Harlequins pull off another stunning comeback victory over Bristol
Marcus Smith stepped off the bench to inspire Harlequins to another remarkable comeback victory over Bristol as the Gallagher Premiership champions triumphed 52-24.
Mirroring last season’s gripping semi-final when they overturned a 28-0 deficit to dispatch the Bears 43-36 at Ashton Gate, they won despite leaking three converted tries inside the opening 25 minutes.
Even for a team that has made a speciality of climbing off the canvas to complete the improbable it looked a tall order, as Bristol electrified a noisy crowd at Twickenham Stoop.
But they struck back in the second half, with Smith at the heart of a surge that produced a bonus-point victory to lift them to the top of the table with a perfect record.
Smith replaced the injured Tommy Allan in the 26th minute to make his season debut after completing his mandatory post-Lions rest period, and Quins’ attack took off with their 22-year-old ringmaster directing operations.
Tries followed for Louis Lynagh, who crossed twice, Andre Esterhuizen, Luke Northmore, Will Collier, Tyrone Green and man of the match Alex Dombrandt.
Smith also engineered and finished a touchdown for himself as Bristol split at the seams, unable to come to terms with another collapse from a seemingly unassailable position.
It continues a worrying start to the season for the Bears, who have won just one of their four matches and must improve rapidly if they are to challenge for the title.
Quins debuted their new lights system to greet the players on to the pitch, but once the fireworks subsided it was Bristol who struck first when Joe Joyce burrowed over from close range after Joe Marchant had produced a try-saving tackle on the line.
The Bears continued to attack with pace and width and when an out-the-back play created an overlap, Henry Purdy instead used his footwork to dance through the home defence.
And in a repeat of last season’s semi-final, Bristol looked unstoppable as they poured through gaps and won collisions until Quins cracked for a third time with Charles Piutau landing the final blow.
Smith came on for Allan and his first meaningful act was to send Esterhuizen into space, but while the South Africa centre was halted just short, a phase later Lynagh showed good hands to keep hold of the ball and touch down.
Callum Sheedy had nailed all three of Bristol’s conversions and he ended the first half by adding a penalty to extend the lead to 24-7, but seven minutes after the interval Quins pounced.
Smith used his footwork to make a half gap even bigger, releasing Lynagh, who worked the touchline with Esterhuizen before taking the return pass to touch down.
The comeback was on and Quins were now in full stride as a Green run that appeared to be going nowhere was given new legs by a scissors with Lynagh, and the move ended with Dombrandt sending Esterhuizen over.
Bristol were reeling as Smith burst into space and but for more composure at the key moment they would have been over again, but in the 56th minute the lead did change hands.
A scrum did the initial damage, but Danny Care pulled the trigger by directing a twisting Northmore over the line, with Smith converting to nudge Quins 31-24 ahead.
Bristol began to look like a rabble as they leaked a fifth try when replacement prop Collier scooped up turnover ball on the 22 and won the race to the whitewash.
And Quins showed no mercy with additional tries by Green, Smith and Dombrandt to send them galloping over the finishing line.
Comments on RugbyPass
Anna, 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.
55 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 commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
8 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
61 Go to comments