Report: Harlequins 48-41 Sale Sharks
By Sundance
October 3 2011
It was all very surreal. A heatwave in October. Six tries from Harlequins which delivered a five point win to keep them firmly top of the table. Yet at the end, having conceded six tries themselves, it almost felt like they had lost.
When Nick Evans converted his own interception try, moments into the second half, to put Quins 45-17 ahead, Conor O’Shea was confident enough to take his fly half off.
However, by the end of the match, the home side was clinging on. If there had been another five minutes on the game clock, Sale might even have completed a devastating comeback.
In the last 20 minutes Sale scored four tries unanswered and took two fully deserved bonus points home with them. Quins had completely lost their shape after using a full bench of substitutions. Sale, too, made all of their changes but in their case it enabled them to find an extra gear.
But as it’s always so easy to complain and be glass half-empty, that it seems, after such an entertaining match, far better to accentuate the positives.
So, where to start? Well, Nick Evans was his usual sensational self. What must he be thinking, given the news about Dan Carter from New Zealand? Has Conor O’Shea confiscated his phone to prevent any calls from Graham Henry? Surely he deserves to be playing in the World Cup. The All Blacks’ selection policy is very much Harlequins’ gain.
Quins played the first 50 minutes of the match at unbelievable pace. Almost before you could blink they were 14-0 up with superb 15-man tries finished off by Brown and Lowe. The bonus point was safely in the bag shortly after the half hour and the game was seemingly won by half time, despite two Sale tries which made the score at the break 35-17.
Luke Wallace was in his now customary eye-catching form, tackling anything that moved, getting to the breakdown first and linking with the backs in attack. Back row partner York was also impressing with some big carries. He made great ground to support Smith, who had cut through off a lovely Evans inside flick, and deliver the scoring pass to Brown for the first try after only three minutes.
Jordan Turner-Hall, too, was continuing his upsurge in form. One 50 yard burst from a Sale restart included a pivot, a show and go, a sidestep, swerves and hand offs. The only thing it didn’t have was the final offload to the support runner which would have sealed a perfect piece of rugby. Nevertheless, moments later, Quins had gone through the phases and were back over the Sale line.
So many players in multi-coloured shirts were excelling in the brilliant sunshine and 85 degree heat that, for once, Robshaw was being outshone by his team.
As the first half came to a close, Quins scored three tries in five minutes. First Kohn piled over in a maul set up by Robson weaving past three tacklers. Then Brown, rather luckily, scooped up and touched down a ball that seemed to have been knocked on. And finally Lambert stormed in from nine yards, carrying Peel with him.
Peel scored himself with the final act of the first half, after Evans had slipped and dropped the ball to spark a Sale attack. Sale had also taken an excellent try when Miller showed extreme pace to leave several Quins defenders completely flat footed.
After the restart Evans repaid Peel in full by intercepting his pop pass to run in from 50 yards out and leave the pitch to a standing ovation. Clegg came on for some much needed game time and soon knocked over a regulation penalty.
However, from then on, the match was all Sale, who scored 24 points without reply in the last 20 minutes, including their own three-tries-in-no-time-at-all burst.
Following the turgid stodge which England served up for breakfast, it was wonderful to see so much running rugby, even if it did get a little too close for comfort at the end.
Anyone sitting in the South Stand couldn’t have complained about value for money — they saw nine tries run in at that end of the field.
So, when the dust settled, Harlequins had five wins from five. Now onwards and upwards to Welford Road where they will rarely have a better chance of victory, given that so many Tigers are still in New Zealand. The club’s best start to a season in 15 years could get better yet. The winning streak will have to come to an end at some point but let’s continue with the optimism for as long as possible.
* One small postscript – having watched a rerun of the game online, there’s a wonderful moment picked up on the referee’s microphone. Dickson sprints into midfield, only to find his way blocked by Mr Fox. “Get out of the way, sir,” the scrum half shouts, before bursting past him and passing the ball. Politeness and precision. More reasons to be cheerful, I think.
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But good write up, us in the North Stand should get a refund
Nunquam Dormio
Sorry Karl.