Saracens v Harlequins: Five takeaways as ‘standing ovation’ highlights what Steve Borthwick is missing and ’emotive afternoon’ ends well for Mark McCall
Tom Willis and, inset, Maro Itoje ensured Mark McCall's final match in charge at the StoneX was a winning one
Following a 26-12 win for Saracens over Harlequins in round 17 of the PREM, here’s our five takeaways from the London derby at the StoneX.
The top line
Following on from Friday night’s West Country derby result in Bristol, the London derby also produced an outcome that can heavily influence who will finish where when the dust settles after next weekend’s final round of the regular season. Despite a 52-minute spell where they were held scoreless amid the energy-sapping 26°C heat, this sun-kissed victory for Saracens eventually arrived with a last-gasp four-try bonus point.
That has lifted them two points ahead of Exeter in the table and into fourth place with the Chiefs visiting third-place Leicester this Sunday before hosting the Londoners next Saturday at Sandy Park. It will, for sure, be a riveting encounter, just as intriguing as this one was. We had the opening score eight minutes in after Tobias Elliott chased down Jamie Benson to win a five-metre scrum.
In an area of the game where Saracens lorded it all afternoon, the shunt was a mismatch, and it ended with Chandler Cunningham-South yellow-carded and a penalty try awarded. Two untaken chances came Saracens’ way during the sin-binning, Max Malins knocking on at the line when jostling Cadan Murley to take Fergus Burke’s pass and Elliott then held up over the line after grabbing Burke’s kick through.
It was only when the contest became 15 on 15 again that the hosts made good their dominance, Tom Willis mirroring a wrecking ball to ignite the 25th-minute move that ended with Ben Earl inviting Malins to score and make it 12-0.
That was that for the opening half, and with the sun screen topped up and the ice creams bought during the interval, the contest drifted for a chunky part of the second before Harlequins’ 63rd-minute try from Bryn Bradley set up a grandstand finish.
There was a missed penalty from sub Owen Farrell before he was involved in the move for Nick Tompkins’ 77th-minute try and although Cameron Anderson struck two minutes later to hand Harlequins a lifeline at 19-12, Theo Dan’s clock-in-the-red maul try left Saracens celebrating clinching the win and banking all five match points.
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Wind in McCall’s sails
You wouldn’t have noticed from the hard-faced demeanours evident on Saracens’ faces until the final whistle, but this was a very emotive day for them as their long-serving boss Mark McCall had sent out a team at the StoneX for the final time before his end-of-season departure.
The 58-year-old Irishman, who has won everything during his 15 years in charge, spent his last home outing pacing up and down the coaching box, constantly walking behind a wall of assistant coaches seated in front of laptops and keeping on top of their respective briefs.
A fortnight after defeating Gloucester, he had made three changes to his XV with Eroni Mawi, Maro Itoje and Elliott all recalled. That was a good selection as all three were excellent, including Elliott who bagged the player of the match award.
Having also confirmed the identity of the 16 players leaving at the end of the season, Saracens eventually came good in their digging-deep collective effort to see their coach off at the StoneX with a win in his sails and giving all their departing teammates a happy moment to say farewell to home fans.
McCall’s parting shot in North London was the canny use of his bench. Saracens looked dead on their feet and were clinging to a five-point lead when Farrell was summoned from the bench just hours after his latest son Frankie was born overnight.
He was wayward with a long-range penalty to try and create an eight-point buffer, but his offload in the genesis of the Tompkins try was exquisite, as was Olly Hartley’s similar pass out of the contact.
Farrell’s contribution was important, as was the contribution of sub scrum-half Ivan van Zyl, one of the contingent exiting this summer. McCall played his hand well, reshuffling his team to grab a late bonus win from a match where they wilted in the heat after initially going two tries up.
Saracens v Harlequins: Result, match details, stats, line-ups
Empty-handed Quins
Quins have never won at the StoneX in the PREM, and you could understand why given this latest failed attempt. Their season had been one of struggle but they had found a pulse a fortnight ago, hitting back from trailing 24-7 nearing the interval to defeat Exeter 41-24.
That was an impressive comeback, especially as some up-and-coming players really stood out, but it was disappointing to again witness another slow start here with an XV containing just one change from the last outing, Sean Kerr inserted into their midfield.
While they made things interesting with their late tries cutting the deficit to five- and seven-point margins, they never looked like taking the lead and laboured for a considerable time, an issue not helped by their lineout and scrum not being up to scratch.
They did defend well when reduced to 14 for 10 first-half minutes, but their attack never clicked until those two late moments. Three examples with the score at 0-14 were particularly frustrating – the crossing that denied Alex Dombrandt a try following a Marcus Smith break, a soft knock-on in the carry by Bradley just before the break and then a lineout five metres out stolen by Itoje early in the second half.
To give them their due, Will Evans off the bench was tremendous value, and it was the back-rower’s slick break that was pivotal to Bradley getting them on the board. Full-back Benson then reminded everyone he will be a loss to the PREM club when he joins Ulster next season, as his pass for Quins’ second try was fabulous.
However, his team ultimately didn’t do enough to avoid getting left empty-handed and it could prove costly. By the end of play at the StoneX, they were still only one point ahead of Gloucester and in danger of surrendering the eighth and final Champions Cup qualification spot.
Willis’ standing ovation
Steve Borthwick managed to get along to the StoneX to watch in person but rather than salivating over the form of the players he has in the mix for the upcoming three-match block of Nations Championship matches in July, it was the exiting Saracens No.8 Willis who grabbed the attention.
The back-rower hasn’t been considered for England selection ever since he announced early in the season that he was quitting the PREM for a return to the French Top 14 with Bordeaux – and his departure has left Borthwick with a gaping hole he is still trying to fill.
Willis came into the round 17 league match with some eye-watering stats: Carries 222 (1st in league); Defenders beaten 109 (1st); Post-contact metres 321 (1st); and Offloads 26 (1st again).
Referee Luke Pearce’s determination to award a penalty try and bin Cunningham-South denied Willis a try that he appeared to have grounded for at the back of the scrum, and he was exemplary when reversing out of contact and finding another way of powering into the cover before offloading in the creation of Saracens’ second try.
He wasn’t around for the late-game drama. McCall opted to take him off at 12-7 with 14 minutes remaining, having been his team’s top carrier, and he departed to a standing ovation. That’s the type of adulation that Borthwick doesn’t share, unfortunately, and England and Saracens’ loss with very much for Bordeaux’s gain after the summer.
What result means for play-offs?
Bristol’s Friday night victory over Bath has already lit up the penultimate weekend of the league’s regular season, keeping the Bears in with a shout of making the top four and leaving the defending champions vulnerable to being overtaken in second spot if Leicester do a Sunday number on Exeter.
Saracens would have been pleased with that overnight development. Not only was their win over Harlequins enough to lift them into fourth, two points ahead of the Chiefs, but it also created an added incentive for Leicester to win and ensure the Londoners will still be fourth by the close of round 17 business.
Whatever the Welford Road result, though, what is certain is that next Saturday’s final round visit to Exeter by Saracens will essentially be a quarter-final match. That will be a must-watch fixture, but the final day in England will also have other situations to monitor.
This includes Harlequins hosting leaders Northampton looking to get a result and ensure that Gloucester don’t overtake them in the Champions Cup qualification race with a win over bottom club Newcastle.