MATCH REPORT | Harlequins 36-29 Saracens Men
Saracens Men were beaten in an end-to-end local derby as Harlequins came out on top with a 36-29 win at The Twickenham Stoop.
The Men in Black played some brilliant rugby at times and left West London with two bonus points after a spirited second half gave them plenty to build for the remainder of the Premiership Rugby Cup campaign.
It was the hosts who were in the ascendancy early on with a string of early spells on the Sarries try-line. The defence held firm for the first two with some excellent maul defence, but the pressure told on the next one as Louis Lynagh crossed for the first try of the afternoon.
A five metre scrum gave them the field position, and then the ball went quickly from left to right and ended up with Lynagh in the corner who dived over to score. Will Edwards’ conversion made it 7-0 with five minutes gone.
Sarries hit straight back though with a penalty from the restart, and Manu Vunipola calmly slotted it between the posts to cut the deficit to four points.
Quins edged further ahead with 10 minutes gone when they crossed of their second try of an energetic start. Olly Hartley’s strong carry in the midfield looked have his side over the gainline but the ball spat out of the ruck and after a kick ahead it bounced up to Cadan Murley who finished off the move.
It got even better for the hosts just three minutes later, this time Will Collier crossed from close range after some neat interplay from Alex Dombrandt and Luke Northmore. With another two conversions, all of a sudden Quins had a commanding 21-3 lead.
Saracens needed a score quickly to get back in to the game and they got exactly that at the end of the first quarter. A penalty gave them a good attacking position and it was kicked to the corner. The maul then hammered over the line and Toby Knight was there at the base to dot down.
After soaking up some more pressure a captain’s try then followed to bring Sarries right back in to contention. A loose pass from Quins saw the ball go loose, and Alex Lozowski was first to react, kicking ahead and then gathering himself to score a brilliant individual try. Vunipola’s conversion meant the deficit was down to just six points as we approached the break.
There was time for a Will Edwards penalty just before half time, and that was the last notable play as they went down the tunnel with a 24-15 lead at the break.
Sarries came out for the second half with a spring in their step and came incredibly close to try number three in the opening stages. Aled Davies was putting them in all the right places with his kicks in behind, and then Harley came in on a crash-ball line but despite going over the line he was held up and Quins could clear.
Another chance then followed when a maul powered towards the whitewash, but unfortunately the ball was fumbled and once again the hosts survived.
Lozowski, who having a stormer of a game then broke through the defence once again and looked to draw in the final man to release Alex Lewington down the left, but the pass was just bendin the winger and he couldn’t gather.
Despite having all the ball, Sarries were then on the receiving end of a sucker punch as Quins went from one end of the field to the other to put clear daylight between the sides.
Sarries had a lineout just five metres from their line, but the ball was stolen and pacy duo Murley and Lynagh then combined before passing wide to Nick David who had a clear run to the line.
Another one followed for Quins as they put the result behind doubt thanks to Will Joseph’s try who took advantage of huge overlap on the right hand side for their fifth of the match. The extras were added and now the North Londoners trailed by 21 points just before the hour mark.
The comeback almost started straight away as Lozowski and Davies created some space for Francis Moore, but the speedster was hauled down just short of the line.
Gareth Simpson came on and gave Sarries a lifeline as he scored a superb team try with 15 minutes left. Harley and Lozowski made some space down the left, and then passed inside to the scrum-half who wouldn’t be stopped from just 10 metres out. Vunipola’s conversion made it 36-22 as we headed in to the closing stages.
To their credit Sarries weren’t giving up, and they got themselves to within striking distance as Tobias Elliott scored a cracker with only five minutes left to give the travelling fans even more optimism. Rotimi Segun’s outrageous footwork saw him beat a number of defenders and then Lozowski took over and chipped back inside, and Elliott was first to react as he claimed it and dotted down. Vunipola’s conversion meant the deficit was now just seven.
They couldn’t quite manufacture another opportunity and Quins kicked the ball in to the stands to confirm the win, but Mark McCall’s side can take plenty of positives from an entertaining local derby.
