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Saracens hit Harlequins with half-century to move second in Premiership
Saracens secured London bragging rights in thumping fashion, thrashing Harlequins 52-7 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
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Saracens were as rampant as Quins were rudderless, with tries from Alex Lewington, Theo Dan and two from Sean Maitland giving the hosts an unassailable half-time lead.
Dan crossed again at the start of the second period before a consolation try for Quins’ Alex Dombrandt.
Argentina pair Lucio Cinti and Juan Martin Gonzalez got in on the act before a seventh try from Alex Goode sent Saracens into second place ahead of a trip to leaders Northampton next weekend.
After a special tribute for Owen Farrell’s 250th club appearance, Saracens came flying out of the blocks looking to make it a milestone to savour.
Dan pierced a gap in the defensive line to carry Sarries inside the Quins 22 and wing Lewington finished off a fine first move in the corner inside two minutes after bouncing off a poor tackle from Marcus Smith.
Harlequins’ indiscipline was the story of the opening quarter and they were a man down after a maul misdemeanour from captain Stephan Lewies.
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Saracens smelt blood and several backs poured in to the resulting lineout drive to help them over the line, with hooker Dan the man to touch down for his sixth try of the season.
Flyer Maitland was a late call-up in place of Rotimi Segun but was quickly the toast of Tottenham, sliding in for the first of two scores in quick succession.
Conductor-in-chief Farrell sprayed a flat miss pass to Maitland for the first and he had the simplest of run-ins for Saracens’ third try.
Maitland’s second and Saracens’ bonus-point score came on 26 minutes and encapsulated the performances of both teams in a thoroughly one-sided first half.
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After an overthrown Quins lineout, Dan gobbled up the loose ball and after some swift hands, player of the match Elliot Daly produced an audacious through-the-legs pass to present Lewington with a two-on-one.
Sarries’ top scorer unselfishly tipped on to Maitland and the Scot fought off a couple of desperate covering defenders to cross for a second time, doubling his tally for the season in the process.
There was no let-up after the break and after Joe Marler and Will Evans were penalised at the breakdown, Saracens re-established their base in the Quins corner. Dan found the whitewash again as the league’s most prolific maul notched their 11th collective try of the season.
Quins finally managed to get themselves on the board after 50 punishing minutes as Dombrandt stretched over, but any hopes of a comeback were quashed by a lovely team try finished off by Cinti.
Pumas team-mate Gonzalez then picked up a loose ball to score on the hour mark before turning provider for replacement Goode as Saracens leapfrogged their fierce rivals into second in style.
Comments on RugbyPass
“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.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 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.
2 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.
37 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 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…
1 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.
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!
5 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 …
33 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.
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