Quins 17 Tykes 13 - A Real Cup Tie

By Oopnorth on 22/12/2002
December 30 2002

The second half clock showed just two minutes to go and after unrelenting pressure on the Tykes Greenwood beat one tackle and was bearing down on the tryline. One quick blue flash and he and the tackler were bundled into the hoardings.

Despite the severity of the tackle Greenwood and Van Straaten got up, dusted themselves off and grinned at each other. I think they had met before. Anyway surely the Tykes were now going to hold on for an unlikely win given the dominance of the Quins pack for most of the game.

But it wasn't to be. A minute later Quins again storned towards the Tykes 20 metre line. One bullocking run from the talismanic Wood was stopped short to be followed with a powerful surge from Tiatia. The Tykes were tied in and in the one coherent piece of rugby from either side all afternoon Quins recyled quickly and spun the ball along the line to Greenwood whose long pass put Gollings in unopposed at the corner. The conversion was missed but the clock showed the end of normal time and a last Tykes attack ended as most did in the game being penalised, and that was it game, deservedly, to Quins.

A Half of Two Quarters

It had been drizzling since Friday and although there was no wind at the Stoop it was one of those days when handling would be difficult. A crowd of 4500 fillled the main stand with a sprinkling of hardly souls braving the elements in the uncovered end stands. A few Tykes colours could be seen here.

A feeling of anticipation was palpable. After all the Tykes have been the only Premiership team to win at the Stoop this season and were 3rd in the table. Quins wanted revenge and to maintain their tradition as a strong cup team. And Quins had been picking up some form having lost miserably to Stade Francais in their last home outing, but coning out of the away fixture with some credit. Both teams were plainly up for it.

The first twenty minutes were evenly contested with both teams making incursions into each others half through judicious use of the boot. Strong Tykes pressure led to a turnover and a penallty just in front of the sticks within easy range. BVS obliged. From the restart Tykes moved into Quins territory and once more Lander penalised quins and geve a talking to to Sanderson. BVS converted from 35 metres out and the Tykes were quickly 0-6 up.

Quins decided to wake up and a series of kicks deep into Tykes territory resulted in a penalty to Quins near the Tykes line which Burke decided to kick. 3-6. After a tap back from the restart Zac ran strongly towards the Quins 20 metre line but a nice move was spoiled by some poor handling. Quins pushed back and again resorted to the boot with both Ross and Scarborough fielding the ball well and keeping the Tykes safe. And then up came the standard Dan Scarborough interception try. Some poor handling by Quins just inside the Tykes half gave him the opportunity to grab the ball, hand off a tackler and speed 50 metres to the posts. BVS converted after a bit of barracking. 3-13.

This was definitely looking good, especially when the normally reliable Burke hit the post with a straightforward penalty, but was soon followed by a defining period in the game. The big Quins pack finally got into top gear and rolled a maul for a full 40 metres to the Tykes line. How the Tykes survived this and subsequent drives is a mystery as wave after wave were held up at the tryline. Eventually pressure paid and Burke's penalty brought the score the 6-13 at half time. Tykes were happy with that. It could have been much worse.

Quins Pressure Tells in the End

Plainly the Quins would persist with forward power after the break and could Tykes keep them out. Tykes began the second half more brightly and made occasional forays into the Quins half but got nothing to show for it either through handling errors or strong Quins tackling in midfield. Throughout the half the Quins tactics remained to roll the maul whenever possible and use the boot of Burke and the other backs to pin Tykes into their 20 metre zone. On the whole this proved succcessful territorially and the pressure paid off in a further penalty; 9-13. But Quins were still having problems with the Tykes defensive powers, and in a bold move Quins substituted five players and brought on Wood and Tiatia to the roars of the crowd. More pressure and the score moved to the nailbiting 12-13.

At this point the tension became unbearable and the Quins crowd urged their team on. Although dominating possession they still could not convert pressure to points and it looked like a tykes sneak win as Greenwood was bundled into touch................

Talking Points

Despite being under the cosh from a very strong pack on their own turf our defence was excellent. This was typified by Cammy being MOTM for his tackling (and good line out work)

We had almost as much trouble with the rolling maul here as we did against Ponty but generally shored things up in the second half.

Apart from one occasion when the ball popped out sideways our scrum was not too bad but it was turned quite easily once or twice.

Our line out went well in the circumstances and we even pinched some ball which is usually Codling's party trick.

We never looked like we could score a back line try (neither did Quins either for 79 minutes), and Ross tried a few times to make things happen (but I wonder what PD made of the grubber kick from our own 20 metre line that nearly drooped us in the do-dos). And our touchfinding could have been better although often our kickers were under pressure.

We badly miss the strength of George and the fizz of Diego but once back to full strength and with fit (and more) props we will again be a match for most if we can get just a bit more ball.

Once more Mr Lander penalised us badly and almost entirely in the second half and missed a head high tackle on Dan Scarborough under his nose ina kickable position.

But no complaints. Quins had more of the game and it is not surprising pressure told in the end.