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#Post#: 8650--------------------------------------------------
Match Report - Harlequins vs Agen 13 Oct 18
DIR By: Admin
Date: October 16, 2018, 4:05 pm
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by InsertQuinsPunHere
I quite enjoy the blocks of European games when they come
around; it is nice to get a bit of variety in opposition, and to
see how teams from different leagues play. In typical French
style, Agen had a combination of brute force and power,
alongside some decent running lines that could trouble most
defences.
It was my second time of using the new Zeelo coaches, and the
second free trip. The first trip was free as an introductory
offer, the second was free as an apology for the first trip
being so delayed that I had to stand in the rain for about an
hour before the Sarries game. No Deadly, I still have no idea
how they make any money! They are a useful additional travel
option though; especially when the trains are on strike, or
engineering works, or just generally being rubbish - so most
weekends then.
The coach arrived very early to the ground, leaving me with much
wandering to do before even the players came out to do their
warm-ups. Which were excellent to watch, I think I will try to
get in that early again. It was nice to player spot, and to see
what each focused on. Gustard was joining in the tackling
practice with great physicality, stopping some of the backs dead
in their tracks with Rugby League style upright tackles. His
rapport with the players was obvious.
So on to the game. Agen decided to play some mind games at
kick-off. With the sun low over the South Stand, playing in that
direction to start was going to be a distinct disadvantage. So
they decided to simply assume that they could kick-off facing
North and began to array themselves in the southern half of the
field. Once the coin had been tossed though, our boys were
gracious in victory and didn't engage in any "commiseratory back
slapping" as the Agen boys were traipsing back to face the sun
:-D
From kick-off, Agen looked dangerous. They were carrying hard
and taking a lot of stopping. It was hot out there in the sun,
though, despite it being mid-October, and it did not appear to
be a pace that could be kept up for long. The Quins took a while
to settle into the game, with Marcus Smith delivering a chip
through that was too long, then snatching a pass shortly
afterwards. The defensive line was holding for now though. Just.
Mulchrone needs to start a few more games in my opinion. DC is a
firm favourite of mine, but he needs a bit of encouragement to
not relax in his position. Mulchrone's service from the base
seems far snappier to me. Having said all that, Mulchrone
appeared to have caught "flappy-arm-itis" from his senior; such
actions almost losing him the ball from the base of a ruck in
front of their posts. Only Marcus Smith's quick action to gather
the ball after it was kicked through by Agen, and his deft pass
to feed Ibitoye allowed Mulchrone to get away with it.
Then followed two very nice breaks from Ibitoye to set up our
first try for Mike Brown.
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Agen rose to the challenge admirably, putting us under an
extended period of pressure, and making many hard yards. It all
came to nothing for them, as our defence held firm, and they had
to settle for 3 points from a penalty.
Our second try, by Mulchrone, followed some great passing by
Quins, dragging Agen about, and keeping the ball alive.
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This was quickly followed by one of our backs (I know not which)
beautifully reading Agen's plan to clear their lines. They
dropped back behind a ruck to receive the ball for a kick to
touch, but our man was already running at full pelt from his
side of the ruck, and made the charge down seemingly as the Agen
player caught the ball. We turned the ball over and speedily
re-organized for our third try (Semi Kunatani). This was rapidly
becoming a good day to be a Quins fan; heaven knows we've had
few enough of those in recent times.
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Other points of note from the first half (or should that be
"other things I remembered to note down") were a great strip by
the Sinck, Marcus scrambling back for a fantastic covering
tackle, a well worked Agen try (they hadn't given up just yet),
and a missed conversion from them. The latter was in a difficult
position anyway, but was also straight into the sun, so we'll
let them off.
Just before half time, Agen gained one of their players a yellow
card for a deliberate knock-on. They understandably weren't
interested in continuing when the clock went dead and were keen
to kill the ball immediately to go get their half-time oranges.
Score Quins 21-8 Agen.
The second half started in fine fashion with a lovely team try.
Lots of good offloading, including one from the Sinck, and Earle
earning a well deserved finish to grab the honours.
Unfortunately Marcus missed the conversion, but by this point,
two points were largely academic. Earle was substituted off
through injury shortly afterwards - I wish him a speedy
recovery. He is rapidly becoming a favourite of mine through his
application, enthusiasm, and ability.
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Then came a strange sight; Harlequins scoring a try from a
rolling maul. Yes, a try, from a rolling maul, for the
Harlequins... I'm not sure how to deal with that either, but the
crowd enjoyed it.
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I think Quins must have been shell-shocked from the
aforementioned event, because they seemed to go to sleep a
little bit. This lead to a poor offload from Tapuai straight at
one of his team mates, bouncing the ball up into the air. The
resulting turnover leading to Agen's second try.
Gustard responded by immediately substituting the entire front
row. I like Crumpton as a hooker, he seems a very solid player,
and we've been in need of some stability in that position for a
while. But Elia Elia is also good, and proceeded to make a
nuisance of himself for the rest of the game.
A subsequent Quins line-out resulted in a rolling maul being
pushed easily 10 metres - as if to prove that not only was the
earlier attempt no fluke, but that the entire squad were capable
of doing it, not just today's starting forwards.
Marchant, who was on form all game, gathered a high ball with
aplomb, saw support on his shoulder, and delivered a decent
offload, only for his support to slip and the ball to go loose.
A following scrum (can't remember if it was from that passage of
play, or a bit later) had Bothma grabbing the ball out of the
back, and making yards down the blindside. An offload to Ibitoye
went a bit wrong, much to my disappointment, only for me to
discover that the reason wasn't poor skills, but another
deliberate knock-on from Agen. This resulted in another yellow
card and a penalty try to Quins.
At this point, I think I had given up taking notes. The crowd
had also, unfortunately, decided that since the game was won,
they didn't need to cheer anything other than big events
anymore, so it became a bit quieter. Step forward Kunatani with
an enormous tackle to turn the ball over. Followed by a Marchant
try - cleverly dragging the conversion in field towards the
posts by dummying a dot-down, then skinning his marker to score
behind him.
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Agen scored their third and final try of the day, but Quins
turned the ball over right from the kick-off. Then Cat threw the
ball right at Kunatani, who recovered it from the floor behind
him and exploded into action to score Quins' seventh try of the
day.
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The game ended with the biggest tackle I have seen from a Quin
since the days of Big Mo. I don't know who delivered it, but I
feel sorry for the Agen player who was on the receiving end of
that right at the death. That likely made for a sore coach
journey home!
To cap off the whole wonderful afternoon, I am pleased to say
that the entire squad (as far as I could make out) made the
journey the full circumference of the pitch to greet the fans
and thank us for our support. I have not seen this for a good
while, and it is how it should be. I did notice that they went
"the wrong way" around - I assume one more example of Gustard's
simple changes to improve the feeling of a fresh start.
I have a good feeling about this season's challenge cup. I'm
going to put my prediction down in print as us getting through
to the semi-finals. Perhaps I'll even book my ticket to the
final in Newcastle with my next paycheque.
#Post#: 8651--------------------------------------------------
Re: Match Report - Harlequins vs Agen 13 Oct 18
DIR By: Admin
Date: October 16, 2018, 4:16 pm
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Excellent write up, IQPH. I hope you'll continue to be one of
the scribes.
Speaking of which next scribe needed is for
gopher.createaforum.com:70 /forums/comeallwithin/p/581:172: port field too long