Harlequins v Gloucester: Five takeaways from Big Game 15 as Marcus Smith and Danny Care shine in commercial success

Following a 32-26 win for Harlequins over Gloucester in Big Game 15, here’s our takeaways from the Premiership clash played in front of over 76,000 fans at Twickenham.

The top line

A Harlequins half-back masterclass from player of the match Marcus Smith and veteran scrum-half Danny Care saw the hosts inflict Gloucester‘s eighth consecutive defeat as 76,813 attended a fabulous Big Game 15. It leaves Quins in sixth place at the halfway point of the season, but only three points off the league leaders Northampton Saints, with Leicester Tigers and Bath yet to play in Round Nine.

The entertainment flowed both on and off the pitch, but Smith’s personal performance, his interplay with Care, Nick David and his centres, was absolutely exquisite as he tormented the outstanding Gloucester midfield defence all evening with his intellect and impudence.

Harlequins tries came from David (7′)(20′), Alex Dombrandt (24′), Dino Lamb (43′) and the ageless Care (54′), who put in a thundering performance scoring his fifth Big Game try as he completed his ever-present commitment to the fixture, making his 15th appearance. Care’s influence with Smith was match-winning and his chip kick for Dombrandt’s early try was a play out of the top drawer.

For Gloucester, it was a day of living off scraps, but they walk away with two bonus points after a late penalty try got them within six points of their hosts, after scores from Adam Hastings (11′), George McGuigan (51′) and Jonny May (71′) kept them within touching distance in defeat yet again.

The mighty Quins

Whilst Care and Smith are players of exceptional ability, it’s the movement and ambition of their colleagues in the backline that gives the half-backs so much space and so many options with which to strut their stuff.

Smith’s sojourn in the 15 shirt for England has arguably made him a more complete player. He is a roving threat now, popping up where and when he chooses to influence the game. In long defence, he’s the man clearing from the back as a 15; when he stays there, David or Tyrone Green offer themselves as first receiver, allowing the fly-half to slot in at 12 or 13. It’s all executed at pace and with great communication of what each of the players are doing, and it’s a clear attempt to get the ball in the hands of Smith as many times as possible in as many different situations that they can design.

In that sort of environment, other players flourish too. Oscar Beard showed his talents both sides of the ball on Saturday – a magnificent try-saving cover tackle on Santi Carreras was followed up moments later by a couple of divine offloads in attack as the big centre reacted to the script of his half-backs.

Quins have lost a couple of games against two very big sides in Bath and Toulouse in recent weeks but if they get front-foot ball they have so much firepower in the backs that most sides will find them hard to deal with.

Head-to-heads

With England announcing their first training squad on January 17, the national selectors will have taken a great deal of interest in a number of head-to-heads on the pitch.

The main act was the battle of two wonderful numbers eights, Zach Mercer and Dombrandt who both shone for their sides, but there’s no doubt the Quin got the edge on the Gloucester man on this occasion, demonstrating greater accuracy and power in the areas that matter. His work with Care for the chip-kick try was one example of his effectiveness but there were many more as he demonstrated again his ability to get himself involved in the big moments of the games.

For Mercer, he looks like a batter in cricket playing with hard hands – forcing it and loosing his own effectiveness as a result. Gloucester’s tactic of using him as the acting half-back at lineout time resulted in wayward passes from Mercer into his backline, taking any planned momentum out of the tactic via poor execution. And, as with his time at Bath, the more his side falls behind the more Mercer-centric his play becomes, running into traffic and into contests that slow down the very momentum he’s trying to create.

Whilst Mercer didn’t shine, Gloucester’s replacement flanker, Jack Clement, a man that relishes power carrying, once again reminded us all of his youthful quality as he managed 12 dynamic carries in the 20 minutes he was on the pitch. With England short of candidates for a big six, Clement’s form is setting tongues wagging and on his performance in the Big Game, we can see why.

Thumbs up 🆙👍#COYQ #HARvGLO #BigGame15 pic.twitter.com/os5u9IePuY

— Harlequins 🃏 (@Harlequins) December 30, 2023

Gloucester predictability

After watching the brilliant movement off the ball of Quins backs and their intuitive understanding of their attacking systems, Gloucester’s predictability and their tendency to resort almost wholly to one out runners off nine when things get tight is costing them dearly.

Let’s be honest, they have some world class backs at their disposal but they’re playing like a team that met in the car park on the morning of the game. Unless you have Springbok like forward dominance, popping passes to forwards starting from static positions is unlikely to test many top quality defences and it was quite remarkable just how uninterested their Test players looked in terms of seeking impact on the game and getting themselves into positions to get the ball in hand.

It is obvious that Gloucester are a side that back themselves to create from broken field turnover opportunity but their inability to work into scoring positions from phase play is costing them dearly. They need the likes of Ollie Thorley and Louis Rees-Zammit seeking the 13 channel rather the front jumping position in a lineout, and in order to do that, Gloucester need to upskill their half-back partnerships and get some belief into a very talented but underperforming backline.

Commercial success

There’s an old adage in business that says ‘build it and they will come’ and it’s clearly one that Quins CEO Laurie Dalrymple and his staff believe in. In times when the English rugby product has come under severe scrutiny, to see 76,813 spectators treated to pre-match and post-match entertainment befitting a Test match was an absolute credit to the foresight and vision of PRL and Harlequins.

From laser light shows that would have succeeded in Star Wars to a DJ set that wouldn’t have disgraced Glastonbury, the detailed planning that went into Big Game 15 was evident for all to see. It was a deserved celebration of the good things about the sport, one that underpinned the Harlequins and PRL messages of inclusion and rugby for all.

Given the size of attendances over the Christmas period, where Saints, Saracens and Bristol have all recorded record crowds (and Tigers also reporting a sell-out) it demonstrates clearly to all that getting attendances up is all about scheduling and the product offered. This was a masterclass in both of those important factors and all involved should be mightily proud of the event they delivered.

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