Heineken Cup Review - Harlequins 17 - 3 Racing Metro

If ever you needed evidence that a week was a long time in rugby, you only needed to look at the Heineken Cup results this weekend.  Northampton Saints, embarrassed at home by Leinster last week in a display that was ferocious as a baby seal, claimed a stunning and sensational win in Dublin, whilst Toulouse – the European powerhouses who suffered a humiliating defeat in France to minnows Connacht – re-established their dominance in Ireland with a commanding display.  So when Racing Metro came to West London to face Harlequins, they may have had reason to get their hopes up – although that would be fairly slim reasoning, given their capitulation the previous week.

They didn't just lose at home to a Quins side who were winless in the competition, they were obliterated.  A team stuffed full of French internationals in the shapes of Benjamin Fall, Dimitri Szarzewski and Maxime Machenaud were taken to the cleaners by a rapier clinical attack, thanks to a defence which was as watertight as a sieve.  It was a disinterested, bored, bizarre and – dare I say it – typically French display that resulted in an performance that was far below the sum of their parts.  So embarrassed were the owners, that they promptly announced that Racing would no longer play games in front of large stadiums whilst performances remained at these unacceptable levels.  Pride was wounded – but beware the wounded beast.

Gone were the French stars, and in went some of the fringe players and talented youngsters – men with a point to prove.  Oh, and the backbone of the British & Irish Lions side as well.  That's right, the fat wallet of the French club led to the signings of Dan Lydiate, Johnny Sexton, Jamie Roberts and Mike Phillips, all of whom started on Sunday in this supposed '2nd XV'.  This may have sounded like a spanner to the works of Quins' hopes, but they remained quietly confident – the walking calamity of last week, Juan Martin Hernandez, remained at full back, and the Racing Lions were all some way short of 100%, with Sexton and Roberts returning from injuries (the Welshman after 3 months out), Dan Lydiate struggling to look anything like the player he was before his hip injury, and Mike Phillips – in my mind – living off his 2009 reputation.  Couple these factors in with the knowledge that Quins' best players were in a rich vein of form, with Chris Robshaw, Mike Brown and Nick Easter all giving stand-out displays in France the week before, and the emergence of exciting new talent such as hooker Dave Ward and the electric Charlie Walker, and you could see why the hosts remained confident.

And it became apparent, from the kick off, that the 14 changes Racing had made would not do anything to improve on their disjointed display the weekend previously.  With the rain beginning to hammer down in Twickenham, and with the wind behind their backs, Quins began to play a smart territory game – led by the cultured intelligence of Nick Evans' right boot and the siege gun power of Mike Brown's left.  With wingers Walker and Sam Smith chasing hard, Racing quickly showed that they weren't any better equipped to cope with the pressure.  Despite having an early penalty attempt – missed by Sexton – Quins proceeded to dominate the opening exchanges.  Evans slotted two penalties – the first against Hernandez for impeding Brown has he chased a smart kick from Danny Care, and the second against the French scrum after a powerful effort by Joe Marler. 

The visitors' lack of ability to build any form of attack was almost alarming, although number 8 Camille Gerondeau was an enthusiastic and powerful presence, but this was largely due to the efforts of the Quins backrow, with Chris Robshaw – as usual – getting through a colossal amount of tackles and the excellent Luke Wallace pinching the ball twice at the breakdown.  Wallace, incidentally, is vying with Danny Care for the "Danny Care Sh*t Lid" award for bad haircuts, but there is something wondrous about those flowing locks when hunched over the ball in a ruck.  The frustration clearly was all too much for Racing prop Davit Khinchagishvili, who threw a wild and utterly ineffectual punch at Joe Marler to earn himself 10 minutes on the naughty boy step.

Evans was starting to completely boss the game in the middle of the park, raking difficult kicks though to put the French side under pressure and breaking the line with bursts of acceleration in himself, and almost claimed a try for his efforts.  Young Charlie Walker, seriously impressing in the absence of established named, stood up and absolutely skinned Virimi Vakatawa on the outside, making the big winger look like a lumbering prop in comparison.  Although he couldn't regather his chip over the top of the last man, Evans was on hand and, with the help of Walker, wriggled over the line to claim what looked to be a stunning try.  However, the TMO had other ideas, correctly spotting that Mike Brown had – for once – spilled a high ball in the build-up to the move.

