Harlequins run in eight tries to end Newcastle's slim Champions Cup hopes
Danny Care scored two tries as Harlequins warmed up for the Gallagher Premiership play-offs with a comfortable 54-26 victory over Newcastle Falcons. Quins, who were already certain to finish fourth, ran in eight tries in total at The Stoop on a day where their first-choice players were restored having been rested against Sale Sharks last time out.
Their refreshed attack had too much for Newcastle, whose slim Champions Cup qualification hopes were finally snuffed out as a result of a defeat where it took Harlequins less than four minutes to open the scoring as captain Alex Dombrandt broke off an attacking scrum before off-loading for fellow back-rower Jack Kenningham to power over.
Newcastle quickly hit back, however, as hooker George McGuigan was able to plunge over from a pick-and-go after a driving maul had been stopped just short of the line. The hosts struck off a scrum for a second time after 15 minutes, with Dombrandt picking up and feeding Care, who raced to the line without meeting much opposition before Marcus Smith added the extras.
The generous defending continued as McGuigan went over for his second try after some flimsy tackling had allowed Joel Hodgson into a dangerous position, but Brett Connon’s missed conversion kept Quins in front.
Newcastle were then handed a reprieve when a Matt Symons ‘try’ was ruled out for foul play by Tom Lawday in the build-up when the flanker dangerously dropped off his feet at a ruck. But Harlequins did have a third try in the 32nd minute when Ben Tapuai picked up after Aaron Morris’ pass had gone loose and sent Care scurrying clear to score under the posts.
The bonus point was in the bag for Quins off the final play of the first half as quick hands by Joe Marchant allowed Tyrone Green to squeeze in down the left, with Smith’s excellent conversion putting them 28-12 ahead at half-time. It took five minutes of the second half for the hosts to pull further clear as Lawday collected Smith’s perfect chip towards the right wing before sending Louis Lynagh clear to score in the corner.
Adam Radwan then pulled a try back for Newcastle with a superb individual effort that saw him dodge a couple of tacklers in his own half before he used his searing pace to go under the sticks. Normal service was quickly resumed by Harlequins, though, as Care’s ball inside gave Marchant a simple finish on the hour mark. Kyle Cooper rumbled over to earn the Falcons a try bonus point, but the hosts were able to run up the half-century in the closing stages thanks to late scores from Martin Landajo and Joe Gray.
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Skelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
Go to commentsSharks deserved to be far further back by the last quarter. Their tackling was awful, their set pieces were disappointing, their defensive organization was poor (especially on the Kok side of the D line), they kept making unnecessary errors, and they never looked like cracking the Clermont defense during those first 60m. Masuku kept them in touch, with some help from the Clermont generosity on penalty opportunities. Agree with the writer of this article. It was belligerence, and ability to raise their pressure game just enough, that turned the last quarter into a Bok-style shutout. Clermont have a reputation of not playing the full 80m, and there was a bit of that for sure. But, quite often when the intensity of a team drops off in the last quarter credit is due to the opponent for tiring them out. At 60m, with the Kok try, you thought that just maybe the game was on. At 70m, with the Mapimpi contribution, one felt that Clermont were fading, while facing a team that would maintain the pressure game through the final whistle. Good win in the end, but the Sharks are still playing way below their potential. And with their resources, and a coach that has had enough time to figure things out, they are running out of excuses.
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