THE GREAT ESCAPE AT THE STOOP

Let’s set the scene. A chilly winter’s day away at The Stoop. Sleety rain falling from the sky, the temperature no warmer than the inside of a fridge, the pitch looking more like Southend with the tide out. Sarries all but out of the competition have picked a true development squad. Quins, on the other hand, hoping for (expecting?) to land a home semifinal are apparently “using this game to keep their frontline players fit”. Sarries have fielded 46 players so far in this competition, and of today’s squad only Goode, Elliott and Tizard could really claim to be first-team players. Quins have gone with experience: Danny Care & Jarrod Evans at half back, Leigh Halfpenny, Will Joseph and the exciting Cassius Cleaves in the backs, Simon Kerrod, Joe Launchbury, Stephan Lewies, Will Evans and the return of Alex Dombrandt (making his 150th appearance) in the forwards. Ime Herbst, Tyrone Green & Jack Walker waiting on the bench.

Our referee is George Selwood, of whom I had previously been unaware. George is 28 and a former winger. Apparently he prefers refereeing sevens. Perhaps tellingly he told Ruck “Sometimes spending 15 minutes on a set of scrums in fifteens isn’t everyone’s idea of a Saturday out, but with sevens it’s electric – it’s exciting.” Hmmmmm

Early on a loose pass from Tizard is intercepted by Danny Care – could his 38 year old legs really take him all the way from his own 22 to Sarries’? Well he almost makes it but somehow enough of the young Sarries’ defence gets back and tackles the promising winger Cassius Cleaves effecting a turnover.

Sarries are getting pinned in their own 22. Eventually Quins win a penalty for a high challenge (Hall) and kick a 5m lineout. Sarries defend well but go offside at the ruck. Quins could have taken the 3 but go for a tap penalty on the 5m line. Once again amazing defence from Sarries forcing Quins out wide but eventually the ball is dotted down by George Hammond. Halfpenny, perhaps put off by having to replace a contact lens before taking the kick, just misses the conversion.

Sarries respond almost immediately. A nice break from Hallett finds Elliott, who has drifted way off his wing, and he passes to his fellow winger Brandon Jackson on the outside to score in the corner. Johnson misses the kick but the teams are level.  

From the restart we see a really good break from Dombrandt. He shrugs off several Sarries’ tacklers, and passes out to Cleaves. Cleaves inside pass to David is forward though and although Mr Selwood doesn’t see it, fortunately the TMO does.

Elliott lands a 50-22 from the clearance. We see a collector’s piece when Goodey drops a high ball. This leads to a Quins’ attack as Cleaves breaks down the wing. Eke is deemed to have deliberately been in the way of the inside pass and is shown a yellow. It looks very harsh. Still we see great defence by the remaining 14 but eventually a superb dummy and score by Lewies. This time the conversion is good and Quins lead 12-5.

But Sarries are nothing but fighters and a good carry by Jackson wins another penalty on the 5m line. Louie Johnson lands the kick to narrow the gap to 12-8. Sadly Lewies, whose career in recent years has been beset by injury, departs to be replaced by Herbst.

The TMO draws Mr Selwood’s attention to a head-on-head collision between Elliott and Cleaves. It looks nasty but Mr Selwood finds mitigation and issues a yellow. I’m not sure his fellow officials agree but they say nothing. Perhaps more significantly Danny Care departs with what looks like a dodgy hamstring to be replaced by Lewis Gjaltema. So for a while we are 14 v 14. Quins take the advantage when Will Evans breaks from his 22 and finds Dombrandt on the left wing. Reincarnated as a pretty decent back he scores a lovely try which is converted from wide out on the left to put Quins 19-8 ahead.

Sarries are back to 15 but not for long. Wilson is adjudged to have committed a no-arms tackle on Halfpenny and without a by your leave he is sent to the bin. Again it seems harsh, again no reference to the TMO. Could it have anything to do with Wilson upending Mr Selwood just a few minutes earlier? Sarries seem invigorated by this and eventually Max Eke pops up and crashes through the Quins’ defence to score. The conversion should be straightforward but it appears Louie doesn’t hear the 15 sec warning from Mr Selwood so when he says 5 seconds, poor Louie panics and hits the post. Could that be important?

