London Wasps 26-15 Harlequins
By AlanQuin
September 6 2009
The red card earned by George Robson after 45 seconds of this London Double Header match against Wasps at Twickenham condemned Harlequins to play for the next 78 minutes with fourteen men until, with a minute to go and with much less effect upon the game, Turner-Hall was shown a yellow card and they were reduced to thirteen.
By that time, however, the game was lost and the possible bonus point taken away by a slightly dubious penalty try for pulling down a Wasps maul a couple of metres from the try line.
In between and for long periods of the match, Harlequins were the better side. They skilfully resisted the immediate Wasps attack that followed the sending-off and supplementing the pack with one of the backs began to cause problems for Wasps at the set piece. A searing break through the centre by Nick Evans started a Quins attack that foundered on a penalty for holding on in the tackle. But Quins remained threatening as they broke through the centre of a Wasps rolling maul but were unable to press home the attack to a score.
Then, after twelve minutes Nick Evans’ fine cross kick to the right was plucked out of the air by David Strettle and his inside pass found Monye crossing for the first try. Evans missed with the conversion attempt. The lineout became a problem for Quins as they lost two in quick succession as Wasps sought to take the initiative and succeeded after nineteen minutes when Cipriani created space for Varndell to score in the corner. Van Gisbergen missed the conversion leaving the score level.
Quins’ response was immediate. They stole the ball at the restart and playing at pace began to push Wasps back. Another fine cross kick, this time from Danny Care and to the left corner, found Camacho to take the ball round the last defender to score a try which Evans converted giving Quins the lead at 5 – 12. An exchange of successfully kicked penalties and a second one for Wasps narrowed the lead to 11 – 15.
Then with only a minute or two of the half remaining, Quins lost another lineout on their own throw and Wasps were able to create an extra man on the right and Varndell scored his second try. Van Gisbergen missed with the conversion attempt and at half time Wasps held a one point lead at 16 – 15.
The first part of the second half saw Quins forced to defend more as Wasps sought to increase their advantage. Fuga and Jim Evans replaced Botha and Percival on 50 minutes and Nick Evans missed with a penalty attempt as the third quarter ended, but Van Gisbergen was successful with a similar kick and the lead increased to 19 – 15. Quins brought on Andress to replace Lambert and subsequently Guest for Robshaw. Evans missed with another penalty.
Then with only a few minutes remaining a penalty allowed Wasps to set up an attacking lineout five metres from the Harlequin line. The catch and drive was powerful and Quins appeared to be resisting it strongly and to break it up. The referee thought otherwise and awarded a penalty try without further ado. The conversion brought the score to 26 – 15. The game was gone.
As the clock ticked away the remaining minutes Quins mounted a final attack. With time wholly elapsed they gained three penalties in succession as they worked the ball up field and into their opponents’ twenty-two. But there Wasps were able to stop them without penalty and the final whistle blew.
This was a Harlequin performance of great character. Those on the pitch strove manfully to overcome the loss of Robson but could not. The forwards were immense and the backs fast and inventive and dangerous but Harlequins cannot afford the lack of discipline that concedes advantage and points and, ultimately, victory to opponents.
After the match John Kingston would not comment on the red card until he had seen the video but praised the performance. He said: "I thought the players performed admirably. They showed a tremendous resolve, which in the circumstances, when you lose a man in the first minute, it would have been very easy to fold. Knowing what I know about them, we knew it was never going to happen. We showed huge resolve but from the first minute we never had the opportunity to show what we are about."
Wasps: M Van Gisbergen; T Varndell, B Jacobs, S Kefu, D Lemi; D Cipriani, J Simpson (W Fury 79); T Payne, R Webber, G Bocca (B Broster 41), G Skivington, R Birkett, J Hart (H Ellis 77), S Betsen (captain), D Ward-Smith.
Harlequins: U Monye; D Strettle, G Tiesi, J Turner-Hall, G Camacho (G Lowe 77); N Evans, D Care; C Jones, G Botha (T Fuga 58), M Lambert, J Percival (J Evans 57), G Robson, C Robshaw (T Guest 70), W Skinner (captain), N Easter.
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Thanks Alan...
