Harlequins v Northampton Saints: Five takeaways as Marcus Smith’s ‘brilliance’ saves innovative Quins
Harlequins' Marcus Smith after the Gallagher Premiership match at Twickenham Stadium, London.
Following Harlequins’ 41-32 Big Summer Kick-Off victory over Northampton Saints, here are our five takeaways from the Premiership clash at Twickenham Stadium.
Quins take five
Harlequins took five points in a much-needed win against the table toppers Northampton Saints at Twickenham as tries from Luke Northmore (2), Stephan Lewies, Cadan Murley and a match-winning effort from Will Porter, with two in the space of seven minutes off the bench, bested a committed effort from Saints that saw them finally run out of steam, despite tries from Ollie Sleightholme, James Ramm, Tom Litchfield and Courtney Lawes.
The implications are that Quins remain in fifth place on points difference due to Bristol Bears overturning Leicester Tigers at Mattioli Woods Welford Road, but with Saints getting the try bonus point they still lead the table by four points, despite Saracens closing the gap with their win at Bath on Friday night.
Bench impact
In a match between two teams as close as this that are committed to a similar ethos of attractive rugby, the impact of the benches was always going to be crucial in deciding the result.
When Porter strode onto the pitch after 59 minutes for Twickenham’s favourite nine, Danny Care, the match was well in the balance. But with Saints starting to get momentum, mainly through the directness and power of one of their replacements, the outstanding eight Juarno Augustus, Quins looked to be fading away in a match they simply couldn’t afford to lose.
However Porter, Harlequins’ hero in Bordeaux, had other thoughts and it was he that brought the hosts back into the match, firstly as he made the extra man on the right wing to scoot over from short range, and secondly, a couple of moments later, when Jarrod Evans made a thundering run down the middle to offload to Porter running a delightful line on his inside shoulder.
Once again, this was another match that tested the depth of the 23, and on this occasion, it was Harlequins that came out on top in terms of dents from the bench.
Margins and errors
For two teams that pride themselves in execution and accuracy, both with ball in hand and in contact work, this was something of an untidy game around the breakdown areas. Both sets of forwards looked almost leg-weary around the ruck and maul, hardly surprising given their recent workload, but this was compounded by some real inaccuracy in terms of entry and sealing off (particularly by Saints) that saw Karl Dickson whistle for 12 penalties alone in the first half.
Quins might also count themselves unlucky on 10 of the points they conceded in that first half. It was as clear as the nose on Kwagga Smith’s face that there was a pass from Alex Mitchell some three metres forward in the build-up to Sleighholme’s 23rd-minute try and, a few moments later, Louis Lynagh saw himself carded and penalised for a deliberate knock-on on his own line, one that he was a hair from regathering and potentially going the length of the pitch. Given how close the ball was to him when he made contact there’s no doubt that he had a realistic chance of regathering and once again, the one law that relies upon a referee’s interpretation of player intent became a talking point when greater law clarity would solve this bone of contention for once and for all.
To compound matters, Tyrone Green also suffered the same fate in the second half in a rather more clear-cut incident but again the ridiculous onus of this law is to interpret intent over outcome, almost impossible for any referee.
The theme of margins once again reared its head in the final moments before half-time; Saints looked for all money to have scored under the Quins posts, but as the teams turned to go into the dressing room, Dickson rightly adjudicated that Mitchell had knocked on at the point of the score.
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Quins learn from Toulouse
Harlequins have already played Toulouse once this season and are due to face the mighty French outfit in a week’s time in the Investec Champions Cup. It appears their backroom analysts have learned a lot from the Top 14 side, and Northmore’s opener was one straight out of the Toulouse/Dupont playbook. With Care and Marcus Smith taking the ball at pace down the left flank and attacking the outside of the Saints blitz, great handling saw Green coming down the middle of the pitch inside in support, and it was only a last-gasp tackle that saw him brought down.
From the ensuing breakdown, we saw Smith recycling himself to deliver a hammer blow of a cross-kick for Northmore to touchdown after only two minutes of the match.
And on the subject of innovation, one interesting tactic the hosts used when Care was sin-binned was to maintain width in defence by dispensing with the fly-half and leaving Smith to almost cover both roles from the base itself. The fact is that Quins won the first two (of three) yellow card periods 7-3 is testimony to the manner they thought their strategy through and also demonstrates the brilliance of Smith in covering both half-back roles himself.
The run-in
With the Saints needing only three points from their last two games to ensure a home tie in the play-offs, they are almost home and hosed as they chase a fitting end to a memorable season. Given this is the last season that this talented team will play together, with the likes of Lawes, Lewis Ludlam, Alex Moon and others set to depart, there’s a lot of support for Saints from the neutral watchers and it appears that they’re within touching distance of their goal.
Not so for Quins; a mid-season wobble has seen the pressure mount upon them and with a trip to Sandy Park looking a daunting prospect in Round 17, it might go right down to the wire with the West London club facing Bristol Bears, a side on form and intent on ruining Quins dream, in a winner takes all finale at the Stoop.
On the evidence today, Quins will need to improve both accuracy and discipline if they’re to get into the play-offs, but Saturday was a step in the right direction as they look to ensure qualification for the Premiership knockout stages.