The Mighty Quins March On: Harlequins 30-23 London Irish
By Quin Kong
February 13 2012
On a sunny but freezing day at the Stoop Quins welcomed London Irish. Irish were looking to maintain pressure on their aim of a top four place. Quins on the other hand were looking at keeping the top place with Sarries closing on the top spot. The hard ground would favour fast running rugby.
Unfortunately for Quins the Irish side came out firing. Winning the kick off and passing the ball from one side of the pitch to the other. Tom Homer finally breaking a tackle to score in the corner from which he added the conversion. Luckily Quins gained a penalty a few minutes later to put the first points on the board.
For me a lot of the first half felt bitsy. Both sides were trying things but small mistakes ending moves, as well as both sides being defensively strong. Unusually Nick Evans missed two penalties one long but central and the other to one side, this was matched by Tom Homer also missing. It took a great break by Tom Williams to open a gap which ended with Casson crossing over for the try with Nick Evans converting.
Irish brought themselves back into the game with a penalty then into the lead on the stroke of half time with another penalty in front of the posts. This left me wondering whether the loss of our England four would be so costly and whether we could be looking at home defeat, a revenge for Irish after the opening day win by Quins.
The second half started like the first. However it was Quins who scored this time and slightly quicker. The long kick off and a pass by Irish went into the twenty two was kicked to clear however George Robson charged the kick down and the ever lively Tom Williams picked up and scored. The conversion was good.
Next came a surreal moment. From a Quins line out a rolling maul trundled towards the Irish try line. With the crowd urging them on Quins got a penalty advantage the ball came out to Danny Care who took a drop goal. Unfortunately the refs signal awarding it was missed by most at the ground and it took a short time for the score to register.
With Quins looking more dominant it was Irish who scored next against the flow of play. Jonathan Joseph ran from almost the half way line through at least three tackles to score. The resulting conversion meant that the sides were level again.
A penalty took Quins into the lead followed by a bit of magic. Tom Guest broke out of the Quins twenty two and offloaded to Tom Williams (yes, him again). Williams got to the half way line and with great vision put a delightful chip into space which was seized upon by Ross Chisholm who had a clear sprint for the line.
Irish managed get a penalty by Adrian Jarvis. Despite the best attempts by both sides this ended the scoring Quins running out 30-23 winners. It would have been nice to get the bonus point but at least the win keeps Quins three points clear at the top. Stand out players for me were Tom Williams, Nick Easter and Luke Wallace for Quins and Jonathan Joseph for Irish. The scrum looked good and the line out was good despite pressure from Irish. The area of worry is missed tackles however all in all a good day at the office. It was also good to see more players back from injury and making an impact on the game. Now for next Saturday.
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The game's afoot;
Follow your spirit: and upon this charge,
Cry — God for Harry! England and Saint George
QUIN KONG
The game's afoot;
Follow your spirit: and upon this charge,
Cry — God for Harry! England and Saint George