Sunshine, Fireworks and Sarries.......

As we approach Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, thankfully very local to Chez Browne given the travelling travails to be experienced by others), I reflected that the year since Showdown 2 had passed remarkably quickly (Showdown 1, of course, never actually got played – one for a rugby trivia quiz in years to come?) and the presence of our old chums from South-West London with an attendant very large crowd would guarantee a more charged atmosphere than at last year’s encounter with Bristol Bears (no disrespect). We met up with most of our party at the Corner Pin for an early pint and went into a stadium which was every bit as impressive as we remembered from last year – if any of you haven’t yet been, and despite the sniffiness from some quarters about the staff not being used to a rugby crowd, not serving drinks fast enough  etc., it’s a stunning place to watch sport and I happen to think works very well for our sport – geographical proximity aside I far prefer it to recent showpiece venues like London Stadium (dump) and Wembley (sterile).   

Following the conclusion of an exciting if, depending on which country you support, frustrating  Six Nations, Sarries had their international stars back and had a squad at full strength save for the continued absence of the injured Elliot Daly, while Quins also welcomed back the likes of Alex Dombrandt, Joe Marchant and Marcus Smith.

If Sarries won this, a home semi-final would be secured and after that one win from the last three games – Saints, Irish and Bath – would confirm a first-place finish.

We sat down to enjoy the pre-match fireworks and anticipate a different kind of pyrotechnics when the game got underway, which it did once the smoke had cleared…

Perhaps predictably as Sarries adjusted to a changed line-up, Quins made much the better start and with not even 2 minutes on the clock when Dombrandt was set up by a lovely pass from Smith to power over the line, with the floppy-haired prodigy adding the extras for 0-7.

Sarries reacted well to the early setback, however, and with Billy already in rampaging form, a series of penalties created sustained pressure on the Quins line, with rewards coming as Earl beautifully set up Lozowski in the 7^th minute to score in front of the posts. Farrell’s conversion was straightforward, bringing the score to 7-7  (we later learned he had reached 100 points in Premiership games this season).

5 minutes later, the Sarries contingent in the huge crowd were in raptures when a successful 50:22 attempt by Goode set up a lovely phase of play from the ensuing line out, with Farrell and Lozowski working beautifully before a bang in-form Van Zyl  set up Tompkins to amble over in space. Farrell’s boot, unerring so far, took matters to 14-7.

Things continued to go Sarries’ way and as the first quarter drew to a close a Farrell penalty put Sarries 17-7 in front, shortly after many in black and red (maybe it was just me…) had enjoyed a frisson of schadenfreude when Care, a “marmite” character if ever there was one,  was yellow-carded for playing the ball off his feet in a ruck and for ten minutes we were treated to the spectacle of Smith playing scrum half.

Save for the penalty, Sarries didn’t take full advantage of the extra man during Care’s period in the cooler with Quins working hard, but not long after his return and as the half moved into its last five minutes, Sarries turned on the style once more as the Vunipolas both showed off their skills, with breaks from Malins and Earl pushing Quins back were again rewarded when Maitland set Christie free to score in the corner on 36 minutes, although Farrell’s first missed kick of the match left the score at 22-7 as the half closed and we repaired to the bar for refreshments and a rather good steak and lentil pie.

Despite a slow start – not for the first time this season – Sarries had played some spectacular rugby, with the internationals slotting back in seamlessly, and Billy having a vintage day so far, reminding Steve Borthwick that he may just be worth a look for the World Cup, Farrell and Van Zyl proving yet again what a good 9-10 axis they are, and Lozowski showing what a class act he is.

 The second half began pretty much as the first had started, with Quins – to be fair, a high-quality side despite a patchy season and running out for Act Two with the coaches’ frank words ringing in their ears – looking urgent and enjoying a spell of early pressure. With a penalty advantage the Sarries line was soon under siege and an initial drive at the line by Esterhuizen was held up, Quins penalty advantage was taken as Smith put Murley in pace to cross in the corner on 43 minutes. Smith converted to close the score to 22-14.

The two sides tried to pin each other back in a kicking contest, before Sarries built up a spell of pressure towards the Quins line, with a superb try-saving tackle on Malins by an impressive Murley broke the siege.

Sarries continued to dominate and Quins’ penalty count racked up, as the game moved towards into the last quarter.

Malins once again showed his mastery of the art of successfully chasing you’re your own kicks, as he gathered his own grass-cutter and out of a tackle the ball was worked from Mako and the always lively Christie to set up Maitland to accelerate over the line and “round the corner” to plant the pill closer to the posts for Sarries bonus-point (whatever happened later in the gane…..it’s been that sort of season…), giving Farrell a straightforward conversion and Sarries a 29-14 lead on 57 minutes.

With the last quarter still to play and a reputation, albeit a little tarnished this season, as a side that makes late and dramatic comebacks, Quins were not giving up on this game, and just on the hour mark they closed Sarries’ lead as a good spell of pressure culminated in the ball being worked out wide for Murley to cross the line for his second score of the day and Quins’ third, and although Smith’s conversion from a wide position was missed, there were now 10 points in it at 29-19.

Shortly afterwards, the game swung back in Sarries’ favour, so to speak, as Northmore was yellow-carded when an accidental swing at Farrell, and in the 65^th minute a bright afternoon got brighter (for Sarries at least) when after another spell of Sarries pressures Itoje forced his way over, and Farrell took the score to 36-19.

Five minutes later, the hearts of all Sarries fans both present and watching on TV were in their mouths as Farrell went down in obvious pain having rolled an ankle, hobbling disconsolately from the field of play. Tens of thousands of fingers were crossed that it wasn’t serious enough to keep him out of action for the “business end” games to come.

At this stage Sarries were emptying the bench.

Quins weren’t quite done yet, and shortly after Malins had effected a “how the hell did he get back for that??” tackle on the line to force David into dropping the ball as he went over for a seemingly certain try, Marchant very deftly gathered a clever Care crossfield chip and dotted down for Quins’ fourth try. Smith failed to convert and with 8 minutes left it was 36-24.

Sarries managed out the latter stages of the game keeping Quins at bay and under control with the game ended by Tompkins gleefully punting the pill into touch….

A highly entertaining game, well worthy of the stunning surroundings and huge crowd, and as we walked back to the bar I hoped that anyone watching club rugby for the first time might just be tempted to give our game another go….

Billy was deservedly named Man of the Match, and there were excellent performances from Maro, one his best in an uncharacteristically inconsistent season, Farrell,  who was in great form back in the black and red (EVERYTHING crossed that he’s OK), Lozowski and Christie.

TEAMS:

Saracens: Goode; Malins, Lozowski, Tompkins, Maitland; Farrell (capt), van Zyl; M Vunipola, George, Riccioni, Itoje, Tizard, Christie, Earl, B Vunipola.

Replacements: Dan, Mawi, Clarey, Isiekwe, Wray, Davies, Taylor, Lewington.

Harlequins: David; Marchant, Northmore, Esterhuizen, Murley; Smith, Care (capt); Marler, Walker, Louw, Herbst, Lamb, Kenningham, Chisholm, Dombrandt.

Replacements: Riley, Baxter, Collier, Hammond, Evans, Steele, Allan, Beard.

Referee: Luke Pearce