Premiership Review - Harelquins 24 - 20 Leicester Tigers

Firstly, I should apologise for the delay in getting up a review of Friday’s game between Harlequins and Leicester.  If you’ve been waiting on tenterhooks for a write-up, I can only say sorry and politely suggest that you get out more – however, pressing matters have been holding my attention.  By that, I mean I’ve been enjoying the long Easter Weekend and in fact took an extra day’s holiday to really milk it for all it’s worth.  One of the highlights of every Easter for me though takes place on bank holiday Monday every year – it’s bottle kicking and it’s absolutely bonkers.

The premise of bottle kicking is that two villages literally fight to get a keg (the ‘bottle’) back to their land from the top of a hill between the two.  What results from this 200 year old tradition (and you can read the lore behind it here) is a 100-man maul – it’s chaotic, relentless and utterly compelling, and in those ways it reminded me of the spectacle we were treated to at the Stoop on Good Friday night.

Quins may have been riding high off the crest of a superb bonus point win at Sale and had a recent hoodoo over the Tigers (winning 4 from their last 5), but their form before that had been patchy at best, struggling to find the fluency that makes them one of the most dangerous and inventive attacking sides in England.  The East Midlanders, on the other hand, looked to be building ominous momentum, winning 7 league games on the bounce and looking packed with the power and precision that gets them to the peak of the domestic game year after year.  It perhaps should have come as no surprise then to the Stoop faithful that it was the visitors who came crashing out of the blocks.

Recalled Toby Flood, in for the excellent Owen Williams, demonstrated that he still has a cool head on experienced shoulders as he nudged over a penalty in the first minute following a Harlequins offside from the kick off, and four minutes later he was instrumental in creating the first try of the game.  The former England man hit big Ed Slater with a flat pass and the talented lock – tipped for England honours himself – galloped through a gap and fed Jordan Crane, who in turn offloaded to Niki Goneva for the Fijian to coast in by the posts.  It was a fantastic try but questions could have been asked about whether all 3 passes in the build up might have been forward, although the video referee correctly said there was nothing ‘clear and obvious’.  They were certainly marginal calls, and perhaps the video referee was conscious of giving the benefit of the doubt to the attacking side.  Regardless of that though, the Tigers found themselves with a 10 point advantage after just 5 minutes.

Quins, though, were looking far better than that scoreline suggested.  Danny Care was making sure that the game was being played at a break-neck speed and hooker Dave Ward was doing his best Schalk Brits impression, bursting through gaps that didn’t seem to exist.  The Londoners got on the board thanks to a Nick Evans penalty after a surprising scrum infringement by the Tigers front row, and then launched a period of pressure where they pulled the Champions’ defence from side to side and very nearly to breaking point.  One Mike Brown-inspired counter attack in particular had the visitors rocking, the full-back chipping past Blaine Scully only for the covering Goneva to tap the ball out of his path.

Chris Robshaw was acting as a link man, carrier and make-shift fly half as the Londoners hammered at the Leicester line, but they were frustrated by Anthony Allen and the referee Tim Wigglesworth in equal measure, as the latter allowed the former to take out Care off the ball at the back of a ruck to force a turnover.  That became even more of a bitter pill to swallow as Blaine Scully left Sam Smith for dead to make a 40 metre dash up the right hand touchline, culminating in another penalty for Flood against the run of play.  Evans was able to respond in kind, though, punishing Julian Salvi for coming in at the side.

Wigglesworth made headlines for his display in the West Country derby in the previous week and he had already made a couple of contentious decisions in this one – and the biggest of the lot happened just before the break.  With Harlequins awarded a 5 metre scrum after Allen and Manu Tuilagi had done superbly well to hold up Luke Wallace after a sublime chip through from Evans, the Londoners’ 8 somehow got an almighty shove on, forcing the Tigers’ pack backwards and claiming not only a penalty, but a penalty try.  It was a magnificent result for young Kyle Sinckler, who had held his own against Marcos Ayerza in the set piece, but Leicester were fuming at the referee for taking such a harsh line in an area of their perceived dominance – when have you ever seen a referee award a penalty try after just one scrum?  Wigglesworth, though, was in his rights to award one if he thought a try would have been scored – it’s just that every other referee in world rugby usually affords at least one warning at a scrum before jumping underneath the posts.  Consistency of application of rules is, once again, proving the Achilles heel of the game, but it gave a dramatic end to a breathless first half that saw the game tied at 13 apiece.

