Double Completed At Twickenham Quins 39-23 Bedford

By AlanQuin
April 11 2006

Harlequins beat Bedford by 39 points to 23 to complete a league and cup double with four tries with Tom Williams, Will Greenwood, Simon Keogh and Nick Easter all touching down. Adrian Jarvis was successful with four penalties and three conversions in an emphatic win.

It was not an easy win. Bedford held their own for much of the match although in the end ill-discipline, resulting in their reduction to 13 men at one period, contributed to their defeat as they lacked penetration to score tries and conceded kickable penalties which Jarvis mostly converted. But they were always well in contention until two late tries sealed the win.

Archie and Will Greenwood ©Prof

Some of the day very properly concerned Will Greenwood’s last appearance at Twickenham. Enough has been written elsewhere about this great player who has been such an ornament to the game. It was appropriate that he should have been given the privilege of leading the team onto the pitch and also that his two year old son, Archie, should have been the team’s mascot for the day. His, too, was the final kick to touch that ended the match. In between there was a typical Greenwood try.

Quins went on the attack from the start and after only a couple of minutes had a penalty on the half-way line which Jarvis put into touch only ten metres from the Bedford line. The subsequent catch and drive and several succeeding rucks were staunchly defended by Bedford until a knock-on relieved the pressure.

Gavin leaps to take a high ball ©Barquin Mad

Bedford was first on the score sheet when a penalty was awarded inside the Quins’ twenty-two and Hepher easily slotted the ball through for three points. Quins immediately went back on the attack and always looked dangerous when the backs ran the ball. Quins might have scored when despite a two man overlap the pass was knocked on.

Miall meets his old mate Phillips ©Barquin Mad

Scrums were proving difficult. The Bedford front row with their massive Tongan prop, Tonga’uiha, were causing Quins problems at the set piece and penalties for offences at the scrum were all too frequent. They were mainly awarded against Quins although Bedford, too, were penalised occasionally. It is doubtful if anyone watching the game or playing in it, other than referee Tim Wigglesworth, knew what the penalties were for.

Bedford made valiant efforts to attack. One excellent cross-field kick might have produced a score had it not found Ugo Monye to tap it infield from high above his head in typical sevens style and an attempted interception knocked on.

Ugo taps the ball back in field ©Prof

Harlequins went back on the attack, driving through the centre until an elegant cross kick found Tom Williams with an easy run in to score in the corner. Jarvis missed with the conversion attempt, but Quins led 3 – 5 after 12 minutes.

A penalty conceded on their 10 metre line saw Quins pushed back into their twenty-two and at the subsequent line-out Simon Miall was sent to the sin-bin for pulling down the Bedford jumper. Another kick to the corner from the resulting penalty increased the pressure on Quins and they defended with great determination at a series of rucks and attempted drives on their line. Another penalty saw Bedford call for a scrum and that had to be reset two or three times, eliciting a stern warning to Quins from the referee. Eventually Bedford had the Quins’ scrum going backwards and another offence saw a penalty try awarded. Hepher converted easily and Bedford took the lead 10 – 5 with twenty minutes gone.

Quins responded almost immediately carrying the ball deep into the Bedford half and retaining possession until Jarvis threaded a well weighted grubber kick through the Bedford defence for Will Greenwood to follow and touch down for the try and Jarvis kicked the easy conversion to restore the lead to 10 – 12 to Quins.

Greenwood touches down ©BarquinMad

But only a few minutes later a series of errors by Quins allowed that lead to slip. A line-out in their own half saw the ball over-thrown into space with the Quins defence out of position and allowed Bedford to pick up and Kettle was put away to run the twenty metres to score under the posts. Hepher converted for Bedford to lead 17 -12 after twenty-six minutes.

Bedford now attempted to increase the pressure before Miall returned but Quins held firm. Then it was Bedford’s turn to suffer a yellow card when Malone, the scrum-half, was binned for preventing So’oialo taking a quick tap penalty. Jarvis kicked successfully to add to Quins’ score. As the half was ending, a penalty for an offence at a scrum saw Jarvis add another three points with a good kick and at the break Quins led 17 -18

At the start of the second half Quins went immediately on the attack and a fine backs move saw Ugo Monye in full flow down the right wing just stopped short of the try-line. A penalty awarded for an offence at the tackle saw Quins kick for the likely catch and drive but lose the line-out. Bedford, already down to 14 men, now had another yellow card as their No.8, Brady, was binned for a shoulder charge. Jarvis kicked the points from forty metres and Quins began to increase their lead.

