Castres Adrift?

By Harley Quin
October 31 2004

Probably not, according to Mark Evans - who refused to write off his team’s chances of progressing to the knock out stage of the competition, especially if the Ospreys can beat Munster on Sunday.

This was, in truth, a game that Quins could and should have won. The fact that they didn’t was largely down to two men. Castres centre Richard Dourthe deservedly won the Man of the Match award with an exemplary display of goal kicking, together with the vital break to set up the French side’s only try of the afternoon.

David Changling, the referee from Scotland deservedly won the “which rules is he playing by” award for dodgy refereeing. “I felt that the way the lineout drive was officiated was ….(pause)….extraordinarily unusual, in a way that I have never seen elsewhere, in any country the game is played.” said Evans afterwards. (Come on Mark, don’t hold back, tell us what you really think!) He continued: “This is a high level competition and if you get an area, a real area of dominance, then you expect it to bring its due reward.”

The fact that the Referee failed to penalise the collapsing of the lineout mauls had a profound impact on the outcome of the game. It was astonishing that it took almost 70 minutes before Paul Volley was finally shown a Yellow Card. Equally decisive, was Changling’s failure to award a penalty try soon afterwards, which would have ‘iced’ the game for the home side. (As it was, Quins wasted the ensuing penalty.)

The match had started in an atmosphere of quiet confidence that this would be the game that, finally, produced the first win of the season. This optimism was strengthened in the first five minutes, when new fullback Tom Williams (who had a brilliant first quarter and was only withdrawn with 15 minutes to go after cramping up) made two great breaks, the second triggering the first try of the day. He burst through the French defence before moving the ball out to Keogh, who cutback inside, fed Vos, then on to a ‘juggling’ Dafydd James who hung on to score. Staunton added the extras for a 7-0 lead.

Quins then got a warning of what was to follow when Dourthe landed a penalty from just inside the halfway line, after lifting in the scrum.

A third scintillating run from the irrepressible Williams set up another penalty opportunity for Staunton, who restored the seven point advantage, but failed to punish another French indiscretion moments later.

A magnificent 40 yard rolling maul received rousing support from the crowd and after another whistle, the ex-Munster man made no mistake from 20 yards out. The ten point lead was no more than Quins deserved, having dominated the first quarter of the game.

The action was coming thick and fast and at this point the East Stand was treated to an amazing juggling act involving a man, a cardboard tray and six pints of Guinness. Un - lucky!

In actual fact, the off-field entertainment started before a point was on the board. Somewhat self consciously and, with the minimum of fuss, the magnificent seven, the self styled “Jester Brass Group” – not, as had been suggested, the Twickenham Colliery Band – struck up in front of the Mighty Quinn Village with a rendition of, well,,,,Mighty Quinn. It is a great idea and was well received by the crowd. A bolder approach and, perhaps, amplification will gain their own rewards. Hey, we got a band!

Back on the field, things took several turns for the worse. Andre Vos took a big, impact hit while cleaning up at the back of a stolen lineout. Although he initially continued, he was forced to leave the pitch 10 minutes later, to be replaced by Luke Sherriff. He suffered a knee in the back and it’s too early to assess the extent of the injury. After the game, he was certainly looking forward to the return leg to settle a few scores!

By this time M. Dourthe had reduced the arrears with another penalty and after 34 minutes they finally broke into the Quins 22 with ball in hand, courtesy of their “tricky” winger Brad Fleming. That incursion resulted in another infringement and a further three points for the prolific centre.

The last ten minutes of the first half were Castres best period of the game, but it could have been so different if George  Harder had held on to an interception with an open field beckoning. As it was, a missed drop goal attempt from the booming left foot of Yann Delaigue was the final scoring attempt before the break.

Quins started the second half as they began the first – on top! Another collapsing penalty saw Staunton produce a massive kick that would have been good from his own half.

After a bulldozing run from Tani Fuga, which drew deserved applause, back came Castres in the form of Richard Dourthe who punished a high tackle on the impressive hooker Arocena in his customary fashion. Almost immediately, it was a one point game as he went 5 for 5, again from long distance.

Then, on 50 minutes, Quins and James got their second try of the day. After stealing a lineout, the Referee was playing advantage as Sherriff set up Dippy who drove on. The ball was recycled to the right where Shaggy made the break and pass for his centre partner to go in under the posts.

The cheering had barely subsided when the Man of the Match breeched the defensive line out on Quins left, to set up an easy score for Fleming in the corner. The touchline kick, from the wrong side for a right footer, was to prove his only miss of the day.

Another rolling maul from the forwards set up the Harlequins “threes” again, but it ended badly as Delaigue led a breakout and an offside from Quins gave Dourthe his sixth successful kick of the game to close out the scoring with 20 minutes to go.

The final quarter saw Quins pressing, without being able to take advantage of their superiority. A Shaggy kick to the corner and the removal of Volley resulted in two penalty chances for Staunton, but, sadly for him and the team, he missed them both.

The forwards produced one final rolling maul (they really were great all day) but a knock-on put paid to that attack and ended the game.

The 7,358 who attended witnessed the continued improvement in the team, so much so that Evans claims the new guys – who arrive on Sunday – are not guaranteed starting selection next Friday at Wasps. Quins were the better team, but it wasn’t reflected where it counts – on the scoreboard. Some will point the finger at Staunton for missing the kicks but there really were no bad performers on the day. Castres will undoubtedly be the happier of the two teams at gaining 2 points from a game they could easily have come away from with nothing. For Quins, it was at least 2 points lost.

It is certainly a season to test the resolve of everybody at the Club, but the underlying signs are positive – despite the deep feelings of frustration all Harlequins must currently endure.