Harlequins v Saracens Premiership Cup Report

What an entertaining match that was! Having had a poor night of sleep on the Saturday and an early rowing session on the Edgbaston Reservoir on Sunday, I was tired and a little grouchy as I made the journey down to Twickenham afterwards with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. Harlequins had fielded a young side full of exciting talent (Josh Kerr, Connor Slevin etc) whereas Sarries, whilst including youth in the team also brought in some of the proverbial ‘big guns’ – Hugh Tizard, Max Malins and Tom Willis were all included in the lineup. In a rematch of the Premiership game last month, this was sure to be a cracker of a cup game.I stopped in at the Prince Blucher for a quick pint of Naked Ladies Twickenham ale (to calm the nerves!) before making my way to the ground through the country park. We cheered the Sarries players into the ground (incl. some notable names in Baz Barrington and none other than Owen Farrell!) and relaxed with plenty of pints and food (in the form of an expensive sausage roll) in-hand until kick off. Rather surprisingly halfway line tickets for ths game were only £35 so I decided to treat myself. Very glad I did, since the view was second to none. Also I was sat near a group of friendly and vocal Sarries fans (4 chaps who, by the sounds of them, seemed to have been on the beers since lunchtime…) and a Quins season ticket holder by the name of Stephen. We exchanged thoughts on the game (albeit occasionally from difference perspectives!) and wished each others team best of fortunes. If you do read this Stephen, thank you for making me feel so welcome. Sarries and Quins came out to the sound of many cheers and we kicked off at 3pm sharp.    

First Half

Very sadly there were two very early changes to the lineups – Lucas Schmid (who lasted  mere 27 seconds before coming off injured) and Hugh Tizard were both taken off within a few minutes of each other, I believe Tizard suffered a concussion. I do hope they are both recovering well. Sarries scored almost immediately from some lovely interplay from Max Malins, Sam Spink and Jack Bracken allowed Brandon Jackson to run in unopposed. Louis Johnson couldn’t make the very difficult conversion but nonetheless, 5-0 already. However it didn’t take Harlrquins long to find their mojo. Following a string of penalties in the Sarries 22, Quins made some progress with pick-and-go’s and Seb Driscoll was able to drive over. Connor Slevin made the conversion. 7-5. Sarries then delivered some first phase brilliance. A slick move off a halfway line scrum allowe Brandon Jackson to hurtle down the left wing and power through the tackle of Sean Kerr to dot down. LJ’s radar was worryingly offset and it remained 10-7 to sarries. Quins responded - they had their tails up and were on the offensive. Frank McMillan twice went close to scoring. First, he was thwarted by superb last-ditch defence from Louis Johnson to force a knock-on over the line, before a second was ruled out for crossing. Despite having had all the territory and possession for most of the 20-30 minute block. Next came the first real blunder from Quins. Off an attacking scrum, Quins fielded an attacking kick but Jack Bracken intercepted it and raced away to score. This time Louis Johnson could convert – 17-7. Following an attacking lineout, Olly Hartley was able to power over the line and score again. LJ nailed the conversion and it was 24-7. Jack Bracken secured his 2^nd try of the day as the ball was worked to the right hand side of the pitch with nice hands from Johnson and Malins. 29-7 the hlf time score, much concern for Quins but delight for us Sarries fans at the Stoop. On another note it was great to see so many vocal sarries fans cheering on the team!

Second Half

Quins opened the scoring for the second period as an explosive counter ruck provided an opportunity to strike. Jordan Els, Jack Musk and Jake Murray all combined for the scrum-half to just beat Max Malins to the try line and slide over. The score was a more respectable 14-29 and Harlequins seemed a bit more lively compared to their dull first half selves.

The scrum and lineout seemed pretty imperious, with Quins front row conceding numerous scrum penalties. Testament to the hard work of our front 5 (how good were Harry Wilson and Kennedy Sylvester when he came on!). Anyway, With half an hour to go, Sam Spink scythed through the Quins defence to score from a sarries scrum. LJ kicked an easy conversion to make the score 36-14 replacement hooker Eoghan Clarke adding another for the visitors from a driving maul 14-41. Quins found an answer with Jimmy Staples  the beneficiary of an overthrow from a Saracens lineout just five metres out from the try line. Saracens were unable to recover from this error and the replacement hooker powered over to score.

In the final ten minutes of play, Quins player Theo Povey had a debut try cruelly ruled out (even I felt bad for him!) for an offside from the replacement scrum-half Josh Bellamy in the build-up. To finish the scoring, replacement full back Finn Keylock crossed for our final try in the 78th minute 21-48, much to the delight of us Sarries fans.

Not too much to say except that was a superb performance, dominant in the scrum (especially as our subs came on), imperious at the lineout and (generally) superb defence that seemed to stifle any Quins attacks. A wonderful day out and superb win. Thank you Quins for making us feel welcome, the Stoop really is one of my favourite away grounds to visit.

Photo Credit – David Loxham of the SSA. Many thanks David.