Tigers splash to four points

Quins report
By TigerR
October 17 2004

Stuck at the wrong end of the Premiership, Harlequins can ill afford to forget rugby's basics if they are to gain the momentum needed to boost their fragile confidence. Their performance yesterday was competitive but not quite good enough.

Harlequins 9 - 15 Leicester

Essentially, though, their main problem is they need a win. It did not arrive, and they have now equalled the club's record of eight defeats on the bounce: seven this campaign to add to the loss in the final game of last season. And, with a trip to Munster next week in the Heineken Cup, these are, to say the least, tough times in south west London. Twice early on, Quins indiscipline led to easy penalties to Tigers. Tigers fly-half, Andy Goode slotted both opportunities. But Quins improved, and this is something for players and supporters alike to cling on to as the season unfolds. 'I thought we played well first half and didn't deserve to be down,' said Mark Evans, manager of Quins. 'But then the game just dribbled away from us.'
Andre Vos's team matched the Tigers in both forwards and backs, in the first half, and this led to them entering the break trailing by one (missed) penalty. In open play, Quins were the brighter in the first half and could claim the deeper foray into enemy territory when Tani Fuga broke through midfield. Quins kicker Staunton duly slotted his second penalty as Tigers were forced to transgress.
In the first half no player could take control. Andy Goode made some incisive half-breaks through the Quins three-quarters but he proceeded to drop the ball or pass to no one. Neil Back was yellowed for persistently using his hands in the ruck and Leicester centre Ollie Smith ran into a road block consisting of two Quins centres and looked to either break a collar bone or dislocate a shoulder. He was replaced by Matt Cornwell who did a decent job at stand-in centre.
	During the break the heavens opened, kicking became the only profitable tactic and the game became one for the cognoscenti. The Tigers gradually wore Quins down especially in the scrum where Mr Pearson allowed a contest and was not afraid to decide, from time to time, who was a fault when a collapse took place (mostly the Quins who, especially after Rowntree replaced Morris, were going back at a mile an hour at most scrums).
Much of the second half was played between the 22s with Tigers having the edge in territory. Goode missed two very long penalties and converted one. Quins never looked like threatening a try, as they had earlier, and could not even boast a missed penalty to their name in the second period. The Tigers were hardly more potent. Nonetheless the players on both sides showed a lot of skill not to drop the ball more often, outstanding in this respect was Geordan Murphy who once again was the pick of the Leicester backs.
In fact almost the whole game was played in midfield but with a healthy element of passion that boiled over to feature, among other things, the fists of Quins' lock Simon Miall, some Johnson skulduggery at the ruck and the decision of Matt Henjak, Quins' little scrum-half, to get intimate with at least four Tigers forwards.
'It was a bad game but we won it,' said Leicester coach, John Wells. 'All credit to them for not giving an inch. The top team played the bottom and there was only six points' difference. That's how tough this league is.' Bad, I wouldn t go that far, and never dull for the committed supporter. Last season's Parker Pen champions gained a bonus point and in doing so allowed their crowd to cheer their efforts; that is a sign of progress at least. Leicester, seeded below Quins in the Heineken Cup, won ugly and have lost just once. Next weekend it is European rugby time again. The Tigers will fancy it just a little more than Quins
HARLEQUINS : Duffy; Harder, Greenwood, James, Keogh; Stanton, Henjak; Jones, Fuga, FitzGerald (Lambert 62) Winters (Rudzki 57), Miall, Easter (Tiatia 59), Vos (capt), Diprose
LEICESTER: Murphy; Vesty, Smith (Cornwell 21), Rabeni, Holtby; Goode, Bemand (Ellis 57); Morris (Rowntree, 60), Chuter, White M Johnson (capt) Kay, Corry, Back, W Johnson.
Referee: D Pearson