Half time and its 19-13. Sarries have been up for it and have made up for numerous mistakes and a somewhat chaotic defensive line with sheer energy and playing for each other. Still I wonder how long before the dam breaks.

We start part 2, 1 man short still. Elliott just manages to stop Cleaves in his stride then Cleaves and Joseph make a mess of another golden opportunity. A loose ball from the scrum and more danger but Jarrod Evans’ long pass is intercepted by Elliott who runs the length of the pitch and scores leaving the Quins’ defence in his wake including the unfortunate Cassius Cleaves who’s hamstring goes in the process (to be replaced by Tyrone Green). Johnson converts and incredibly Sarries are in the lead.

To their credit, and despite the dire weather, both sides are still producing exciting rugby. Quins almost conjure a bit of magic when Jarrod Evans’ kick ahead is fielded by Tyrone Green and tapped in field for Joseph to “score”. The TMO calls a knock on by Green and so no try

Dombrandt is still producing a masterclass: he beats Elliott and Simpson and passes out to Green who scores in the corner. An excellent conversion gives Quins the bonus point (and therefore qualification) and the lead.

We are seeing lots of replacements now including Charlie and Jack the Bracken boys. Instantly they put pressure on Green from a lovely Johnson chip and force him to carry over. From the 5m scrum, the ball is out to the wing and Jack Bracken rides the challenge and scores superbly in the corner. Johnson lands a lovely touchline conversion for Sarries’ bonus point and somehow we now lead 26-27.

There is still a feeling that Quins will do it however perhaps one of the most significant moments of the game sees Gjaltema leave the pitch for an HIA (which he fails) and with Care also hors de combat, Quins have to enlist Benson as a makeshift scrum half and Dombrandt as a remarkably effective centre.

We are into the last 10 minutes now. There is a bit more intensity from Quins but a crucial lineout is stolen by Eke and although Launchbury wins the ball back, Sarries stand tall and eventually Brantingham forces Hodson to drop the ball with the tryline at his mercy. Sarries are clinging desperately to a 1 point lead. Brackens have made a difference and Eke is incredible. There are Issues at ruck – Quins manage 3 steals in a row, the last ending in a Quins scrum & penalty. With 6 minutes left, Quins take the pragmatic decision to go for goal. Evans gets it. Quins lead 29-27. They just need to hang on.

Do Sarries have anything left? Hadfield, who has been heroic, departs for Sam Crean and Sarries win a penalty at the line out. It’s not kickable so it goes to touch. Sarries press on as the clock ticks down then glory be a penalty when Herbst commits a rather unwise neckroll. No pressure Louie. And absolutely no doubt as the ball sails through the posts to give Sarries a 1 point lead.

Can we hang on? Quins help by knocking on from the restart. Yes please, Sarries would like the scrum. The clock keeps ticking down. Another minute gone. Sarries get the ball out. Can they hang on. This is a dangerous game as any offence would be kickable. But they succeed where their seniors failed a few weeks ago and the clock goes red. Louie kicks the ball goes out.

How did we do that? On paper there is no way Sarries should have won that and yet they did. Good job rugby is played on a pitch (albeit one that looks like a potato patch) not on paper! The young lads stood up. They wanted it more. They made a lot of mistakes but somehow their energy, enthusiasm and togetherness came through. This is a long way from perfect but it’s something to build on. The future is great. The future is Sarries.

Harlequins

Halfpenny (Benson), David, Joseph, Waghorn, Cleaves (Green), J Evans, Care (Gjaltema) (Schmid); Jones (Els), Riley (Walker), Kerrod (Hobson), Launchbury, Lewies (Herbst), Hammond, W Evans, Dombrandt

Saracens

Goode (J Bracken), Elliott, Hall, Hallett (Eden), Jackson, Johnson, Simpson (C Bracken); Mawi (Brantingham), Hadfield (Crean), Clarey (Beaton), Sodoke (Pearce-Paul), Tizard, Wilson (Hammick), Eke, Michelow

 SCORERS

Harlequins (29)  Tries: Hammond, Lewies, Green, Dombrandt;  Conv: Halfpenny (2) J Evans; Pen: J Evans

Saracens (30)  Tries: Jackson, Eke, Elliott, J Bracken; Conv: Johnson (2); Pens: Johnson (2)

Referee: George Selwood