half.

After some back-and-forth stuff, Quins won a penalty and a 5m lineout from the scrum, which was going well for Quins especially when Matthews and Kohn were both in harness (Robson taking time out for a wholly predictable nosebleed). The resulting maul took time to set but eventually drew in enough players – Tom Williams included – to allow Care to take the ball from the back, slip beneath the grasping arms of Goode, and pop the ball down. Evans missed a second, much easier conversion, but at 13-20 the score was beginning to look comfortable, especially when Quins won a lineout from the restart as Brown’s clearance was touched in flight. But a silly box kick gave Drauniniu a chance to run it back and earn Goode a kick at goal from near half way. The half ended 16-20.

The Magic Flute’s most sublime moment happens early in the second half. The Queen of the Night uncovers Tamino’s plan to achieve enlightenment and responds with a famously beautiful and demanding aria in which she declares that Hell’s vengeance boils in her heart. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, imagine Chris Pennell’s break at the opening of the second half in musical form. From a loose clearance kick, he dances around 5 Quins defenders and sends Alex Grove under the posts. Tries – and vengeance - don’t come much better.

Goode consolidated the lead with a penalty for Quins being offside after Worcester turned over the ball from the kick off. 26-20 in the 45^th minute. Thus began the second part of Quins’ ordeal, as for the next five minutes they were unable to put any real pressure on Worcester. Then Mike Brown somehow found his way upfield having fielded an overthrown quick lineout from Williams, and a series of quick rucks saw Robshaw take a double tackle and offload to Fa’asavalu. Big Mo, growing in confidence throughout the game, ran through the gap, fixed Goode and left Care with only Pennell to beat. Evans again missed the conversion but did manage a penalty minutes later. 26-28 and 25 minutes to go.

Around this point, Buchanan came on for Gray and Botica for JTH. More seriously, Robshaw twisted an ankle coming down from a lineout and left the field. COS was confident after the game that he would be back for the semi-finals, though.  There followed a passage of play in which neither side really achieved ascendancy. Too often, from a Quins perspective, ball was won only to be turned over through lax rucking. Too often. from a Worcester perspective, promising ball was given away through penalties or poor set piece play.

Then there was a sequence of moments that were both sublime and ridiculous at the same time. Firstly, Tom Williams touched down a grubber from Evans only for him to be adjudged over the dead ball line. In fairness, his knee might have been but there was no TMO and it was a tough call not to allow it. Then Worcester replacement Carlisle attempted a clearance kick that hit Evans in the throat, and shot down into his arms with a little help from his knee. The miracle was that he held onto it; the try and conversion that followed were a formality. 26-35 in the 66^th minute.

The final score of the game came six minutes later. Big Mo, went through Worcester like a one-man wrecking ball, leaving three of their players needing treatment and plenty of room for Brown to score. Unfortunately, in Taulava’s case the injury was serious and he was taken from the field on a stretcher; there doesn’t appear to be any news yet on what it was, but he was moving his arms and legs as he was carried off so I hope it is only a concussion.

I managed to buttonhole John Kingston as he walked through the car park with Tony Diprose and some of the other Quins staff after the game. His verdict was mirrored – somewhat more forcefully – by Conor’s reaction to a reporter on TV, but I bet most of you have seen that so I thought I’d give you JK’s words:

“We’re pleased with the result, but there’s a lot to work on in terms of the performance. We’re not happy to give away two tries, or with how long it took to pull away from them, but six tries is six tries, and there’s not many teams that have come here and done that.”

Overall, it was like the Magic Flute. Fun and flawed in equal measure, with moments to rival the best the game has to offer, and others that served only to remind us that the Quins senior squad have not fired on all cylinders in 2013. But a little of the magic was back on Saturday, and with the Mozart of DoRs in charge, we may yet find perfection when we need it.