Harlequins battle back from 17 points down to beat Wasps
Harlequins at the Ricoh Arena.
Wasps’ miserable season continued as they surrendered a 17-point lead as they crashed to a 28-22 defeat toWasps looked in total control when they led 17-0 at the end of the first quarter but they fell tamely away as Quins scored 28 unanswered points to take control of the match.
Wasps scored tries through Jack Willis, Zach Kibirige and Thomas Young with Jacob Umaga kicking two conversions.
Quins responded with tries from James Chisholm, Kyle Sinckler, Elia Elia and Marcus Smith, with Smith converted all four for a tally of 13 points.
Chris Robshaw, on his 200th Premiership start for Quins, gave away the first penalty of the game by not releasing and up stepped Umaga to fire the hosts into a seventh-minute lead.
Wasps continued to have the better of the opening exchanges and five minutes later they scored the opening try. Flanker Willis put the visitors on the back foot with a rampaging 20-metre burst and when the ball was recycled, Willis was back on his feet to force his way over.
Umaga converted but missed a straightforward penalty but it mattered little as Quins were firmly under the cosh and it came as no surprise when Kibirige finished off some well-executed passing by coasting in for Wasps’ second.
Quins’ woes continued when centre James Lang was helped off with a leg injury to be replaced by Paul Lasike but from nowhere, they struck with an excellent try.
On half-way, a neat inside pass from Smith sent Cadan Murley into space before well-timed off-loads sent Chisholm racing over.
This try spurred Quins into dominating the second quarter and they should have reduced the arrears further but they surprisingly failed to take an easy three points when number eight Tom Lawday was tackled off the ball but took a tap penalty instead and soon butchered the opportunity.
However, they were able to maintain the pressure and came right back into contention when a skilful pass from Danny Care sent Sinckler in for the second try with Smith’s conversion leaving his side trailing 17-14 at the interval.
Wasps needed to steady the ship and they did so by making the opening period of the second half a ragged affair with by both sides making elementary errors before a careless kick from Dan Robson gave Quins the platform they needed.
From a scrum just inside the Wasps’ half, Care ran with purpose to set up a try for Smith to put Quins in front for the first time.
Wasps were now firmly up against it and from a driving line-out, Elia crashed over with Smith’s conversion giving his side a 28-17 lead going into the final quarter.
The hosts rallied and set up a grandstand finish when Young finished off a driving line-out but even though Quins prop Joe Marler was sin-binned the visitors just held on.
Comments on RugbyPass
The shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to comments