Smith outduels Ford as Harlequins put leaders Sale to sword
Marcus Smith won the duel between England’s fly-halves in waiting at The Stoop but it was the contribution of Harlequins’ pack that underpinned a 36-3 victory over Sale.
Quins climb to second in the Gallagher Premiership after putting the league leaders to the sword with a polished display that produced five tries, two of them scored by Will Joseph.
Smith engineered the 43rd-minute try for Danny Care that propelled his team out of reach and was an influential presence throughout, including off the tee in the form of one penalty and three conversions.
It was a personal triumph for the 24-year-old, who eclipsed England rival George Ford as the two compete for the number 10 jersey made vacant by Owen Farrell’s decision to miss the Six Nations in order to prioritise his mental health.
Smith was given the easier night, however, because of the the work rate and determination of his forwards highlighted by the resolute defending of their line shortly before half-time.
A difficult night for Sale was compounded by the loss of captain Ben Curry to injury and there were few positives on show to make the journey back to Manchester more comfortable.
Alex Sanderson’s early-season pacesetters were rarely at the required level and it took just nine minutes to leak their first try, full-back Joe Carpenter making a mess of a kick that allowed Tyrone Green to grab the ball and complete a simple run in.
The South African used his footwork to set off on a mazy run out of defence that launched a fresh home assault which ended with a Quins penalty.
Sale were spending time in opposition territory but each time departed without any points with Ford missing one very kickable penalty on the half-hour mark.
Joe Launchbury was hurt in contact but Quins were relieved to see their England second row rise to his feet and rejoin a match that was in danger of slipping away from the Sharks.
Sensing the urgency, Sale ended the first half by using forward pick and goes to batter away at the whitewash but the resilience shown in defence by Quins meant they were confined to a Ford penalty.
And it appeared to be a costly failure early in the second half when Quins’ attack clicked into gear through the skills of their half-backs, Smith slicing through the visitors and darting clear before sending the supporting Care over.
Problems continued to mount for Sale as Arron Reed was sent to the sin-bin for a deliberate knock-on and once a large scuffle had subsided, hooker Sam Riley peeled off from a line-out maul and dived over.
Second place in the table was confirmed when Sharks’ poor clearance offered an invitation to attack and Quins accepted, Smith launching a move down the left side of the field that was finished by Joseph.
Sale’s defence was creaking again to enable Joseph to plunder his second in the final indignity for the out of sorts Premiership leaders.
Comments on RugbyPass
Let’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
3 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
3 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe 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.
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