Harlequins proved today that their solid defence is as important as their all action attack, as the men in the famous quarters battened down the hatches to grind out a result against Saracens.
In what was one of the closest London derbies in recent memory, Saracens lost their first match of the Premiership season. Harlequins prevailed 17-10 over Saracens, thanks to tries from Fin Baxter and Lennox Anyanwu.
The sharpshooting of Marcus Smith kept the daylight between the London rivals, as Danny Wilson’s men showed gritty resilience to keep out the unrelenting waves of Saracens attack. England prop prospect Baxter took the plaudits for Player of the Match, as he starred up front. Baxter received a resounding ovation as he was replaced with 10 minutes to go, in the match that witnessed the long awaited return of Joe Marler.
After just seven minutes at the Stoop, Saracens back row Andy Onyeama-Christie suffered a shocking injury. After crashing onto the line at pace, the flanker had a clattering collision with Harlequins hooker Jack Walker, who was withdrawn for a HIA.
The back row was stretchered off with a horrifying ankle injury, and received a respectful round of applause from the rival sets of London supporters. Tom Willis replaced Onyeama-Christie, and Nathan Jibulu had a brief run out at hooker, before Walker returned at the 17th minute mark to take up the mantle after passing the HIA.
The departures continued, yet this one was enforced by the referee Christophe Ridley and not through an unfortunate injury. James Chisholm was brandished with a yellow card, after the back row illegally halted Saracens’ flow of attack in a try-scoring situation. Sarries kicked for the corner, yet the newly introduced Jibulu was integral in halting the rolling maul and subsequent scrum penalty win, as Saracens ended the first half score-less.
Walker and Chisholm both returned as the Harlequins and Saracens defences held strong at 0-0. Marcus Smith peppered the Saracens back-field with testing kicks, as his men in the famous quarters jostled for the ball that was sent skyward. It was Maro Itoje of all Sarries to hand Harlequins a penalty, that would lead to the opening score of the match.
Itoje’s illegalities at the ruck allowed Smith to kick to the corner. Quins’ rolling maul was ineffective, but the ball slowly trundled towards the try-line with short drives. At long last there was a break through in the London derby, as Fin Baxter got the plaudits with his try from close range. Smith made no mistake with the conversion from close to the sticks.
Former Halrequin Hugh Tizard took up the role of pantomime villain, upon his 28th minute introduction at the Stoop, as boos followed his every touch. The first half’s last 10 minutes witnessed relentless waves of Saracens pressure, yet the hardened Harlequins defence held firm to keep out the visitors from crossing their whitewash. A key hit from Lennox Anyanwu battered Jamie George into touch, as the England skipper drove for the try-line wide on the left wing.
HALF TIME SCORE: HARLEQUINS 7 – 0 SARACENS
Saracens battled back to get themselves on the scoreboard, with a try eight minutes after half-time. In a like-for-like scenario of Fin Baxter’s opening try, it was Hugh Tizard that snuck over from close range, as the Harlequins defence finally caved after tireless waves of Saracens attack. Lozowski nailed the conversion, to draw his men back level.
However, the stalemate did not last long, as Quins returned the favour with a try just five minutes later. The move began through Harlequins’ resident magician Marcus Smith, as the England fly half split the defence. Smith offloaded to his halfback partner Will Porter, who broke away before finding Lennox Anyanwu out wide.
The centre had open grass in front of him, and presented a solid fend on the back-peddling Saracens defender before dotting down to score. Smith’s conversion strengthened another seven point lead.
Alex Lozowski missed a penalty for Saracens at 64 minutes, in what was the visitors first direct attempt at the sticks outside of their conversion attempts. It felt like the North Londoners were altering their playbook with the clock ticking down, with the try-line steadily guarded by Quins.
The back-row battle between Ben Earl and Chandler Cunningham-South then took centre stage, with the two England bruisers fighting tooth and nail over the breakdown. Earl was penalised for his illegal work at the ruck, and Marcus Smith sent a crucial penalty through the uprights. The three pointer took Harlequins beyond a converted score of Saracens, with less than 10 minutes remaining at the Stoop.
Lozowski made sure that the spectators spent the last seven minutes on the edge of their seats. The Saracens midfielder nailed a penalty from the Harlequins 10m line, to narrow the match back down to seven points. The Stoop then erupted at the sight of Jack Kenningham and Irne Herbst man handling a Saracen into touch, as Harlequins withstood another wave of attack from their North London visitors, for an eventual win.
