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Owen Farrell described as 'incredible' as Saracens rout Harlequins
Mark McCall has admitted even he was surprised by the scale of Saracens’ dominance in a crushing 52-7 victory over Harlequins. More than 60,000 people were treated to a Sarries special in north London, with four tries in each half sending them above their fiercest rivals into second.
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Friday’s shock results provided a reminder of the Gallagher Premiership’s unpredictability and few could have foreseen this contest being quite as one-sided.
“We weren’t expecting the scoreline and weren’t expecting the performance to be quite at that level,” said director of rugby McCall.
“We understand, however, that sometimes when you are dominant it’s not always reflected on the scoreboard – today it was.
“This was about the players because we only had two training sessions and tried to keep it as simple as we could. Quins are a handful so to defend the way we did and keep on fighting in the second half was very encouraging for us.”
It was a particularly special day for captain and fly-half Owen Farrell, who celebrated 250 club appearances. Lawrence Dallaglio hailed Farrell as Saracens’ greatest ever player pre-match and this was some way to start his swansong ahead of a summer move to French giants Racing 92.
McCall said of Farrell’s performance: “Incredible, he played as good as I have seen him play for a very long time. It looked like it mattered to him and he is going to be like that for the rest of the season, hopefully.
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“He didn’t enjoy being the centre of attention during the week but the players wanted to make it a special occasion because they think so highly of him.”
Quins have now lost each of their last eight meetings against their London rivals and do not have long to patch up their wounds, with fellow title-chasers Bath heading to The Stoop next Saturday.
The Quarters have developed a reputation for producing stunning comebacks in recent times, but four Saracens tries inside 26 minutes left them desperately trying to salvage some pride.
“The first-half performance caused all the problems,” said head coach Danny Wilson. “Our lack of collision on both sides of the ball, our lack of physicality, we couldn’t get on the front foot which led to a half-time scoreline (24-0) where you are chasing the game.
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“When you are chasing the game and trying to score, you end up overplaying into a defence which if they turn you over, you’re in a whole world of trouble.
“Our defence was really poor and that’s the story of the game. We will bounce back at home against Bath, we have to because this league is so tight and one or two wins or losses makes all the difference.”
"Harlequins will happily sign his leaving card!"
Owen Farrell's history-making day continues as he tops the most points scored against one club in the #GallagherPrem ?#TheShowdown4 pic.twitter.com/SeLWCFugqg
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) March 23, 2024
Comments on RugbyPass
Why 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.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 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 …
31 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
4 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!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 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.
31 Go to comments