1
'It's very disappointing... it's the worst I've felt since being here'
By PA
Harlequins head coach Tabai Matson appeared deflated after seeing his side convincingly beaten 27-19 by a fired-up Leicester at the Stoop.
The final scoreline flattered the hosts as they trailed 17-0 with only 10 minutes remaining and two tries in the last three minutes nearly saw them pick up an undeserved bonus point.
Tommy Reffell scored two tries for Leicester with Julian Montoya and Anthony Watson also crossing. Freddie Burns added a penalty and two conversions.
Cadan Murley scored two tries for Quins and Danny Care also touched down, with Marcus Smith kicking two conversions.
Matson said: “It’s very disappointing when they were best in every area and it’s the worst I’ve felt since being here.
“We needed to celebrate Joe Marler’s 250th appearance for the club and he had to put up with that.
“They were brutal in the collisions and our breakdown was not good enough but they forced errors from us out there and were pretty flawless.
“You’ve got to keep the scoreline close right to the end and keep the tempo up but we could not do that either.
“We missed Alex Dombrandt as he’s top shelf and world-class and without his influence, it became an arm-wrestle, which did not suit us.”
One of the rare plusses for Quins on the day was the performance of Murley, who will have impressed watching England head coach Eddie Jones.
Matson added: “Cadan is the best left wing in the league and he looked dangerous all the time but we must work out ways of getting him more possession as we did not do that today.”
Leicester bounced back after defeats to Sale and Saracens.
Head coach Steve Borthwick said: “The boys proved us a point today as we are building cohesion bit by bit but the tries we conceded at the end was not good enough.
“We have a new squad with a lot of young players and they need to spend more time together to allow us to improve.
“We are continuing to keep things simple as I don’t get carried away too much, whether we win or lose.”
Leicester’s stand-out performer was flanker Reffell, who gave a timely reminder to the Welsh coaching staff ahead of next Tuesday’s squad announcement for the autumn internationals.
Borthwick said: “Tommy reads the game really well and has comeback from Test rugby against South Africa in the summer a more rounded player.
“He’s still young and there’s still a lot of growth in him.”
Next up for Leicester in the league is a home fixture against crisis club Wasps on Sunday.
Borthwick said: “We are preparing for the fixture as normal until I’m told otherwise.”
Trending on RugbyPass
2
David Campese names his Springbok world player of the year winner
3
Let's be real about these All Blacks
4
Why World Cup winner doesn’t blame All Black for leaving New Zealand
5
Latest Comments
Does anyone know a way to loook at how many mins each player has played whilst on tour?
Go to commentsIt certainly needs to be cherished. Despite Nick (and you) highlighting their usefulness for teams like Australia (and obviously those in France they find form with) I (mention it general in those articles) say that I fear the game is just not setup in Aus and NZ to appreciate nor maximise their strengths. The French game should continue to be the destination of the biggest and most gifted athletes but it might improve elsewhere too.
I just have an idea it needs a whole team focus to make work. I also have an idea what the opposite applies with players in general. I feel like French backs and halves can be very small and quick, were as here everyone is made to fit in a model physique. Louis was some 10 and 20 kg smaller that his opposition and we just do not have that time of player in our game anymore. I'm dying out for a fast wing to appear on the All Blacks radar.
But I, and my thoughts on body size in particular, could be part of the same indoctrination that goes on with player physiques by the establishment in my parts (country).
Go to comments