Smith Bags Bonus Point for Quins in Four Try Frenzy

It has been an unsettling start to the premiership season for Harlequins that’s seen them flounder. But having won the last two consecutive games, surely they were hoping to maintain focus and continue their winning streak as they squared up to the challenge of Newcastle Falcons at Kingston Park.
 

Dean Richards welcomed his former club to Tyneside and even though the Falcons admirably created a very strong defence last weekend against Northampton, with only one change to that side - Kieran Brookes replacing Oliver Tomaszczyk at tighthead - it was definitely all to play for on home turf. As Ally Hogg made his 100th appearance for the club, he led out a strong Newcastle side. However Conor O'Shea's men looked decidedly dangerous, and the quirky Quins added breadth and depth to the game, posing the most threat predominantly in the second half with a four try frenzy satisfyingly securing a sought after bonus point.

 

Early on, Newcastle gave the appearance of the assured contenders, hungry to seal a win with a solid defence. But in contrast, there also seemed to be a lack of confidence in the Falcons when on the attack and with the backs over-running their play and poor passes losing them possession, it was only ten minutes in before they had conceded a soft try. An awesome offload from Dave Ward enabled Sam Smith to cross the line without contest and Nick Evans booted the Quins into a 0-7 lead.

Digging deep, as they do and by accelerating the tempo of their play, even when the turf was proving a problem as it was tearing away, the feisty Falcons fought back and they secured a penalty as Matt Hopper was caught offside.

Phil Godman put points on the board for the Falcons, 3-7 in the 18^th minute and when Will Collier was penalised in the scrum, the Falcons were back in the game. Newcastle took the risk and kicked for touch but later conceded a penalty for not retreating in defence and Evans increased the Quins’ lead to 3-10 after 21 minutes.

 

Newcastle's play looked sorely in need of speed and solidarity in places, especially when Quins drove the Falcons back to their own 10m line. A penalty was given in the 26^th minute and Evans took the opportunity to extend Quins’ lead to 3-13. Newcastle again struggled to win the territory battle and at times left little to imagination with their lateral, inconsistent play. Silly mistakes however, saw Quins penalised for coming in from the side of the maul but Godman missed with the kick going wide in the 30^th minute. He made up for this though, when a second penalty was given a minute later which was successfully converted, 6-13.
 

As Harlequins then pushed a newly dominant Newcastle defence, perhaps they hoped for a try, but to no avail as Blair managed to tuck the ball away. The structure of the game was loose to say the least and even though Danny Care was distributing the ball well between the forwards, the execution of their game play was insignificant as Marler was then penalised for collapsing the scrum.

Half time score 6-13
 

Not even a minute into the 2nd half and Falcons found themselves in deep trouble with a massive and impressive Quins’ overlap on the attack.  Sam Smith scored to widen the lead, 6-18. Even though Godman kicked a penalty in the 44^th minute taking the score to 9-18, Quins quickly responded when Newcastle were pinged in the 47^th minute. The Harlequins were keeping the Falcons at more than a wing’s length, 9-21.




The execution of the Quins’ game play had improved just in time and they were now dominating a difficult game. With the ball just grounded short of the line in the 54^th minute, a Quins' scrum 5m out saw the trademark ‘dummy’ pass and try scored by Care. Finally! An exhilarating and exciting interlude and absolutely fabulous to watch as a scrum-half myself. Evans accompanied this with a conversion and the Quins reined in their control of the game taking the score to 9-28.

 

Even when Falcons fought back, phases of play were devoid of any meaningful or game changing injection of pace or strategy and there was certainly lack of depth out wide. Newcastle struggled to fashion any attack, not seeming to possess the know-how needed to permeate the strong, solid Quins’ defence. When Harlequins gained possession, the angles and lines of attack Hopper, Ward and Easter created added super slickness to the field. However it was second-try Smith who gained pace and metres as he sealed Quins’ bonus point try in the 68^th minute, ensuring Quins were striding forth ahead and Evans kicked the conversion to 9-33 in the last quarter. Rob Vickers was subsequently sent to the sin bin for an infringement at the line-out and Harlequins saw in a strong win making it three from three!

Credit where it’s due to Dave Ward, awarded Man of the Match for his steely solid performance and the likes of Danny Care and Sam Smith who added variation into their strategy to succeed. Quins executed their game tactically and tenaciously in the second half and the fluttering stuttering Falcons just couldn’t match their pace, style or quick, accomplished offloads. The more skilful of the two contenders won. Simples.

 

Final Score 9-35