Worcester Warriors 22 – 26 Harlequins
By Quinten Poulsen
October 25 2009
Harlequins travelled to the East Midlands with an impressive track record of 4 successive wins at Sixways, out of a total of 5 visits – their solitary loss being 5 years ago on their first premiership visit to Worcester. Tries from Danny Care and Mike Brown, plus 8 points each from Nick Evans and Rory Clegg were enough to see off the home side in a match that Quins never looked like losing.
Nick Evans kicked the game off into a strong and blustery wind which, over the course of the game, would give both sides problems with their kicking and catching game. Quins were immediately on the front foot, and within a couple of minutes Evans had already made one searing break and missed his first attempt at goal from a penalty – perhaps a microcosm of his season so far. With Quins keeping play well inside the Worcester half another penalty was forthcoming, but this time it was kicked to touch to give the away side an attacking lineout, which was duly won. A few phases later and Care simply picked the ball up at the breakdown and dived over the line for Quins’ first points. Evans made no mistake with the conversion.
Some good work from the impressive Alex Grove and his equally effective centre partner Sam Tuitupou took the Warriors deep into Quins territory, and referee Tim Wigglesworth gave the home side their first chance of points when Quins failed to roll away from the tackle. Willie Walker gave them 3 points with the resulting kick. Moments later, with Quins attacking again, Mike Brown was tackled around the neck and Evans restored the 7 point advantage with a well taken penalty.
Once again Worcester came back with a sweeping move through their backs which ultimately came to nothing. Around midway through the half the Worcester tighthead Tevita Taumoepeau was forced from the field with a hand injury, to be replaced by Callum Black. The very next scrum was won against the head by Quins, but this was a rare moment of success in the first half scrums. Wigglesworth penalised the Quins’ props at the set piece about 6 times in the first half alone– penalties and free kicks, and the players did well to swallow their frustration. Some more smart play from Nev saw him boot the ball through behind their defence and follow up with a sprint to the line, only for Chris Latham to just hold him off and touch the ball down. Indeed, Latham had a fine game throughout in both attack and defence, always looking classy.
Harlequins were not playing the referee very well, and some more ill-discipline at a scrum resulted in another 3 points for the Warriors from the boot of Walker. Up to this point both Tani Fuga and John Andress had received medical attention a couple of times each, and this seemed to upset one or two of the home supporters. Speaking of Fuga, he had got through a lot of hard work in the opening 20 minutes, carrying impressively on numerous occasions, in what was turning out to be a pretty physical game. Once more one or two supporters vented their frustration at Nick Easter by slow handclapping and booing him as he received attention on the ground, only this time it was one or two thousand supporters, and the poor old God of War was still jeered as he was helped off the pitch, unable to walk unaided. Incredible.
Tom Guest replaced the big man and moments later Harlequins were penalised, and Ceri Jones yellow carded, for bringing down a maul. More slow handclapping and booing was directed at Nick Evans after Tuitupou clattered into him a little late – this challenge had a somewhat Harry Ellis look to it ie. going for the legs rather than the chargedown. Evans wasn’t the same afterwards, and could visibly not run at full pace. Still, the home crowd had the bit between their teeth and weren’t in the mood for sympathy. However, what happened next fully deserved the ire of the tightly wound up masses; George Robson dropped to the floor “injured” just prior to a lineout and was promptly penalised by Wigglesworth. Worcester kicked to touch, and having done his best comedy limp and hobble to get to the ensuing lineout, good old George leapt majestically to steal their ball. Talk about rubbing salt into the wounds! This was no fluke – the Quins lineout was operating very well, with a lot of pressure being applied to the Worcester throw-in, and the odd ball nicked.
With another successful penalty taken by Evans, and a drop goal from Walker, the teams went in for half time with the score at 9 – 13.
Early in the second half Evans missed another penalty, having seen Walker successful with his attempt just prior, and even though there was now only one point in it, Worcester just didn’t seem to be doing enough to threaten the Harlequins try line. This was despite some good work from their backline, who meshed well together when they chose to run with the ball, and although there was the odd mistake they all played pretty well. The Worcester backs were not really helped by the decision to kick away so much possession in the second half, and indeed this could be a criticism levelled at Quins on occasion. The away pack also made some good yards with ball in hand, and it was a shame not to see them do more of this.
With the hobbling Nev being replaced by the former England U20 star Rory Clegg after 57 minutes, Quins still maintained their confident look, and the youngster slotted a good penalty before he’d had time to break a sweat. Almost immediately Harlequins had virtually wrapped up the game, as a move down the left saw the roles in Monye’s second try against Toulouse reversed. Ugo put through a grubber for Mike Brown to chase, and with a lucky bounce Brown ran onto the ball and sprinted the short distance down the wing and around under the posts for a well deserved try. Clegg added the 2 points.
Soon after the try Tom Guest was down for a few minutes after apparently being knocked out. He left the field with a blood injury to the face, to be replaced by Lewis Stevenson, but was able to return some time later. Thankfully there were only one or two idiots at the back of the Slick Stand who booed him.
Worcester tried hard to come back, and looked most dangerous when they did decide to pass the ball along the line. However, Quins defence was very good for the whole game, particularly the way they maintained their shape while under attack. The centres and back three communicated well and were always able to nullify any threat.
In the final stages of the game both Walker and the Clegg successfully kicked another penalty each, and Callum Black barged over for a try, which Walker converted with a fine kick from quite wide out. This was too little too late for the home side, and the Quins players would have been kicking themselves for conceding the final 7 points, as they had possession in front of their tryline for a couple of minutes as they waited to see out time, but a penalty was awarded against them, which resulted in a lineout won and the forward platform for the try.
Harlequins should be very happy with the win. Although the score was close they never looked under too much pressure. Both returning locks had good games, although it was hard to tell if they made a significant difference to the side, as Lewis Stevenson has seen his stock soar in recent games, and Jim Evans played his best game this season against Toulouse. Four fit locks firing well is a nice problem for John Kingston to have. Other pleasing aspects were the centre pairing, and Neil McMillan’s energetic display. With Nils Mordt making his Harlequins debut, and George Lowe making his first start in his preferred position of outside centre, there was a slight worry about how their partnership and the backline in general would function. As it turned out there was nothing to worry about. Mordt played very well, and tackled like a demon. Lowe had a couple of decent runs and also tackled everything he had to – he may be pocket-sized, but reminiscent of Simon Keogh he’s an aggressive and strong little so and so. McMillan did a very good job in Skinner’s absence, and in truth it was hard to fault a single player. The second half also saw a big improvement in the scrum, with no signs of problems even after Fuga and Andress were replaced by Chris Brooker and James Johnston. Job well done.
Let’s now keep our fingers crossed for Nick Easter. His injury looked quite worrying, and it would be a real blow for him if he wasn’t able to feature in any of England’s upcoming games. Good luck Nick.
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COME ON YOU 'QUINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good luck for the rest of the season - well, except for the 6th March!
The game's afoot;
Follow your spirit: and upon this charge,
Cry — God for Harry! England and Saint George
QUIN KONG
But you have to wonder how much more time Mike Ruddock is going to be given at Sixways. His only response seemed to be:
"We could have played for another two days and we wouldn't have won that game."