Keogh dumps Tonga'uiha into touch ©Prof

Soon the first of Bedford’s sinners returned and Quins brought on replacements with Mike Brown replacing the injured Monye. Nebbett replaced Lorne Ward and soon after Jimmy Richards replaced Tani Fuga. Jarvis hit the post with a penalty attempt when Bedford went offside as Quins attacked but he did not miss with another kick to increase the lead to 20 – 27 with only some ten minutes left to play. A penalty conceded when Duffy was adjudged to have not released the ball in the tackle allowed Hepher to reduce the arrears. A good Quins’ attack was stopped and the ball turned over allowing Bedford to counter but their winger was put into touch and the danger averted.

Easter offloads to Richards ©Barquin Mad

Then came the score which put the match beyond Bedford’s grasp. Nick Easter broke from the base of the scrum and sent an overhead pass to Simon Keogh on the wing. With great speed and balance the winger evaded the attempted tackle of the Bedford full-back and crossed the line to run round and score under the posts. Jarvis missed the very easy conversion by Quins led 23 – 32.

Easter goes over ©Barquin Mad

As injury time was reached, Quins had a penalty in front of the posts for offside which Nick Easter tapped quickly and dived over to score. Jarvis converted to put the matter beyond doubt. From a subsequent penalty Greenwood was given the ball to kick for touch and the final whistle proclaimed a Harlequin victory.

The final points added by Jarvis ©Prof

Speaking after the match Dean Richards, asked if he was happy with the way the team had played, said “I was happy to a degree. When we came in at half-time it was 17 – 18. In the second half we just had to exercise a bit more control, which we did, and play in the right areas of the field. We wanted to set the pace of the game but we just could not do that. We hadn’t been allowed to play because they put a stranglehold on the game.”

The scoreboard after the final whistle ©Prof

Asked about Adrian Jarvis, Dean Richards said that he thought Jarvis had played very well. Bedford had targeted him in the first half and a couple of times they had caught him. He had a good game and he had been very pleased with his performance.

Asked about the problems in the scrum, he could not explain 14 penalties awarded for offences in the scrum which he found unbelievable. He did not think the players knew what had gone wrong. On the subject of the team, he said “What I am pleased with is that the players are trying to play to their potential. Their skill levels are improved and they are enjoying themselves.”

In reply to further questions, Dean Richards spoke about Mike Brown saying “Every time his kicks he puts you 50 or 60 metres down field which makes a great difference when you are going forward. He is a great player of the future – he really is.”

On the subject of the Premiership and Quins’ prospects he said: “We are under no illusions. It is going to be hard. A lot of the guys have played there before and they know that. It is going to be a difficult time for ud, but we are going to give it a go and see what happens. Our skill levels have tio improve. Our general outlook on the way we play has to improve. There is still a long way to go but the players are constantly striving to improve themselves. That is something we are very keen on.”

About Will Greenwood, Dean Richards said it was very nice for Will to bow out on the big stage at Twickenham. Something that Will had been very keen on was making sure that we won here. He has been instrumental in the way we played this year. He has been assisting me and put in a lot of effort. It will be very sad to see him go. Asked if he thought will Greenwood still had a role at the Club he said “I would hope so, but it won’t be on the field.”

Asked about Will as an international player, Dean Richards admitted that the 55-times capped England centre would be missed. "His contribution to world rugby has been phenomenal," he said. "I don't think there are many people in world rugby who understand the game as well as he does or who are as sharp as he is. He may not be the quickest over 10 metres, but he has the sharpest brain around. There's no better footballer or reader of the game and his skills levels are extremely high."

NEC Harlequins
Ceri Jones, Tani Fuga (Jimmy Richards, 60 mins), Lorne Ward (Ricky Nebbett, 55 mins), Jim Evans, Simon Miall, Tom Guest (Luke Sherriff, 79 mins), Andre Vos, Nick Easter, Steve So'oialo (Ian Vass, 70 mins), Adrian Jarvis, Ugo Monye (Mike Brown, 55 mins), Gavin Duffy, Will Greenwood, Simon Keogh, Tom Williams.
Replacements: Jimmy Richards (Tani Fuga, 60 mins), Ricky Nebbett (Lorne Ward, 55 mins), Pablo Bouza, Luke Sherriff (Tom Guest, 79 mins), Ian Vass (Steve So'oialo, 70 mins), Mel Deane, Mike Brown (Ugo Monye, 55 mins)

Scorers: Tries: Nick Easter, Will Greenwood, Simon Keogh, Tom Williams Conversions: Adrian Jarvis (2), Penalties: (adrian Jarvis (5)

Bedford Blues: James Hinkins, Craig Moir, Liam Roberts, Matt Allen (C ), Mike Staten, Ali Hepher, Dom Malone, Soane Tonga'uiha, Chris Johnson, John Brooks, Jon Phillips, Arthur Brenton, Adam Kettle , Chris Rainbow, Shaun Brady.
Replacements: Matt Price, James Graham, Marc Comb, Sacha Harding, Karl Dickson, Tom Luke, Kieran Hallett.