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2 days ago
12
Ordinarily a game-winning performance from Marcus Smith worth 15 points would include a dozen line-breaks, several off-loads and more hot-steps than a Motown nightclub. And while the England star dazzled in patches with ball in hand, it was his composed kicking that was the difference as Harlequins beat Saracens 20-14 in a scrappy but enjoyable London derby.
He launched long, raking kicks into space. He hoisted contestable spirals into pale blue skies. He dinked over the top of rushing defenders and he went searching for teammates in the corners. His first-half try came off a hoof into Saracens’ red zone, one that caused chaos in the backfield. Chandler Cunningham-South gathered the loose ball and bulldozed over the gain line. Shortly after, Smith, on the front foot, wriggled past a tackler to dot down from five metres out.
Saracens were pinned in their own patch and struggled to get out. The mood of the match was summed up when another Smith bomb was shelled by Owen Farrell on Saracens’ 22. Though the home side couldn’t convert from the scrum, they maintained their territorial hold on their guests.
Despite their dominance, Harlequins weren’t stretching their lead and saw it wiped out when Saracens scored a screamer from their own half. At first receiver off the back of a scrum, Farrell pirouetted and delivered a gorgeous off-load for Lucio Cinti who galloped up field. The Argentine centre jinked left then right before stitching an off-load of his own for the supporting Fergus Burke.
Smith thought he had a second try after selling a dummy pass and bursting through a gap close to Saracens’ line. Quins had nicked the ball off a defensive scrum but the ball had squirted out the side rather than through the No 8’s feet. Fin Baxter won a penalty off the very next scrum and Smith nudged over the penalty to take a 10-7 lead.
Neither side managed to find much fluency on attack. At the 30-minute mark a packed Stoop witnessed 30 kicks from hand. Scrums needed restarting. Lineouts misfired. A brief exchange of shoves between Cunningham-South and Farrell brought one of the loudest cheers of the first half.
Smith continued as he started and belted a high kick with his first touch after the break. Tyrone Green chased after it and put enough pressure on Burke to see the ball bobble away. Green was first on to it, hacking it upfield to win the race to the line. Smith’s extras opened up a 17-10 lead.
Saracens needed a response. A penalty won on the ground inside Quins’ 22 gave Farrell the opportunity to kick to the corner. But the former England skipper shanked it, meaning the lineout was taken from behind where the penalty was given. The ensuing lineout was spilled. What could have been a simple three-pointer to get Saracens back in the game came to nothing.
Farrell made amends soon enough. With the forwards hammering away in the left corner, Harlequins defenders were sucked into the morass. Ben Earl was the one heavy who kept his distance, prowling the right wing. The cross-field kick from Farrell couldn’t have been better placed and in a flash the gap was reduced to three after a tough conversion from the tram.
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Harlequins had the game won when debutant Boris Wenger burrowed over from close range after a lineout five metres out. But, for the second time in the game, the home crowd booed a chalked-off try as replays showed the replacement prop had committed a double movement.
More kicking took the game’s total tally beyond 50 with seven minutes remaining. Crucially it was Smith dictating the tempo in the closing stages. Men in white were kicking in desperation. Smith had it on a string, ensuring the clock ticked down with all the action taking place in Saracens’ third. A penalty for Smith on the final hooter was a fitting end.
Credit must go to the Harlequins coaches. This is a club renowned for attacking, free-flowing rugby. But after two defeats they changed tack for the visit of their bitter city rivals. It might not have been a vintage show from the league’s entertainers, but it got the job done.
