Harlequins stage another superb comeback to defeat Wasps
Harlequins produced another of their spectacular second-half rallies to gain a third consecutive away win over Wasps.
The misfiring champions trailed 16-0 at the interval at the Coventry Building Society Arena but it was one-way traffic afterwards as they picked up five points with a bonus-point 26-16 victory.
Luke Northmore scored two tries for the visitors, with Tyrone Green and Scott Steele also crossing and Andre Esterhuizen adding three conversions.
Wasps’ points came from a Gabriel Oghre try and three penalties and a conversion from Jacob Umaga.
Harlequins famously came from 28-0 down to beat Bristol in last season’s play-off semi-finals and, in another example of their battling spirit, recently overturned a 21-point deficit to defeat the same opponents, and they were forced to dig deep again in this match.
The visitors lost two early line-outs to gift their opponents a flying start with Wasps fly-half Umaga putting his side in front with a simple penalty.
Wasps had 18 players unavailable for selection for this fixture and their injury woes continued when full-back Ali Crossdale was clattered as he attempted a tackle and was carried off on a stretcher.
Following a lengthy delay, Marcus Watson replaced him but Wasps immediately overcame that setback to score the opening try.
Esterhuizen lost possession inside the Wasps half and Umaga picked the ball up and ran 50 metres down the left-hand touchline. When challenged the fly-half threw an overhead pass to Josh Bassett who sent Oghre over.
The hosts could have a second try when Esterhuizen failed to collect an up and under from Umaga.
The ball ran loose for Will Porter to burst away and then evade a poor tackle from Danny Care but Nick David, on his Quins debut, ankle-tapped Porter when the scrum-half looked certain to score.
However, Wasps still picked up the next points when Umaga kicked a second penalty before the visitors suffered an injury blow of their own when wing Cadan Murley was led off.
Wasps prop Robin Hislop was the next casualty after failing a head injury assessment before his side missed a golden opportunity to extend their lead when Oghre greedily went on his own with the line beckoning and the chance was lost.
Umaga kicked his third penalty before Wasps looked to have scored a superb try with brilliant inter-passing ending with Bassett crossing, but TMO replays showed that one of the passes was forward.
That left the home side with a 16-0 lead at the end of an injury-disrupted 65-minute half.
However, Harlequins have shown they can never be discounted and within two minutes of the restart they were on the scoreboard when dart from Care provided Green with an easy run-in.
Care was replaced by Steele soon after but Quins, aided by a dominant scrum who won frequent penalties, were now a different proposition and increasingly Wasps were placed on the back foot.
It therefore came as no surprise that Quins scored next when a half-break from Esterhuizen sent Northmore over.
Wasps were now firmly under the cosh and their opponents took the lead for the first time when Steele dashed over from close range before Green had a try ruled out for a forward pass.
However, Wasps could not capitalise and in the dying moments Northmore raced in for his second try of the match to leave the home side with nothing.
Comments on RugbyPass
The Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to comments