MATCH REPORT | Saracens Men 12 - 23 Harlequins (GPR R12)
Saracens had their Showdown streak broken in a nail-biting encounter with Harlequins at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
In front of a raucous 55,000 fans, the Men in Black took to the Tottenham turf narrowly falling short against their London rivals. Tries from Theo McFarland and Tobias Elliott in the first half weren’t enough to send North London home happy with Quins taking the spoils late on.
After a mesmerising pre-match show, the game continued the fireworks onto the field with a frenetic first few minutes. Both sides tested the backfields with competitive kicks across the Tottenham skies, but it didn’t take long for the hosts to dot down.
Harlequins managed to gain possession through Alex Dombrandt inside the Saracens half, but the Quins skipper threw an offload straight into the path of Ivan Van Zyl who intercepted the ball, hacking it into Harlequins territory. With the ball stopping metres from the line, Tobias Elliott was quick to stop Oscar Beard gaining a turnover penalty in the process.
From there it was quick thinking from Jamie George who wasted little time and tapped the penalty from metres out. His carry was short but the following effort from Theo McFarland got the Men in Black on the board.
After an electric first five minutes, the game then found it’s pace as two evenly matched packs battled it out in the middle third. Both sides had multiple chances throughout the first half to get points on the board, the first opportunity came for Sarries minutes after their first with Tom Willis being stripped of the ball just metres from the line.
However, the backrower would get his revenge soon after as when Harlequins marched up the other end of the field, it was Willis who secured the turnover inside his own 22.
The first half finished in a similar fashion to how it started. After picking up a penalty inside the Harlequins half, Fergus Burke kicked the hosts onto Quins five metre line. With the maul not travelling, Van Zyl unleashed the backline and after a teasing pass from Alex Goode found Fergus Burke on the wrap-around it didn’t take much for the fly-half to put Tobias Elliott in for his first Showdown score just before half-time.
The second half started at a similar pace to the first, and before the 50th minute mark, Saracens were close to scoring a third. Maro Itoje set Juan Martin Gonzalez through a gap on the halfway line, which the Argentine raced through. Despite gettting the offload off to Burke who in turn found Ivan Van Zyl, Sarries were dragged down metres from the line, with Will Evans quickly getting the turnover penalty to compound frustration.
Despite the positive start for the North Londoners it would be Harlequins who would score the first points of the second half on the hour mark. After a slaloming run from Oscar Beard the centre snapped through a gap before finding midfield partner Ben Waghorn on an inside line. The youngster showed enough pace to race under the sticks and bring the points deficit down to five.
Saracens were awarded the chance to reply minutes later as compounding errors led to a kickable penalty being awarded inside the Quins half, but Alex Lozowski’s effort narrowly missed the uprights.
With ten minutes left on the clock, replacement fly-half Jamie Benson narrowed the gap even further with a long-range penalty of his own putting Quins just two points behind. Then moments later the Quin bagged another from a similar distance putting the visitors ahead for the first time in the match.
Ill-discipline continued to cost the Men in Black as after a review from the TMO Quins were awarded a penalty inside the Saracens half for a high tackle on Will Evans. Benson continued to make little mistakes from the tee applying further pressure on the scoreline with minutes left.
The nail in the coffin came in the final minute, with Harlequins collecting a high ball and feeding Will Porter on the break, giving Harlequins just enough to spoil the Showdown party.
Saracens return to the StoneX next month with a game against Gloucester. Tickets are available here.
