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#Post#: 10880--------------------------------------------------
Match Report: Harlequins vs Newcastle
DIR By: Admin
Date: November 22, 2018, 9:20 am
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by Bedfordshire Boy
Quins v Falcons Premiership
Northern raiders sent packing with nothing to show for their
efforts.
It seems no time at all since Newcastle Falcons visited The
Stoop which of course is the case as they dropped by only two
weeks ago and left with the spoils in round three of the
Premiership Cup. Arguably, the previous encounter was a nice to
win, this one being a must win game which was reflected in a
much stronger looking team featuring a new fullback (although on
closer examination it was Mike Brown with hair!).
Marcus Smith got the game underway kicking into the wind and
Falcons eventually got the ball safely into touch on their own
twenty two. First line out won, was there to be a continuation
of line out success from the previous encounter?, sadly no.
Having said that, Quins stole the first Falcons line out, and
after a period of pressing in the Falcons twenty two, the ball
was finally spilled by Lewis Boyce. Quins were penalised in this
first scrum for early engagement, the first sign of an evening
long series of scrum infringements. With ten minutes gone play
was halted for an injury to Falcons number ten Joel Hodgson who
eventually had to be stretchered off the pitch to be replaced by
Tim Swiel.
Mike Brown Consoles Joel Hodgson
The game continued with Quins generally having the better of
both territory and possession but it was the defences of both
sides that were definitely on top. The home support as well as
the play from both sides continued to be a bit flat and it was a
quarter of the way through the game before there was any score.
Falcons were penalised for offside and Marcus Smith stepped up
to convert a well taken kick, Quins 3 Falcons 0 after 22
minutes. The game continued in the same way with neither side
able to make any real headway and there was another break in
play when Aaron Morris had a heavy fall going for a high ball.
It looked serious at the time, with I think oxygen being
administered, but at least he was eventually able to walk from
the field to be replaced by Francis Saili with 10 minutes of the
half remaining. The uninspiring rugby continued and it seemed
that referee J P Doyle had to speak to the forwards at every
scrum eventually resulting in a warning that very soon a front
row forward would end up in the sin bin. Interestingly Elia Elia
was replaced by Max Crumpton after 30 minutes, no apparent
injury.On a rare visit into the Quins half, Falcons were awarded
a penalty from distance which Toby Flood pulled wide for Quins
to touch down. As half time approached and most of the play
being restricted to the midfield, Falcons looked to move the
ball away from a line out only for Alex Dombrandt to intercept
just inside the Falcons half enabling him to run in for a try.
With Smith adding the extra two points the score moved on to
Quins 10 Falcons 0 a couple of minutes before the half time
whistle. Bit of a strange half with Quins having most of the
play and although they were able to break the gain on numerous
occasions, they never looked likely to score a try in open play.
Nonetheless, a ten point lead was not a bad return for their
efforts.
Not much change at the start of the second half, and with six
minutes gone Lewis Boyce was shown a yellow card when the first
scrum of the half collapsed. With most of the play yet again
restricted to the middle of the pitch Joe Marler came onto the
pitch at the next scrum with Alex Dombrandt having to leave the
field, at least Marlers appearance woke the crowd up a bit. At
the same time an ambulance could be seen leaving the ground in
the north west corner with blue lights flashing, presumably
taking Joel Hodgson to hospital. Quins won the scrum about 15
metres from the halfway line but a wayward pass from Charlie
Mulchrone put Quins on the back foot and suddenly they are
defending ten metres from their own try line. Quins manage to
extricate themselves from the mess and eventually take play into
the Falcons half where the away side are penalised for killing
the ball after a tackle on Saili. A bit more of a test for
Marcus Smith with this kick from 35 metres but he converts
comfortably, Quins 13 Falcons 0 12 minutes into the half.
