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Northampton director of rugby Phil Dowson admitted his frustration at his side’s failure to capitalise on three Harlequins yellow cards as they fell to a 41-32 defeat at Twickenham.
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Danny Care, Louis Lynagh and Tyrone Green were all sent to the sin-bin, with Care fortunate to escape a red card, having already seen yellow when he appeared to come off his feet at the breakdown to kill the ball. Referee Karl Dickson opted to award only a penalty.
Luke Northmore and Will Porter both scored two tries and Stephan Lewies and Caden Murley also crossed as Quins claimed victory in the Big Summer Kick-Off.
Northampton’s tries came through Ollie Sleightholme, James Ramm, Tom Litchfield and Courtney Lawes, whose score salvaged a bonus point.
Dowson said: “Clearly I would have liked to have conceded fewer points. That’s frustrating and disappointing.
Match Summary 
1
Penalty Goals
2
6
Tries
4
4
Conversions
3
0
Drop Goals
0
157
Carries
101
10
Line Breaks
11
6
Turnovers Lost
17
4
Turnovers Won
1
“I said before the game about how dangerous Quins are and we didn’t manage to contain them.”
On the Care incident, he said: “There was a lot going on in that break of play. Karl and the TMO have had a good look at (it) and they’ve deemed that Care pushing James Ramm and diving on the ball wasn’t a yellow-card offence.
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“They had a lot of yellow cards and we didn’t capitalise and that was fundamentally the difference. When we did get opportunities, there’s three or four times we’re on their line and we either dropped the ball or didn’t convert.
“So we left points out there, we didn’t convert chances, particularly in the first half, and when they had chances, they were very, very clinical. There will be a lot to take from it.”
Danny Wilson was pleased to see his Quins side come out and attack.
He said: “We’re going to come out and entertain and we know in this competition and others bonus points are important. We’ve got to score four tries week in, week out, and that’s exactly what we’re trying to do.
“It’s their DNA, it’s the club’s DNA, it’s what it’s been built on and long may it continue.
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“It’s so tight it’s mad. Every game feels like knockout rugby, so you’ve got to go and score four tries and get bonus points to give yourselves a chance.
“We’ve done what we needed to do in front of a big crowd here, which is an amazing experience.”
He added: “We said at half-time we should be further ahead on the scoreboard if it wasn’t for the yellow cards, which is what gave them a foot up in the game.
“They were all one-off yellow cards that we shouldn’t be giving away.
“We had some really good defensive sets in our own 22, our collisions were way better than what they’ve been.
“We probably got a bit soft a couple of times on edges and, if you give Northampton an edge, they’re going to score from that.”
Comments on RugbyPass
One of the best the Boks have ever produced. PSDT has an engine that goes non-stop for the full 80 min.
4 Go to commentsThe real deal.
4 Go to commentsIt’s been said that Nienaber will head back to SA too before next World Cup , hoarding all the amazing IP gained in Irish system … get a grip … Irish system needs to Milk the likes of Barrett . First time a leading all Black in his prime has gone to Ireland for any period of time . Enjoy it .
20 Go to comments20 min RC is the only good solution of a bunch of bad solutions. Ridiculous that it has taken this long and caused so many uneven contests. In general these are all very good changes - one is surprised that NH brokers were able to see sense at long last.
7 Go to comments“While a red card will mean a temporary team disadvantage, the replacement system will focus punishment on the offending player instead of disrupting the game itself.” This might work for amateur rugby, where players just want to be on the pitch for as long as possible, but hopefully we’ve got to a point where top level professionals care about the success of their team much more than about whether they personally are on the pitch or not.
7 Go to commentsa lot of focus on the targeting of south africa, but aspects of this are positive. The croc roll; the offside law; and time limits on set pieces are all good. calling for a mark off kick offs is baffling, but I guess we’ll see how it plays out in practice
24 Go to commentsSpeeding the game up is great, but I think we will find that the increase in viewership this year mostly comes down to the competition being more competitive…the fall of the Crusaders has been a boon for viewership. This should be at the heart of super rugby changes - how to make the comp more even
23 Go to commentsThe fact that the press were largely to blame for his taking a break is nothing short of disgusting. He’s made a few mistakes but difficult to name a player of any substance who gives it a full go hasn’t also made mistakes? On behalf of a large number of Bokke fans, bring back Farrell !!!!!
1 Go to commentsPSTD is a fantastic flanker. He could benefit from a bit of self-promotion / flair and he is not quite the danger man that Ardie is. That said, he is my 1st pick to build a backrow around. His speed and hustle made up for Duane who got quite a bit slower at the 8.
4 Go to commentssurprised, disco lights haven't been banned by world rugby board
24 Go to commentsToo many changes. Too often. I’m tired of this WR administration. How do we vote these fockers out? Bill needs to go.
24 Go to commentsDu Toit, 2 time W.Cup winner yet rarely mentioned a “Great “…if one looks back on his stellar carrier perhaps someone will one day elevate him to “Richie” status…a quiet, polite yet devastating loose forward that knew action speaks louder than words..
4 Go to commentsI like the offside rule, but this won't affect my team because all their kicks gets chased and that putts everyone on side. Lekker manne!
24 Go to comments20 minute Red Card is untenable. If you don’t punish the whole team, coaches won’t be sufficently incentivised to pick players with, or coach better tackle technique.
7 Go to commentsI can only think of One time ever a team has opted for a scrum from a free kick… Why the law change I wonder
24 Go to commentsYeah, its not going to work. But we see you World Rugby.
24 Go to commentsLove the reaction after last 2 W.Cups re rule changes…maybe good for more for more of a “ league” type running game( which I personally don’t like) but seems Rassie is definitely in ther heads…
24 Go to commentsGreat. More unwanted changes. Because these always work out well.
24 Go to commentsI’m sure South Africa’s opponents will rejoice at World Rugby minimising one of the Boks’ most potent weapons, but you just know Rassie is cooking something up with free-kicks that no-one else has thought of. Let them play checkers. Rassie’s playing chess. 😂
24 Go to commentsAfter a fairly simple Pac4, the BFs will find out a lot about themselves in September when they face the rampaging RedRoses at Twickenham in front of a record crowd. After that they will face them again in Canada in WXV1. They also have France to contend with. Will be interesting to see what Australia have to offer with Jo Yapp at the helm.
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