HARLEQUINS: 17
TRIES: 2 (Baxter 28′, Anyanwu 53′)
CONVERSIONS: 2 (Smith 28′, 53′
PENALTIES: 1 (Smith 71′)
DROP GOALS:0
YELLOW CARDS: 1 (Chisholm 10′)
RED CARDS:0
HARLEQUINS: 15. Leigh Halfpenny 14. Nick David 13. Oscar Beard 12. Lennox Anyanwu 11. Cadan Murley 10. Marcus Smith 9. Will Porter 1. Fin Baxter 2. Jack Walker 3. Titi Lamositele 4. Irne Hebst 5. Stephan Lewies (C) 6. Dino Lamb 7. Jack Kenningham 8. James Chilsholm
Replacements: 16. Nathan Jibulu 17. Joe Marler 18. Dillon Lewis 19. Joe Launchbury 20. Chandler Cunningham-South 21. Will Evans 22. Danny Care 23. Jarrod Evans
SARACENS: 10
TRIES: 1 (Tizard 48′)
CONVERSIONS: 1 (Lozowski 48′)
PENALTIES: 1 (Lozowski 73′)
DROP GOALS: 0
YELLOW CARDS: 0
RED CARDS: 0
SARACENS: 15. Alex Goode 14. Tobias Elliott 13. Alex Lozowski 12. Nick Tompkins 11. Elliot Daly 10. Fergus Burke 9. Ivan van Zyl 1. Rhys Carre 2. Jamie George 3. Marco Riccioni 4. Maro Itoje 5. Nick Isiekwe 6. Juan Martin-Gonzalez 7. Andy Onyeama-Christie 8. Ben Earl
Replacements: 16. Theo Dan 17. Eroni Mawi 18. Alec Clarey 19. Hugh Tizard 20. Tom Willis 21. Toby Knight 22. Gareth Simpson 23. Lucio Sinti
5 Talking Points: Harlequins 17-10 Saracens
1. Andy Onyeama-Christie’s horror injury
Saracens back row Andy Onyeama-Christie suffered a horrific ankle injury, just seven minutes into the match. There was a lengthy pause in the action as a team of medics tended to the player, before he was stretchered off. The initial observations are that Onyeama-Christie has fractured his ankle, following the post match discussion with Saracens Director of Rugby Mark McCall.
“Yeah, he’s gone to hospital. It doesn’t look great.” McCall said. “I think we’re talking fracture investigation of his ankle. So that’s, that’s what we think today really. Just gutted for him. Everybody is, he’s had a real tough three years with two broken arms. And for that to happen, it’s just horrendous for him. So yeah, our thoughts are with him.”
2. Jason Gilmore has tightened up the Harlequins defence
There is no denying that Harlequins have toughened up their defence. It looks like the days of having to outscore their opponents are heading into the rear view mirror, as the Londoners brought in Australian defence coach Jason Gilmore.
“There’s two things. One, we brought in a defence coach that’s given us real clarity of system, clarity of what we’re doing and the responsibility and the accountability within the defensive line of all sorts of situations. So I think we’ve got real clarity from Jason, first of all, which is excellent.
“The second thing is, as a group, we’ve put defnce first more often. So we’ve started meetings with defence clips. We’ve started sessions with defence, we’ve talked about defence at the end of sessions as debriefs, before we talk about attack.
“Quin’s don’t want to lose it’s attacking identity, but if we don’t improve our defence, we have to go score five tries every week to give us a chance of winning.”
3. Young Harlequins hooker Nathan Jibulu is a ‘beast’ – prospect on the rise
Harlequins head coach Danny Wilson was full of praise for Nathan Jibulu, with the young hooker impressing upon his run out at the Stoop.
“He’s been excellent. I’m really, really excited about him. He’s, again, a bit like some of the other younger boys. He’s still got a long way to go. He’s a little bit behind the likes of Fin (Baxter) but he’s moving in the right direction.
“He’s physically a beast. He’s can carry. He’s slowly improving his line, out, throw it and so on. So he’s one for the future, but I think we’ve got several boys. There’s a lot youngsters out there today, and I think several boys there that are really exciting for the future.”
4. Harlequins head coach Danny Wilson delighted with long awaited derby win
Harlequins head coach Danny Wilson expressed his delight in getting the win against Saracens, in what has been a tough task for his side to achieve in recent years. This was the first Quins London derby win since January 2020, when they racked up an impressive 41-14 triumph.
“We spent the whole week talking about ourselves and talking about, if we get our stuff right, our game model right, with the improvements that we’re trying to make in defence and so on, then we give ourselves a real chance, which, you know, is basically what happens. Really pleased. It is a massive win, to win a darby at home, which we haven’t done for a while, against Saracens, and a fully loaded Saracens, is really pleasing.”
5. Saracens provide an update on Argentina’s Juan Martin Gonzalez injury
Saracens were struck with a second injury blow, as their Argentina back row Juan Martin Gonzalez was withdrawn from the Stoop. The Puma was assessed to have sustained a bicep injury, and when asked on how he is currently fairing, Mark McCall said;
“We’re not sure. It’s a bicep injury, we’re just not quite sure how serious it is.”
