The "Big" Game
By TJS10
December 29 2008
After all of the hype it was finally here: The Big Game. Well nearly. First there was the Big Traffic Jam to contend with on the M25. Luckily I had made my escape from the family Christmas early and was there in plenty of time despite the traffic but many were not so lucky & missed much of the early rugby as a result.
Fireworks, dancing girls and 3 Olympians not needed by End Of Year review shows, panel games or quizzes set the scene but eventually the rugby kicked off…and Flood’s early kick was charged down…and then 20 seconds later Dupuy’s was charged down.
This didn’t bode well. 90 seconds in, 2 charge downs and a penalty conceded. 3-0 to Quins courtesy of a Christmas gift from Tigers. After early pressure from Quins, Flood pounced on a loose ball, hacked on into the Quins half and nearly kicked clear as Monye flapped wildly at the loose ball but Toby also failed to make contact. The ball came Tigers’ way and Mauger broke left with Murphy on the wing but a great tackle a metre out from de Wet Barry took Johne into touch before he could ground it.
Chance missed. Quins conceded a penalty at the resulting lineout and Tigers passed up 3 points for a lineout on 5m. Taken short, the ball came across to Kayser who dived over in the corner but had a hand in touch.
No try. Possibly the most crooked lineout throw this season from Fuga gave Tigers back the advantage 5m out, a collapsed scrum, a Tigers penalty and 3 points from Flood brought the scores level. An intense start to the game but only 3 points each to show for if after 8 mins full of action.
A scrappy 10 mins of penalties followed, most out of kicking range except for one success by Evans & one miss by Flood. The main threat by Quins appeared to be via the pace of their wings while Tigers seemed to be looking at clearance kicks from deep & chasing the loose balls. Such a move on 18 mins saw Hamilton kick long from his own 5m into space which Murphy nearly won the race to deep in the opposition half but the ball went loose, Hamilton (chasing his own kick) connected but the ball went left into touch rather than infield and a real chance went begging. For my money, Hamilton’s defence, kicking range and general play has already identified him as a fantastic signing and the best Tigers player in the first half.
However Kayser’s day hasn’t been so great and he got 10 mins in the bin for his troubles. The half hour arrives with another penalty each and a yellow card for Skinner. 9-6 to Quins and temporarily 14 a-side. A break by Mike Brown looked threatening and could have released Monye for a try opportunity but a solid chase and tackle by Matt Smith snuffed out the threat.
Despite concerted pressure from Harlequins, Leicester are able to ride out the storm of the first half and Flood levels the score just before the break meaning that, like a Strictly Come Dancing leaderboard, everyone looked like being on the same scores after the first half with 9 each thanks to 3 from the 10s.
But then it happened. After another kick and chase, this time from Dupuy, Quins failed once again to secure the lose ball and allowed Johne “Len Goodman” Murphy to chip on and determine which of the two sides would top the scoreboard at the halfway point. Flood’s conversion and Tigers went in 16-9 up. The second half started with a great chance for Flood to increase the gap. A Tigers lineout went to Dupuy and Flood ran through a gap in the Quins backline on their 22 but he failed to hold on to the ball and a real chance went begging. Hamilton (my player of the first half and defensive rock) was replaced on 43 mins by Varndell, someone whose defence has rarely been described as “solid”.
I can only assume the substitution was due to injury and not tactics as he had been key to resisting the Quins pressure in the first 40. On 50 mins Leicester looked to have the game under their control as a Kayser lineout eventually found its way to Murphy who broke down the wing from 15m inside his own half, drew the last defender and released Croft 30m out for a free run to the line. 30 mins left on the clock and the conversion makes it 23-9 to the men in green.
Quins looked rattled as the restart only just managed to cross halfway before going into touch but the game is far from over. Composure regained, Quins started to pressure the Leicester line and an unnecessary cross-field kick from Flood straight into the arms of Easter gifted them back the ball. Tom Williams nearly scored from a cut inside on the right wing but was stopped inches short. Recycled inside, Easter almost forced his way through under the posts instead of using the overlap to his left and a penalty was all they get for their efforts.
Quins passed up the 3 points, chose a scrum and Mike Brown eventually forced his way over to bring Harlequins right back into the game. 16-23. 20 minutes left, 7 points the difference and all to play for but a couple of minutes later, Flood misses a kickable penalty and the crack in his game begin to show.
The 22 restart goes long to Flood who catches the ball cleanly, spins around and passes forward, to thin air when under no pressure and gifts the ball back to Harlequins in our own half. Thus began the section that Toby Flood will want to forget as quickly as possible. 9 minutes left and Flood extended the lead to 2 scores with a penalty to give Leicester a 10 point cushion. 5 mins left and the home side only need to score once to draw level after a soft penalty is punished by Evans. 3 mins left and Quins have a man advantage as Moody sees yellow.
Quins opt to kick for the corner but Tigers steal the lineout. 135 seconds left and we have the ball! Time for some Up-the-jumper rugby and nothing silly! 90 seconds left and Dupuy box kicks over the ruck instead of aiming for touch, straight intot he hands of Monye, who finds Brown, then Williams and into the Tigers 22 but he is dragged down by Flood.
The ball is recycled quickly and finds Care, goes wide left to a massive 3 on 1 overlap where the one Tigers player is….Varndell, our defensive weak link. Evans to Monye, Varndell flaps in his general direction but to no avail and Ugo dives over to secure the 5 pointer. In order to avoid controversy to rival Channel 4’s Alternative Queen’s Message, Pearson goes upstairs to the TMO but the Quins Christmas message is clear.
Try scored. 24-26 with the conversion to come from the touchline. Surely Evans can’t salvage a result for Quins at the death again can he? But he can. “Nasty” Nick pops up at the very end of the episode to spoil Christmas for the (Dot) Cotton (traders) family and tie the game 26 all.
For me, the two turning points in the game both came in the second half. The first was Hamilton being subbed just after the break as we missed his boot and his stability at the back. The second was Flood’s 10 minutes of madness, midway through the second period.
All in all a draw was probably a fair reflection of the game but I came away feeling it was 2 points lost rather than 2 gained as we were leading 23-9 at one point but left the door wide open for a Quins fightback.
Overall I wouldn't say that his refereeing had any significant bearing on the match result (which is how I think refereeing should be) & therefore I had no issue with his performance in general.
I've seen better refereeing performances but I also seen far, far worse (and not just from Dave P).