Harlequins player ratings vs Toulouse | 2023/24 Champions Cup
On Sunday afternoon Toulouse defeated Harlequins in an enthralling match in front of a fully packed, Stadium de Toulouse. The arena, usually the home of Toulouse FC, became the setting for one of the most fast and open matches of rugby ever likely to be seen in the northern hemisphere.
Here’s how we rated the Harlequins player performances:
15. Tyrone Green – 8.5
Arguably Quins busiest man. Safe under the high ball throughout and looked truly deadly on the counter attack. He found himself able to cause chaos in the Toulouse defence on multiple occasions thanks to his impressive ability to slalom through a broken defence.
14. Louis Lynagh – 8
Able to turn a defender without a moments hesitation, Lynagh found his skills were truly rewarded in this festival style match. He ran hard at the defence all afternoon, made a great break in the build up to Green’s try, and even knocked through a 50:22 that would lead directly to a try.
13. Luke Northmore – 7
Put in some major hits and got through plenty of work on both attack and defence. Worked well with Andre Esterhuizen in the midfield.
12. Andre Esterhuizen – 7.5
The giant South African came into the game in the second half after a relatively slow first 40 by his normally impressive standards. His direct running style and deft hands became a focal point for the Quins resurgence as he made a dent in the Toulouse defence with every carry.
11. Cadan Murley– 7.5
Showed incredible pace to get ahead of Blair Kinghorn when chasing the ball back prior to Dupont’s try. Another outstanding diving finish in the corner proved once again why this young man is so highly rated in England.
10. Marcus Smith – 9
Booed by the home crowd as his name was announced prior to the match, possibly a sign that Toulouse were concerned about his potential threat. They would have been right to have been concerned when a trademark finish from Smith would open the scoring for Quins. The 25-year-old controlled the match well from a Quins perspective throughout. He threw himself into the tackle area constantly, orchestrated an impressive kicking game, and created multiple breakthrough chances for his team. An exemplary performance.
9. Danny Care – 7
The veteran scrum half controlled the game well by mixing up the playing styles, venturing away from the fast paced in hand tactic towards the slow box kicking game, before turning back when the game called for it. Danny was guilty for causing his own side a couple of issues, however, namely the panicky flick to Cunningham-South which eventually led to a Toulouse try.
1. Fin Baxter – 6
The young prop held his own physically, even if the scrum did struggle. He made his presence felt all around the pitch, replaced after 50 minutes.
2. Jack Walker – 3
An early wayward throw from the lineout wouldn’t have helped the nerves, but it soon improved with a rolling try coming directly off the back of one of his pinpoint accurate darts. Sadly for Walker, this was undone shortly afterwards after an overthrow led to a break away try for Dupont. His match was effectively ended towards the end after a senseless high hit put him in the bin for 10 minutes. He was lucky it wasn’t more.
3. Will Collier – 5.5
A particularly quiet day for the front row forward. Scrum stats also didn’t favour him, pulled after 60.
4. Irne Herbst – 7
A similar performance to his second row partner, but this lock found himself ever so slightly less involved. Albeit it was still an impressive performance.
5. Stephan Lewies – 8
Second of Harlequins tackle count to only Will Evans, Lewies threw himself into every breakdown and every tackle area, as well as picking up a total of 9 carries over the match.
6. Chandler Cunningham-South – 6.5
Guilty of handing Toulouse their third try after failing to catch a Danny Care pass and ripped twice in the tackle, the young back row player had a nightmare first half. Fortunately for himself, and his teammates, he returned to the field a brand new player. His running lines became more direct, making room in the midfield for the fast men to race through the gaps he had created.
7. Will Evans – 8.5
A terrific performance from the flanker. He did everything asked of him, and more. He tackled well, he was constantly threatening to turn the ball over, and his carrying caused a whole host of problems in the Toulouse defence. A performance to be pleased with.
8. Alex Dombrandt – 5
Normally one of Quins stand out players, he looked lost out there this evening.
Replacements – 6
The match was hanging in the balance as the changes rang through, but sadly their introduction, whilst not counter-productive, wasn’t exactly super-productive. Not adding anything to the Quins side that wasn’t already on the field, the substitutes did an OK job. Joe Marlers’ slap on the back of Thomas Ramos’ head signaled the end of what was a promising comeback.
Comments on RugbyPass
Always reluctant to blame a coach when losses rack up, but Penney must go. The backline is dysfunctional and the coach must carry the can. No cohesion, no idea and in many cases, minimal skill. The trains out of Roma St depart faster than the ball from Crusaders’ set pieces. Wouldn’t be surprised if the forwards went on strike.
1 Go to commentsAdding to earlier comment. Cullen Grace has been playing great at no6. Lio-Willie , who was on fire a few weeks ago, had a bad game. I think Cullen should have been moved to 8 earlier, Dominic Gardiner on earlier. Feel for Quinten Strange , put in a big shift .
2 Go to commentsWe dominated the scrums Ben Curry was all over pitch again .Surely James Harper got to be one of best English tightheads
1 Go to commentsRoos is a better option at 6 than 8 for the boks. Needs to work on his windgat though.
1 Go to commentsThe Sharks’ 2nd team maybe?
1 Go to comments‘radical’
1 Go to commentsCome back to Christchurch Robbie, please!
1 Go to commentsI think there is zero chance Sam Cane will be selected for another Test. There is simply no point except sentimentality. Razor is not sentimental- ask Wyatt Crocket. Razor is a ruthless selector
4 Go to comments> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
4 Go to commentswhat’s happening to Ian Peel?
1 Go to commentsAs a Crusaders fan , so disappointed , again.But I think Fergus Burke was all class for the Crusaders in his first game since October last year. Fletcher Newell , was so good at prop. Johnny McNicoll has been gold since returning from Wales. Noah Hotham brilliant , in a coming of age second season for the Crusaders.Jone Rova did really well at centre. The end of the game was tough.Sevu Reece , what a game/season in tough times.
2 Go to commentsFellas a balloon
3 Go to commentsBlues B team on display and made no race of it. By far the best team in SR with the Hurricanes barely getting past the winning post. Up the Blues 💙
7 Go to commentsWould be amazing to have Servette Genève reaching this level
3 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can't buy a win this season. Surely Penney's contract won't be renewed. There's still enough talent in the squad that they oughta be winning more.
1 Go to commentsABs captain for 23 seasons. Decent record. Surely nobody will surpass it. Legend. But alas a typo…
4 Go to commentsJust FYI Rugbypass, I for one am tired of your clickbait titles and thumbnails and will be clicking them no longer. Good day.
1 Go to commentsI think Farrell despite all of the stick he gets in the media is still one of if not the best fly half in the world. He is literally the full package. He can kick one of the best in the world, probably has the best defensive game of a fly half in the world and if he wants to he can run, take contact and find an offload to keep the pace of the attack. I dont know why he isnt spoken more about still being one of the best in the world with the likes of dupont. Farrell is the ultimate captain and team leader and is experienced- he has been in nearly any situation you can think of. I still believe due to these reasons that he is England’s best ever player and is still one of the best players in the world.
48 Go to commentsBlues are dominating up front and that’s been a long time coming. They have won the up front confrontation which is where canes, hilanders and act brumbies are also strong.
7 Go to commentsJust watched brumbies v safas game sadly not a show in he’ll thryr anywhere near quarters or semi contention. Admittedly some issues around new comers bot what stands out for me is coaching management, poor game planning and accuracy.
5 Go to comments