Harlequins make it four wins on the bounce following departure of Paul Gustard
The resurgence of Harlequins following the departure of Paul Gustard produced its best result yet as Sale were dispatched 24-12 to claim third place in the Gallagher Premiership. Marcus Smith continued to show England what they are missing with a virtuoso display at fly-half, the highlight of which was the dynamic break that led to Alex Dombrandt’s try.
Smith also landed all three conversions, two of them of tries scored by the superb Joe Marchant, and kicked a penalty as Quins claimed their fourth consecutive victory since Gustard stepped down as head of rugby last month. Sale have been added to recent victims Wasps, Bath and Leicester to continue the London club’s acceleration up the table with a win founded on defensive resilience as much as a ruthless approach to finishing.
Trailing 24-0, the Sharks faced a heavy defeat but fought back with tries by Curtis Langdon and Robert du Preez only to run out of steam. For all the kicking in the opening quarter, the round ten clash had begun at a high tempo with the teams roared on by their noisy dugouts.
But for a kinder bounce of Smith’s crossfield kick, winger Aaron Morris would have been over and shortly after Quins’ fly-half rescued his team when his own clearance was charged down by lock Matt Postlethwaite. Sale were spending increasing time in the home half with one slick move down the right launched by Robert du Preez almost unpicking the defence.
As the Sale grip continued to tighten, Harlequins struck against the run of play with two tries by Marchant in three minutes – both born out of turnovers won by openside Will Evans. For the first, Evans robbed Sale on the floor to allow Dombrandt to rampage clear using a mixture of strength and footwork before Mike Brown joined the line to supply Marchant the scoring pass.
???? @dannycare comes off after a great shift ????
The @Harlequins scrum-half was marauding around The Stoop this afternoon ?#GallagherPrem live blog ?? https://t.co/DNcXTkx1ff #HARvSAL pic.twitter.com/S1TCtlOs4i
— Premiership Rugby (@premrugby) February 20, 2021
A loose Sharks lineout was the next to fall prey to Evans and when the ball was fed wide Morris chipped ahead for Marchant to grab his second, capitalising on a blunder by Marland Yarde. Sale were stunned and Quins kept their foot on the throat when Smith danced through the midfield, accelerated into space and sent the supporting Dombrandt over.
The visitors’ prospects continued to slide when Jean-Luc du Preez was shown a yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Dombrandt at the ruck. Sale emerged for the second half with renewed fight and South Africa World Cup winner Lood de Jager present in the second row following his three-month absence because of shoulder surgery, but they continued to bleed points as Smith landed a long-range penalty.
Feverish Quins defence kept Langdon out at the first attempt but they eventually cracked under sustained pressure with the replacement hooker successful this time. For the first time, home players fell off tackles as Raffi Quirke raced clear but Morris and Brown held the teenager up over the line. From the ensuing five-metre scrum Robert du Preez used his strength to power over, but Quins cleverly played out the remaining minutes in opposition territory to halt the fightback.
Don’t talk rugby very often but I do think about it deeply once in a while. Ultimately, the game has to be a product people want to watch and most players will have a good idea of how to do that. https://t.co/CfVGIbNV3N
— Will Evans (@Will_Evans69) February 19, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
It was a pleasure to watch those guys playing with such confidence. That trio can all be infuriating for different reasons and I can see why Jones might have decided against them. No way to justify leaving Ikitau out though. Jorgensen and him were both scheduled to return at the same time. Only one of them plays for Randwick and has a dad who is great mates with the national coach though.
53 Go to commentsBrayden Iose and Peter Lakai are very exciting Super Rugby players but are too short and too light to ever be a Test 8 vs South Africa, France, Ireland, and England, Lakai could potentially be a Test player at 7 if he is allowed to focus on 7 for Hurricanes.
5 Go to commentsPencils “Thomas du Toit” into possible 2027 Bok squad.
1 Go to commentsDon’t see why Harrison makes the bench. Jones can play at 10 if needed, and there is a good case for starting her there to begin with if testing combinations. That would leave room for Sing on the bench
1 Go to commentsWhat a load of old bull!
1 Go to commentsOf the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.
29 Go to commentsIrish Rugby CEO be texting Andy Farrell “Andy, i found our next Kiwi Irishman”
5 Go to commentsI certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
5 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to comments