MATCH REPORT | Saracens Men 40-43 Harlequins
Saracens Men were beaten in the London Derby as Harlequins stormed StoneX Stadium to leave with a 43-40 victory in the PREM Rugby Cup.
The Original Club of North London started strongly and almost completed a remarkable second half comeback but were eventually overpowered in the final minute by their local rivals as they suffered defeat in this competition for the first time since September.
Sarries raced in to an early lead with their first try coming within the first minute. Huge carries from Tom Willis and James Hadfield put them on the front foot, and then Louie Johnson broke the line before releasing Brandon Jackson down the left wing who showed impressive pace to open the scoring in the corner. The touchline conversion made it 7-0.
Max Green was then shown a yellow card for the visitors for a deliberate knock on, and it looked like they would be punished almost immediately however Willis was held up as he crashed over the line and they survived.
Quins then got level on the 10 minute mark as a neatly taken try opened their account. Jamie Benson’s kick in behind bounced up nicely for Bryn Bradley who had a clear run to the line, and then the conversion made it 7-7.
Sarries struck back shortly after though to reclaim the lead in style. Charlie Bracken fizzed a wide pass to Jackson on the wing who offloaded back inside and it fell perfectly for the scrum-half who could dot down from just a metre out. The extras extended the advantage to seven points.
In a topsy turvy opening though Quins scored again to get themselves back in to the game. A huge overlap on the left hand side saw the ball spun straight to Jack Musk who finished powerfully in the corner to cut Saracens’ lead to two points.
The visitors then hit the front with 25 minutes gone, as a period of sustained pressure in the 22 ended with Harry Browne carrying over from close range to put Quins ahead.
Jackson almost got his second just a minute later as he went for an interception but the ball agonisingly fell out of his grasp with the line at his mercy.
It then got even better for Quins as the ball spat out of a breakdown and ended up in the hands of Ludo Kolade who had a clear run to the line to the delight of the visiting fans. Benson’s conversion gave them a 12 point lead as we approached half time.
There was still time for them to cross once more before the break as Josh Bellamy stepped his way to the line from outside the 22, and the conversion meant Sarries went downtime tunnel trailing 33-14 with a mountain to climb in the second half.
Sarries knew they needed to respond quickly to give themselves any hope, and that hope increased 10 minutes in to the second half as Tom Willis powered over from the back of a maul for try number three, and more importantly to bring them back within 12 points.
Willis was showing his class as he then came up with another huge play to send them home fans wild. His strong carry shrugged off three defenders and then he passed to Olly Hartley who could run over for a try on his 50th appearance. Johnson’s conversion made it 28-33 with 20 minutes remaining.
The comeback was completed just two minutes later as Nick Tompkins rounded off an incredible 10 minutes for the hosts who scored three tries in quick succession. The centre was put straight through a gap and then slid under the posts in the rain to put his side ahead.
However just as they got their noses in front, the lead was snatched back by the visitors as a lineout in the 22 gave them some territory and Oisin McCormack managed to stretch over as they hit the front once again in a thrilling match at StoneX.
The grandstand finish was well and truly set up and Sarries were hammering on the door as they looked for a winner. A succession of scrum penalties saw Jamie Miller sent to the sin bin, and that proved to be the opportunity they were looking for.
From the scrum the ball was spun left to Seva Kava who incredibly marked his debut with what looked to be the winning try in the corner to put the hosts back in front.
However Quins had other ideas and Tom Lawday crossed in the corner in the final play to snatch victory for the visitors in a cruel defeat for Saracens.
