Premiership: Five takeaways from Harlequins v Bristol Bears as Gabriel Ibitoye comes back to haunt his former club
Following a 15-12 victory for Bristol Bears over Harlequins in their Premiership fixture, here’s our five takeaways from the match at the Stoop.
The top line
This was supposed to be a showpiece at Twickenham and ended up being a scrap at the Stoop as Bristol showed remarkable defensive fortitude to close out Harlequins, courtesy of two first-half tries from Gabriel Ibitoye and Harry Thacker.
In torrential rain, Bristol went in at the break 15-5 up and failed to fire a shot in the second half as their defence and sheer doggedness managed to frustrate the home side.
The second period saw Harlequins strike with a brilliant try by Caden Murley from a Danny Care cross-field kick and with four minutes to go, they looked certain to be adding a third score as Andre Esterhuizen sprinted through only for a brilliant tap tackle from AJ McGinty preventing the massive Bok from crashing over for what would have been a match-winning try.
It wasn’t the prettiest of matches, it certainly wasn’t the showpiece that PRL and Quins had promised (due to circumstances out of their control) but for those who enjoy ugly rugby at the end of December, it had thrills and spills aplenty.
Quins inaccuracy
Whilst Bristol Bears were heroic in defence, Harlequins must take a lot of responsibility for their own shortcomings.
They were absolutely cleaned out at the lineout on their own ball with Jack Walker struggling to find the pitch itself at times, let alone his jumpers and with Chris Vui outstanding in counter jumping and maul defence.
On the other hand, in the same conditions, Harry Thacker was pinpoint in his throwing, having five primary jumpers to aim at and taking on some outstandingly long throws in defence at times.
Alongside Vui, Magnus Bradbury got through such a shift he might well get a Christmas overtime payment making the most of some atrocious scrum ball as his front-row were monstered by the experienced Quins.
Colourful Bristol tighthead Max Lahiff might like to think he rivals Joe Marler as a social media presence these days, but as a prop forward he’s not in the same postcode. Lahiff was absolutely shredded to the point of embarrassment by the master loosehead Marler, conceding five scrum penalties in 63 minutes and was fortunate not to be pinged for at least four more in an absolutely dismal scrummaging performance that he’ll want to forget.
But on days like today, it’s all about 80 minute accuracy and in that regard, Bristol were good value for their win.
Ibitoye’s return
It’s a few years now since Ibitoye graced the Stoop with his blistering running and all-action game and it was great to see him return and return with some style. After leaving Quins, he never seemed to quite settle and 24-year-old had spells with French clubs Agen and Montpellier after leaving Quins, before rather surprisingly moving to Israel and playing for Tel Aviv Heat in the Rugby Europe Super Cup.
However, against his old team his sharp change of direction and explosive pace to swoop over for Bristol’s second try will remind all of his potential and outright gas. Not content with a score himself, he also thwarted his old teammate Care in a last gasp defensive slide to take the Quin into touch as a try seemed on the cards.
His night didn’t end as he’d have wished, as he clashed heads with Esterhuizen in contact, but with enough mitigation to see him see yellow over red – but by then his work was done.
Work-ons
For Harlequins, losing Will Evans to a head injury in the 52nd second of the match really hampered their work winning ball on the floor and at the breakdown. It was inevitable that they’d lose a degree of control once the flanker had gone off, but couple that with their litany of injuries in the back division and they looked shadows of the team we’ve seen over the last couple of seasons.
There was also a distinct lack of punch in carry; Irne Herbst looks slow and overweight, Alex Dombrandt failed to find his usual testing lines and it looked rather as if Quins had enjoyed a comfortable Christmas. They need to get their cheek and pace back into the game and the focus will be on improved accuracy, power in carry and control in handling in the weeks ahead.
Bristol will be delighted in their defence, their lineout work and their commitment around the breakdown. However, that soft underbelly of a scrum so weak on the tighthead side without Kyle Sinckler will expose them against the very best teams and they really need to sort out their technique, speed of engagement and body angles if they’re to progress to greater things this season.
Remarkable symmetry
Over the Christmas period, a remarkable set of results has seen the top three in the Premiership lose to the bottom three. London Irish started the trend last Friday as they were impressive in beating the mighty Saracens 29-20, followed by Newcastle Falcons turning over the visiting Sale Sharks 20-14. With Bristol’s result today, bottom of the table beating third, we see just how close the league is this season and that any team can get a result over any other on the day.
What we’ve also seen in all of the games was a lack of accuracy in finishing with some real red zone inefficiency and that defence and legality are still the keys to winning close games. It demonstrates just how evenly spread talent is and how difficult it is to find true playing differentiation in a league where every single game is competitive.
READ MORE: Premiership: Bristol Bears claim first league victory since September as they win at Harlequins