Zebre 14-57 Harlequins

With efficiency and power and determination, Harlequins produced an eight try rout of their hapless Italian opponents by 14 – 57 to maintain their unbeaten Heineken Cup progress at the head of Pool 3.  A quarter-final place beckons if they repeat this performance in the return fixture next week at The Stoop.

The pitch was muddy but playable, a small miracle when one looked at the amount of snow on the surrounding club pitches. The stadium, too, was thankfully clear of snow. The crowd was small with Harlequins’ travelling support easily outnumbering the locals.

For almost half an hour play was exclusively in the Zebre half of the pitch with Quins attempting to pierce a dogged Italian defence. Despite the conditions and the heavy ground and the bitter chill made for unforced errors on both sides.  Nick Evans had an early opportunity to open the scoring, but his kick went right of the posts. It was almost into the second quarter when a successful kick from the fly half opened the scoring.  Once started, the scoreboard continued to tick over at a good rate.

A swift attack with accurate passing saw Sam Smith in for the opening try after twenty-six minutes and Evans duly added the conversion.  Harlequins’ forwards were dominating in the set piece and penalties were beginning to flow. An offence at a ruck, following a warning to Zebre from the referee, produced a yellow card for Mauro Bergamasco. 

The next score was not long in coming as another accurate backs move involving Tom Williams and Sam Smith saw the latter score again and again Evans added the extras.  Quins set off after another try, but a poor pass allowed the Zebre backs to latch onto the loose ball and sprint away for a try which was duly converted.  The interval arrived with the score 7 - `17.

At the interval the Italians changed their whole front row in an attempt to stop Harlequins’ forward domination.  It did not help.  It was the forwards who created the next score as they put pressure on the Zebre line and sent Easter crashing through under the posts. Evans duly converted.  Quins went looking for the inevitable bonus point try as Care, Brown and Hopper were stopped just short.  There followed a series of penalties and scrums and the inevitable came as a penalty try.

By this point in the match the floodgates were opening for Quins and their fluent attacks were ever more penetrating. A fine run along the wing by Hopper, who was having a fine game, ended with a touchdown in the corner and a fine conversion by Evans from the touchline brought the score to 7 – 38. Another yellow card for an Italian forward reduced their pack and produced another series of penalties and scrums that led inexorably to a second penalty try.

Substitutions for both sides emptied the benches and Buchanan Dickson, Monye and Botica made their appearance. Quins continued to attack with fluent passing through many hands and it was Buchanan who was next to score and brought up the half century, though the conversion failed.

An interception gave the Italians another consolation score with six minutes remaining leaving time for Botica to produce a fine jinking forty metre run for a final try and he duly added the conversion with a drop kick to produce a final score of 14 – 57.

Conor O’ Shea was laconic after the match saying "It's one of those ones where you're dammed if you do and dammed if you don't. Of course there is ambition in the club, but people will write today's result off as irrelevant. And they are more than entitled to do just that.

"All we can do is to continue playing as a team, and make sure we are in control of our own destiny. When we lose games we don't get carried away, and it's the same when we win. "It's about being in with a shout come April and May.

"You can come here and do an unprofessional job and cause yourself problems which eventually come home to roost. But I was pleased that we did a professional job in very difficult conditions. To score eight tries against a team that stubborn is no mean feat."