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Watch: Marcus Smith's impressive performance on 150th appearance
By Grant Constable
Harlequins scored 40 unanswered points to overcome Cardiff with a bonus-point Champions Cup victory that saw Marcus Smith making his 150th appearance for the club.
A sold-out Arms Park witnessed an impressive second half showing by Quins, who ran in eight tries for the 54-15 win.
Smith marshalled proceedings and scored 19 points of his own, including a second half try and seven conversions.
"It was a special night tonight. We knew how tough it was going to be, coming away to Cardiff," said the England fly-half post match.
"We knew early we had to silence the crowd, because the crowd play a big part here. I thought the forwards up front really stepped up to the plate, I thought we had dominance there, and our outside backs were electric, so for me it was a joy to be part of.
"To play my 150th for this club, that I love, was special and hopefully many more.
Speaking on the 3G pitch at the Arms Park, which allows for a faster game, Smith was full of praise.
"Obviously it's a fast track here at Cardiff. We trained a little bit on a 3G this week. You're able to throw the ball a bit more, you're able to get more traction under your feet, and the ability to sidestep and do some nice running is a lot easier.
"And like I said, with the outside backs that we've got, they're electric so, give them the ball in space and they can cause some magic. So for me, it made my life very easy.
"For us, at nine and ten, it was a joy to be a part of and nice to score some tries as well."
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Latest Comments
Vaai is finally having his breakout year getting comfortable and showing great form at lock, and there are form players and experience all across the backrow, why on earth would you drop him to 6. Ridiculous
Go to commentsSo far, the All Blacks have won 8 matches out of 11 this year. That is a near 73% win rate. AB fans and, I assume, the team itself are not content with that and have everything to play for with the remaining 3 tests this year.
Their historical average is something like 77% these days and, although some years will always be better than others it is not likely to drop that dramatically to 70% any time soon. There is too much historical inertia on the stats. It is like saying Ireland’s form of the last 10 years or so is likely to reverse a historical average of 48% wins soon. It just isn’t.
Moreover, when you say they are ‘doomed’ to a 70% flatline are you not just assuming that Ireland will beat them again? How did that work out for you last time?
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