If Harlequins had been largely in control of the game in the first half, they were completely dominant at the start of the second.  They once again set up camp inside the Leicester 22, with Brown, Sinckler and Maurie Fa’asavalu causing all sorts of problems in the tight exchanges.  After Evans had missed a tricky penalty attempt from 40 metres, the hosts thought they had taken the lead through a Mike Brown try after Scully had failed to gather another great grubber from Evans, but replays showed the American had just got his fingers to the ball before the Quins man.  The hosts were left frustrated by valiant defence from Jamie Gibson and an increasingly dominant Leicester scrum, and so it was with a sense of irony that they eventually took the lead following a set piece penalty where Wigglesworth inexplicably penalised Ayerza for dropping his bind, despite replays clearly showing Sinckler on the floor well before any release.

More was to come from the referee, unfortunately, as Leicester launched a rare attack themselves following the restart.  After the quiet Tuilagi had bulldozed his way into enemy territory with a barnstorming run through 4 defenders, the hosts were penalised, giving Ben Youngs the chance to take a quick tap and attempt to ship the ball wide into space.  Sam Smith blocked off the pass, but was offside, having not retreated 10 metres, and yet Wigglesworth allowed Salvi to take a second quick tap and put Gibson in for a score in the right hand corner.  Once again, it was an example of a refereeing interpretation being entirely inconsistent with what we are used to and to what is implied by other referees across the league.  Flood was again on target with his kick, and the visitors had somehow clawed themselves into a 20 – 16 lead with 20 minutes left. 

Tigers had the chance to extend their lead when awarded a penalty in the midfield, but substitute Pablo Matera was yellow carded for brainlessly dumping Ward off the ball, reversing the penalty in the process.  Yet again, Wigglesworth’s decision making was questionable as he yellow carded George Robson for a retaliatory forearm but failed to reverse the penalty, as is customary for any retaliation.  Instead of trailing by more points, it gave Quins a platform from which to launch yet another attack – and this time, they got what they deserved, Brown surging into the line on the left and holding off Mathew Tait and Blaine Scully to crash over the line.  Replacement Ben Botica was wide with his kick, but he was able to make amends with a 3 pointer shortly afterwards after another infringement which saw Julian Salvi sent to the bin.  Leicester surged forward in vain in the closing stages, but the Quins defence – and in particular the magnificent Dave Ward – shut them out to claim a crucial win and send the home crowd into raptures.

The game may have been chaotic, fractious and riddled with refereeing anomalies, but in many ways this was the best Harlequins display of the season.  This is a side which thrives in chaos, which bodes badly for everyone else.

 

What else was happening in the Aviva Premiership this weekend?

Bath Rugby 32 – 30 Worcester Warriors:  Bath kept Quins at arm’s reach in the playoff race and in doing so shut the door on any lingering hopes the Warriors had of staying up – well, realistic ones anyway.  Tries for Mickey Young, Horacio Agulla, Nick Abendanon and Matt Banahan sew up the bonus point despite efforts from Josh Drauniniu, Andy Symons and Chris Pennell for the visitors.

Exeter Chiefs 12 – 55 Sale Sharks:  The Sharks hammered a Chiefs side in a display so stunning that it was only matched by the ineptitude of the hosts.  Sale kept up their chase for a top 4 spot with tries from (deep breath) Michael Paterson, Tom Arscott, Sam Tuitupou (2), Dwayne Peel, David Seymour and Tom Brady, with the Chiefs managing just two scores through Fetu’u Vainikolo and Carl Rimmer.

London Wasps 38 – 30 Gloucester:  Wasps won a thrilling ‘Stinger’ at Twickenham to keep their hopes of Champions Cup rugby alive and end Gloucester’s in the process.  Tries from James Haskell (2), Tom Varndell, Elliot Daly and Ashley Johnson were too much for the Cherry and Whites, despite efforts from Johnny May, Huia Edmonds and Freddie Burns.

Newcastle Falcons 18 – 23 Saracens:  The Falcons continued their alarming run of losses but pushed the title favourites hard at Kingston Park.  It was two apiece on the try front, with Sinoti Sinoti and Warren Fury cancelling out scores from Tim Streather and Ben Ransom, but the boot of veteran Charlie Hodgson proved to be the difference.

Northampton Saints 36 – 21 London Irish:  Saints got themselves back to winning ways and, in doing so, effectively booked a home semi-final with a bonus point win over Irish.  Jamie Elliott (2), Kahn Fotuali’i, Salesi Ma’afu and Alex Waller were the try scorers for the hosts, with Andy Fenby, Shane Geraghty and Jebb Sinclair scoring for the visitors, with all of the Exiles’ points coming within an 8 minute second half burst.