Walker was growing more and more into the game, hitting some gorgeous line and consistently beating the first defender.  On more than one occasion he was an offload away from scoring, in particular after yet another scything run by Evans had brought the hosts to with 2 metres of the Racing line.  Instead, the hosts had to settle for another penalty, but Walker was not to be denied.  With halftime looming, and apparently nothing on, the lightening winger stepped inside Vakatawa and handed off test Lion Lydiate, before showing searing speed to slide over in the corner.  It was just what Quins – and Walker – deserved, and although Evans couldn't hit the conversion, the game was looking sewn up by half time.

In the second half, perhaps inevitably, Racing came out a little less, well, bad, in the second half, probably down to the side finally having got half a game of rugby played together under their belts, and also because Nick Evans was forced to withdraw with a niggle at the break.  However, the hosts were still in charge, despite having to work harder for the breaks, and substitute Ben Botica was on target with a penalty in the 50th minute to take Quins 17 – 0 up following a powerful rolling maul.  Eventually, Racing did manage to get some territory themselves and set up a foothold in the hosts' half, but with Roberts being hammered backwards by Molenaar and the likes of Ward, Robshaw and Wallace dominant in the tackle area (particularly effective in the choke tackle), the best Racing could settle for was a solitary 3 pointer to take the 0 off the board.  Despite the time in the Quins half, it was still the hosts who looked far more threatening, with man-of-the-match Walker consistently causing havoc with his, but the score was to remain 17 – 3 until the end.

After a double win over a Racing, it turns out a week really is a long time in rugby.  10 days ago, they were dead in the water – now there's a real chance of progress in the Heineken Cup.  It involves beating Clermont at home and Scarlets away – picking up a bonus point in the process – but given where this side was after round 2, they should realise that nothing is impossible. 

 

What else happened in the Heineken Cup this weekend?

Glasgow Warriors 7 – 9 Cardiff Blues:  A monster penalty by Rhys Patchell was the highlight of a dour game won by the visitors.

Ospreys 21 – 12 Castres:  Ospreys had the trusty boot off Dan Biggar to thank as they picked up their first win of the tournament in a kick-fest.

Treviso 3 – 35 Ulster:  Ulster picked up a crucial bonus point win in Italy, apparently.  I say apparently because it was so foggy you couldn't see one side of the pitch from the other.

Toulon 32 – 20 Exeter Chiefs:  Another gutsy display from the Chiefs wasn't enough to stop a classy display led by Matt Giteau and Johnny Wilkinson, with the hosts claiming a bonus point.

Saracens 64 – 3 Zebre:  If Italian sides are supposed to improve by playing in the Pro 12, nobody told Zebre, as they were hopelessly outclassed by Saracens.

Perpignan 17 – 18 Munster:  Munster claimed a dramatic last gasp win thanks to a late try by JJ Hanrahan, that sees them remain top of their group.

Scarlets 13 – 31 Clermont Auvergne:  Clermont continued to build momentum nicely this year with a dominant display at Parc Y Scarlets, claiming a bonus point win.

Connact 9 – 37 Toulouse:  Connacht couldn't match their heroics of the previous week as they were comprehensively outgunned by Toulouse in Galway.

Leinster 9 – 18 Nothampton Saints:  Saints produced the shock of the round by producing a superb display to claim a win in Dublin, a week after letting in 40 points against the same opponents.

Gloucester 10 – 16 Edinburgh:  The Cherry and White's disappointing season continued as they were unable to build on an away win in Scotland, suffering a loss at home to Edinburgh.

Montpellier 14 – 15 Leicester Tigers:  A stunning last-gasp try from Niki Goneva helped a Tom Youngs-inspired Tigers claim a crucial win away in France to keep their hopes of topping the group alive.