Harlequins
0- 39 Saracens
There
was no mistaking this latest London derby between the Harlequins and
Saracens was flavoursome, feisty and ... one sided. The 'Friday
Night Lights' fixture had that Euro Vision song contest feel to it.
An audience of 13,102 looked on with that all too familiar, “...And
for the United Kingdom...” ring to it … “nil points
for Quins.” It was painful.
“...Today
was one of those days that was an incredible emotional low, we didn't
see it coming” said Conor O'Shea.
“I
thought we were pretty relentless out there and because of that, we
were able to build a lot of pressure on them and obviously get the
win”
said
Mark McCall.
It'd
only been ten minutes into the game and it felt like I was at the
pantomime, 'Oooh...Aaaah', especially with Wayne Barnes refereeing.
There were no surprises when his decision making didn't go in favour
of the Quins and the supporters unanimously shouted in fury. But on
the odd occasion they won the penalty at the breakdown and the Stoop
erupted...
This
prompted Quins to fire on all cylinders like energised Duracell
bunnies, with the likes of Nick Evans and Marland Yarde charging with
superb attacking lines. And Quins made courageous decisions ... for
all of about five minutes, until they were penalised at the break
down, yet again, and the boot of Charlie Hodgson put the Saracens
into a three point lead.
A
sparkling surge from the Saracens attack saw a staged offload as the
backs ran a concise line, leaving Duncan Taylor to do the rest. Or
did he? Magnificent Mike Brown saved the day, bringing him to ground
inches from the try line in a superb tackle that dislodged the ball -
Hodgson kicked another precise penalty.
Forget
the 'X Factor', what followed can only be described as the 'shock
factor'. A charge down of a kick from Nick Evans saw his fly-half
counterpart, Hodgson, sprinting nearly half the pitch to score under
the posts and then convert his own try. Taking candy from a baby -
you just couldn't make it up!
Even
when Quins did manage to gain possession, it was almost immediately
overturned. The Sarries shipped the ball out wide to Hodgson who
kicked it beautifully into unmanned territory and it felt like the
Quins hopes had diminished as they were penalised for holding on.
Yet again, Hodgson kicked the points.
The
only time the Quins were in with a chance of putting points on the
board in the first half was when they were awarded a penalty. Evans'
kick went wide and the win over London Irish the week prior looked a
distant blur.
HT
Harlequins
0- 16 Saracens
Evans
didn’t reappear in the second half because of a shoulder injury and
was replaced by Ben Botica. Three minutes into the second half and
Hodgson received his very first yellow card for obstruction. But the
penalty kick by Ben Botica bounced off the post and only minutes
later Alex Goode slotted another to edge the Sarries out of sight.
But the second Saracens yellow card was waiting in the wings. This
time it was Captain Alistair Hargreaves who was sin binned for an
infringement at the breakdown, even though Wayne Barnes had signalled
the ball was out. Confused? I was.
But
with the Saracens down to fourteen feisty men, they still seemed to
skilfully stick to form. Charlie Hodgson bagged a duo of penalty
kicks in quick succession, one of which resulted from a charge down
from Brad Barritt and pandemonium then ensued when Quins' Rob
Buchanan was yellow carded seconds later, with seventeen minutes left
on the clock. 0-25
...And
then came another Quins’ error. The ball was dropped, Sarries
kicked forward from the halfway line and Chris Ashton outpaced
Marland Yarde to touch down. The boot of Owen Farrell converted.
It
was impeccable play wouldn't you say? Making the most of each
opportunity as it arose.
And
if that wasn't enough to tickle the taste buds of rugby fanatics,
minutes later, a rolling maul off a five metre lineout saw another
Sarries try, this time from Man of the Match, Will Fraser. Farrell
converted as the seats at the Stoop began to empty of Quins’ fans.
It
was a real royal thrashing – you can't sugar coat it!
FT
Harlequins 0 – Saracens 39
Saracens
defined and defended their game beautifully, especially with the boot
of Charlie Hodgson who secured 22 points alone. I was left
speechless with the floundering handling errors of the Harlequins
back line and the sheer inability to recognise that the game plan
needed to change – and fast – to counteract the gang tackles and
‘Fort Knox’ defence that the Sarries had erected in Quins own
backyard.
Looking
at the stats, anyone who hadn’t seen the game would probably have
assumed that Quins had walked it.
But
the clinical commitment in defence and fitness of the Saracens shone
in full glory.
The
North London side's physicality as a pack? - It's brutal.