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Saracens secure London bragging rights after withstanding late Harlequins fightback
Saracens will drop into the Championship with London bragging rights after withstanding a late Harlequins fightback in a 38-24 Gallagher Premiership victory that saw Owen Farrell make a successful comeback.
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A match originally scheduled to take place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in March until Covid-19 intervened saw England’s fallen champions take apart their capital rivals through tries by Sean Maitland, Maro Itoje, Aled Davies and Alex Lewington.
Saracens have been relegated for repeated salary cap breaches but their looming top-flight demise failed to dent their enthusiasm as they surged 22-3 ahead at half-time before repelling a final-quarter resurgence from Quins, inspired by replacement centre Paul Lasike.
Farrell made his first appearance since England’s Six Nations victory over Wales on March 7 after a tight quad prevented him from playing in last weekend’s Premiership restart following the five-month interlude.
The national skipper, who was making his 200th appearance for Saracens, accumulated an 18-point haul through four penalties and three conversions but was eclipsed by the energy of his half-back partner Davies who was involved right from the start.
Disclaimer issued after podcast appearance https://t.co/bxBzW8SkZl
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A fourth-minute lineout saw Saracens race into the lead as Billy Vunipola broke left after a classy catch by Itoje before feeding Maitland who sprinted over unopposed from short range. Quins’ blindside frailty was exposed once more as Michael Rhodes escaped the ruck defence to dart down the right touchline and the shortcoming became a recurring theme of the opening half-hour.
Wales scrum-half Davies was the visitors’ main tormentor and the summer signing from the Ospreys enjoyed a lively home debut, aided by a pack that won the majority of the collisions. Quins built some momentum and rolled the dice close to the whitewash when a kickable penalty was quickly taken by Martin Landajo and fed to Alex Dombrandt but the pass was poor and the No8 knocked on.
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A far more ruthless streak was evident as Saracens ran in their second approaching half-time, Jamie George, Rhodes, Lewington and Vunipola on the rampage until Itoje touched down under the posts. There was still time before the interval for another home try as a Brad Barritt’s carry scattered Quins before Davies picked up and darted over.
Saracens continued to pound away in a one-sided third quarter but it was the visitors who drew blood as an attacking scrum provided the platform for replacement centre Lasike to muscle his way through heavy traffic.
Lasike’s power was evident as Quins resumed their offensive and the USA international created the opening for fellow substitute Scott Steele to escalate the fightback. And the deficit was then slashed to a converted try when the unstoppable Lasike bulldozed over for his second as a backs move from a scrum offered sight of the line with his strength doing the rest.
But a hammer blow arrived shortly before full-time when a deflected clearance fell kindly for Itoje who gathered, advanced and sent Lewington over for an easy try.
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Premiership is finally back in England this weekend but the wait has been longer for some, such as Nathan Earle of @Harlequins – a well-rounded young man judging by reflections on lockdown, long-term injury, BLM, Covid and a load more topics #rugby https://t.co/QT6hovsJZX
— liam heagney (@heagneyl) August 14, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to comments