Marcus Smith about to increase the Quins total
At the next scrum Falcons change their hooker and Dombrandt
returns to the field, Quins retain their ball and once again put
themselves under pressure when the Quins attack runs out of
ideas, Tapaui aimlessly kicks, the ball is charged down and
Quins go from attack to defence. Nice turn over ball won by Joe
Marler on 55 minutes earns Quins a penalty which Smith kicks
into touch on the Falcons twenty two. For the next few minutes
Quins “attack” slowly goes further and further backwards until
play finally breaks down on the Falcons 10 metre line. Play once
again comes to a halt on 59 minutes for an injury to Falcons
number nine and captain Micky Young who is replaced by ex Quin
Sam Stuart. More changes for Falcons as they start to look a
little more dangerous but once again the ball is turned over by
Jack Clifford allowing Smith to clear the ball to the Falcons 10
metre line. Quins change their half backs before the line out as
Dave Lewis and James Lang come on to the pitch and the ball is
immediately moved wide. The quick ball is recycled enabling the
impressive Mike Brown to make an important half break, slip the
ball to Joe Marchant who is brought to ground 10 metres from the
Falcons line, who then passes to Francis Saili who crosses the
line to score. James Lang is accurate with the kick, Quins 20
Falcons 0 after 64 minutes. Just beginning to believe that Quins
are too far ahead on the scoreboard to lose this one (dangerous
thoughts I know). A few more changes for Quins as captain James
Chisholm leaves the field enabling Dave Ward to join a
reshuffled back row and Will Collier is replaced by Phil
Swainston. This is a trigger for Falcons to up their game and
they set up a sustained period of attack inside the Quins twenty
two from the restart. Quins defend well until they have one of
their “asleep moments” as Falcons lock Davidson easily crosses
the line for Falcons first points of the evening. Quins 20
Falcons 7 following the successful conversion with now 11 nervy
minutes left on the clock. Falcons starting to look
more dangerous as they set up a rolling maul which Quins
eventually defend well with Jack Clifford emerging with the
ball. Seven minutes to go as Ben Glynn replaces George Merrick
just before James Lang launches a 50 metre penalty into touch
inside the Falcons half. Now having a real problem, try to write
notes as well as keeping an eye on the play and my watch all at
the same time. Falcons were now really chasing at least a losing
bonus point but their play became more and more frantic against
a very determined Quins defence, poor old Toby Flood took a
number of big hits and could hardly stand up at one point. Right
at the end, Falcons once again pressed down the right wing and a
try saving tackle by Joe Marler saw the Falcons player into
touch although I couldn`t see much evidence of him using his
arms *, not a view shared by the referee. Final score, Quins 20
Falcons 7.
A bit tense that and a long way from the best game I have ever
watched, but a win is a win. Earlier in the week Paul Gustard
had said that he had identified two main areas of concern with
the Quins play before taking up his new post, defence and line
out. There has been plenty of evidence that we have made great
strides in the former but Alex Codling still has a lot of work
to do to get the line out functioning effectively regularly.
Another point made by Gustard was the importance of making
changes at the right time in the game as sometimes even half
time can be too late. He demonstrated this by taking off Elia
after 30 minutes as he clearly was not having the best of games.
Although Quins are second only to Exeter in having conceded the
least number of trys, they are still finding it difficult to
break down defences and score. On the positive side there is a
new found team spirit with players playing not only for their
own futures but importantly for each other. Many good
performances, especially from Mike Brown (best game for ages,
surely he is still part of Eddie Jones` plans for the RWC), Alex
Dombrandt in his first start in the senior team, Mat Symonds,
Joe Marler and Joe Marchant although to be honest with one or
two exceptions, everybody performed pretty well. Must say that I
was a bit surprised when the attendance was announced as being
in the nine thousands, seemed like closer to 12000 to me.
Now all we need to do now is to carry this team performance
through to what is likely to be a very tricky visit to Sixways
next Friday.
* just seen a replay of the tackle and it looks OK to me now.
#Post#: 11031--------------------------------------------------
Re: Match Report: Harlequins vs Newcastle
DIR By: ChequeredJersey
Date: November 23, 2018, 3:39 pm
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Being optimistic, I actually think we’ll somehow beat Exeter
with an inspired home display that will leave us all wondering
1) why can’t we play well away and 2) how are we so inconsistent
and able to raise our game only against the big sides but then
be abject a week later?
#Post#: 11095--------------------------------------------------
Re: Match Report: Harlequins vs Newcastle
DIR By: deadlyfrom5yardsout
Date: November 25, 2018, 7:32 am
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Would you say abject? I'm not sure we have been truly pummeled
this season?
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