'That is gutting' - Harlequins refuse to blame Marcus Smith
Tabai Matson says Harlequins will not be blaming England star Marcus Smith for their agonising Heineken Champions Cup exit against Montpellier.
The Quins fly-half, who also had a try disallowed, missed a straightforward conversion of wing Louis Lynagh’s 75th-minute try in a 33-20 round-of-16 second-leg victory at Twickenham Stoop.
And it meant the English champions suffered a 60-59 aggregate defeat in their quest for a first European Cup quarter-final place since 2013.
Quins, 14 points adrift after last weekend’s first leg in France when they trailed 34-0 at one stage, looked on course to underline their status as comeback kings, but Top 14 league leaders Montpellier prevailed.
“He (Smith) will be disappointed like all the players who have really high standards,” Quins senior coach Matson said.
“It will hit him, but we play Leicester next week. Our Europe is over, that is the big thing, and that is gutting and it is how quickly you bounce.
“As with all the guys that touch the ball the most, they get a bit of leeway because the margin of error is really hard.
“You don’t have to tell someone they missed a pass or missed a goal-kick. They know.
“It is not just him. He was there for the winning of the game at the end, but you can’t put the blame down to him.
“We probably had three opportunities in the first half that we missed to get the scoreboard ticking over.”
First-half tries from full-back Huw Jones, number eight Alex Dombrandt, centre Joe Marchant and Lynagh – all converted by Smith – underlined Quins’ appetite for another memorable turnaround.
But Montpellier stayed in contention through tries by centre Yvan Reilhac and full-back Julien Tisseron.
Fly-half Louis Foursans kicked two conversions and a penalty, while South African World Cup winner Handre Pollard added a penalty during a game of fierce intensity.
Matson added: “To go 160 minutes and lose by a point, you realise you have missed a lot of opportunities that could have got you over the line, and that is the most frustrating thing.
“The 34-point deficit and to come back and be nearly winning is really positive, but Europe is over.”
Quins were awarded eight successive scrum penalties during the second period, and referee Mike Adamson sin-binned Montpellier’s replacement hooker Jeremie Maurouard.
“We got a yellow card, and on the first scrum I thought the (Montpellier) nine should have been penalised, but for us, the learning as we get into the big games at the end is just being composed,” Matson said.
“For us, it was great we put them under pressure, but we didn’t affect the scoreboard, so that is the main thing.
“You have got to give this top French team credit. They were ferociously competitive, they scrambled well and the gamesmanship at the scrum, they took away with the win and they will move on.
“It was a unique challenge for us, so I enjoyed that. We started the game 14 points down, which we invariably do at Quins!
“We were one point short, and our first half last week put us in that position. We had 160 minutes to do our thing.
“There will be a lot of really disappointed players and coaches because we felt we could go deeper in this competition.
“The way we finished the pool stages got us to this, and to lose by one point after 160 minutes is gutting.
“We are still in the (Premiership) reckoning, and the focus now can be purely on that.”
Comments on RugbyPass
The shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to comments