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'It's very disappointing... it's the worst I've felt since being here'
Harlequins head coach Tabai Matson appeared deflated after seeing his side convincingly beaten 27-19 by a fired-up Leicester at the Stoop.
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The final scoreline flattered the hosts as they trailed 17-0 with only 10 minutes remaining and two tries in the last three minutes nearly saw them pick up an undeserved bonus point.
Tommy Reffell scored two tries for Leicester with Julian Montoya and Anthony Watson also crossing. Freddie Burns added a penalty and two conversions.
Cadan Murley scored two tries for Quins and Danny Care also touched down, with Marcus Smith kicking two conversions.
Matson said: “It’s very disappointing when they were best in every area and it’s the worst I’ve felt since being here.
“We needed to celebrate Joe Marler’s 250th appearance for the club and he had to put up with that.
“They were brutal in the collisions and our breakdown was not good enough but they forced errors from us out there and were pretty flawless.
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“You’ve got to keep the scoreline close right to the end and keep the tempo up but we could not do that either.
“We missed Alex Dombrandt as he’s top shelf and world-class and without his influence, it became an arm-wrestle, which did not suit us.”
One of the rare plusses for Quins on the day was the performance of Murley, who will have impressed watching England head coach Eddie Jones.
Matson added: “Cadan is the best left wing in the league and he looked dangerous all the time but we must work out ways of getting him more possession as we did not do that today.”
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Leicester bounced back after defeats to Sale and Saracens.
Head coach Steve Borthwick said: “The boys proved us a point today as we are building cohesion bit by bit but the tries we conceded at the end was not good enough.
“We have a new squad with a lot of young players and they need to spend more time together to allow us to improve.
“We are continuing to keep things simple as I don’t get carried away too much, whether we win or lose.”
Leicester’s stand-out performer was flanker Reffell, who gave a timely reminder to the Welsh coaching staff ahead of next Tuesday’s squad announcement for the autumn internationals.
Borthwick said: “Tommy reads the game really well and has comeback from Test rugby against South Africa in the summer a more rounded player.
“He’s still young and there’s still a lot of growth in him.”
Next up for Leicester in the league is a home fixture against crisis club Wasps on Sunday.
Borthwick said: “We are preparing for the fixture as normal until I’m told otherwise.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The article alludes to the fact that this isn’t about picking a captain. But picking a great captain. So who would make for a great All Black captain - not just an obvious or safe shoo-in? I’m not sure Ardie’s the guy and Barret doesn’t stand out either.
20 Go to commentsI guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
44 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
4 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
44 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
44 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
4 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
7 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
2 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.
7 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 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.
4 Go to comments