MATCH REPORT | Harlequins 17-10 Saracens Men
Saracens Men suffered their first defeat of the Gallagher Premiership season as they were beaten 17-10 by Harlequins at The Twickenham Stoop.
In a fiery London derby which was played with test match intensity, the Men in Black had plenty of chances but were punished by their local rivals for not taking them and left West London with a losing bonus point.
Sarries had the majority of the early possession and threatened twice in the first five minutes to open the scoring.
Nick Tompkins, who had a busy start to the match came in at first receiver and almost sent Alex Goode through a gap but his grubber was gathered by Leigh Halfpenny.
The Welsh centre then charged down Marcus Smith’s clearance and it almost popped up for Fergus Burke, but then referee Christophe Ridley brought play back for an earlier infringement.
A penalty was then kicked to the corner by Elliot Daly, and a neat move off the back of the lineout saw Ben Earl put Andy Onyeama-Christie through a hole in the defence but he was then brought down just short.
There was then a length stop as Onyeama-Christie was treated for an injury, and as play resumed the ball almost popped up again for Tobias Elliott from a cross-field kick but the ball went forward.
James Chisholm was sent to the sin-bin with 10 minutes on the clock as he killed the ball with Daly almost certainly about to dot the ball down, and then from the resulting maul Sarries rumbled over the line but they were held up and Quins got the turnover.
As we approached the midpoint of the first half the aerial battle was becoming more prominent with both full-backs being kept busy phase after phase.
Tom Willis then made some metres from the base of a ruck and his offload to Earl put Sarries on the front foot, but just when numbers seemed to be forming on the left wing a knock on let Quins off the hook.
Juan Martin Gonzalez then rose highest to grab a box kick and Tompkins then kicked in behind to put Marcus Smith under pressure on his own line but the fly-half managed to wriggle out of trouble and clear into touch.
Despite Sarries having more of the first few exchanges, Quins went in front with 27 minutes on the clock with the first try of the afternoon. A penalty was kicked to the corner and then after the maul was brought down they went through the phases, resulting in Fin Baxter going over from just a metre out. Smith’s conversion gave the hosts a 7-0 lead.
The visitors looked for a way to get back level before the break and had a number of phases in the 22 with former Harlequin Hugh Tizard carrying aggressively, but then the ball was looped out to Jamie George who was forced in to touch on the left wing.
Alex Lozowski then snuck a grubber through the defence and Daly dragged Halfpenny in to touch with two minutes until half time. That maul opened up some space for Burke who again kicked in behind, but this time the former Wales full-back was there to hammer it back out of play.
The North Londoners had been camped in the Quins 22 right up until half time but their frustration grew as another opportunity saw the hosts hold firm, and then Quins had one more opportunity but were held up over the one and Sarries headed down the tunnel trailing 7-0.
It was a frantic start to the second half with Sarries again pushing to get a deserved try. Lozowski got on the outside shoulder of his opposite number within metres of the line but was hauled down, and then Daly backed himself in the wide channels but couldn’t quite stretch over.
Eventually though the pressure told, and Saracens scored the try they had been working so hard for. Over 10 phases right on the line had Quins scrambling, and then Tizard marked his return to The Stoop with a score to silence the home crowd. Lozowski converted, and it was back level with 30 minutes remaining.
Just when it looked like Sarries might turn the screw, a moment of magic from Smith resulted in Quins taking the lead once again. The fly-half stepped past two defenders and then passed to Lennox Anyanwu who had the pace to go over from just outside the 22. Smith’s conversion made it 14-7 with 54 minutes played.
Elliott then got some space to run in to for the first time in the match on the hour mark and looked for all money that he would cross for his fourth of the season, but he was hit hard and then a forward pass once again saw the hosts survive.
Joe Launchbury was penalised at the breakdown with 15 minutes to go, but Lozowski’s effort pulled just to the left of the posts to keep the deficit at seven.
Quins then got a penalty of their own as we entered the final 10 minutes, and Smith’s effort went straight through the posts to extend their lead to 10 points.
Lozowski was successful with his next attempt to get Sarries back within seven and set up a grandstand finish with just six minutes left.
There was no way through however, and Harlequins came out on top to inflict a first defeat of the season on Saracens.
