Following Harlequins’ 33-15 win over Saracens at the Twickenham Stoop, here is our take on the key winners and losers from the round four clash.
Winners
Marcus Smith
It was a big occasion for the fly-half on his 200th appearance for Harlequins, and he dropped a performance worthy of it.
This was Smith at the peak of his powers; taking the line on ball-in-hand, bossing the attack, adding tempo into Quins’ play and injecting himself into the game wherever possible to make things happen for his side. It was also immediate, too, scoring a lovely try inside the opening two minutes of the game.
He has been in great form since returning to the pitch, and this was another sign of that. He’s doing it at the right time as well from an England perspective too, with the Nations Championship getting underway soon.
Fin Baxter
Been a long, long time between drinks for Baxter, but it was worth the wait to see him back on the pitch. The biggest compliment we can pay him is that it really didn’t look like he’d been out of the game for 10 months.
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A strong carry with his first touch of the ball served as a nice settler, before winning a scrum penalty in his first pack-down (a prop’s dream, trust me) to mark a roaring return in the opening exchanges. That then fuelled a belief in him throughout his shift, which was capped off with a classy assist his playmaking pals would have been proud of let alone a prop.
His substitution at half-time was to be expected; after all, it was his first hit-out of any kind since December last year, but it was a very strong 40 minutes indeed.
Harlequins back-three
A lot of the focus might go on the man above, but the back-three combination of George Furbank, Cadan Murley and Rodrigo Isgró were huge for the hosts today.
They all offered slightly different threats within the wider system, with Murley’s pace, Isgró’s power and quick-feet and Furbank’s silky playmaking and eye for space, but as a unit they blended together perfectly. Like a fine red wine, if you will.
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It seemed like an action from one of them, any of them, would then systematically bring in another one. For instance, a mini-break from Furbank sent Murley thundering down the left wing in the build-up to Smith’s opening score, or one of Isgró’s breaks giving Furbank more time and space on the ball to make things happen.
Beautiful work from all of them.
Bryn Bradley
Big, mean and scary work from the imposing centre, who would have certainly sent a message to Steve Tandy after his omission from the Wales squad earlier this week.
It wasn’t particularly flashy work, but it made such a difference to Quins’ attack. His desire to get his hands on the ball and power in the contact consistently gave the hosts front-foot ball to play from, which in turn allowed the deadly combination of Smith, Furbank, Murley et al to play with broken field and space.
Lots to like about the way he went about things today.
Jason Gilmore
The happiest man in the Stoop today was certainly Gilmore, who saw his side bag their first PREM win of the season against their biggest rivals. There has been a lot of column inches devoted to Quins’ woeful start to the season, some of it certainly warranted, but this was a real statement to show they are turning things around. It also comes off the back of an improved display against Sale Sharks and a win over Vannes in the EPCR Challenge Cup, which only furthers that idea.
Quins were always going to get off the donut at some point, and this would have been exactly the way they wanted to do it.
They win on their cup final.
Rhys Carré
Another loosehead who was making his first appearance of the season, and another who enjoyed a pretty good day of it. Simply immense in the scrum, milking penalties out of Quins pretty much at will, and getting heavily involved in the loose. His deft handling also played a key role in the build-up to Rotimi Segun’s score in the first-half.
He’s not had it easy on the injury front this year thanks to a hamstring complaint, but like opposite number Baxter, he didn’t look like he was making his comeback from the sidelines.
Bodes well moving forward for both Saracens and Wales.
Losers
Max Malins
A schoolboy error sees Malins feature in our losers section, after fluffing a certain try in the first-half. He’d already done the hard work, running a clever support line and getting around the defence; but he got a bit too greedy and that gave Smith the chance to swat the ball out of his hands, which he did gleefully.
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The worst bit of it was it came at a pivotal time in the game for the visitors, with it able to pull them back to 21-14 moments after conceding a penalty try.
Might need to drop Freddie Burns a line later tonight, you feel.
Saracens yellow cards
Discipline was a real issue for Saracens across the game. They conceded 16 penalties across the 80 minutes, with 10 of those coming in the first-half alone, which in turn gifted Harlequins possession and territory. And the hosts made it count as well.
It also saw them cop a couple of yellow cards, too, with Ben Earl and Fergus Burke both sent for spells on the naughty step in the first-half. That also saw Quins get a leg up in the contest, with the hosts winning those periods by an aggregate score of 12-7.