Quins' blitz seals victory
Harlequins 31 Newcastle Falcons 12
Rugby matches usually last for 80 minutes but this one was over in less than 30 thanks to a try blitz from Harlequins. It was great. Right from kick off, Quins played aggressively and with a single minded determination to score the four tries that they needed to secure a bonus point win and second place in the final Premiership table.
Once that was done, Harlequins took their foot off the pedal. Newcastle scored a try of their own but as if to warn the visiting side that if they tried too hard, Quins would respond, Harlequins stuck another over the try line. At half time it was 31 - 7 and the match was over.
The second half was very much, as one paper put it, a 'stop and start' affair. Having finally dragged themselves into the game (in terms of possession and territory if nothing else) in the latter half of the first half, Newcastle tried to build upon their good work in the second, but they were never good enough to pose anything like a significant threat to Harlequins.
Of the Quins players, Danny Care shone out - at fly half. One would hope that one of our three established fly halves make a return from injury for the play off game in two weeks but if they don't, it is good to know that Care could take the role on. It was good to see Ugo Monye, fresh from his selection as one of the British and Irish Lions. And when I saw the arm go up as he swept down the wing to score his try that was even better!
The win means that Harlequins finish the regular season in second place in the Premiership on 66 points. The winners of the league are Leicester Tigers on 71 points. London Irish finished third on 66 points (but behind Harlequins on the number of wins - 14 vs 12) and Bath fourth on 65 points. What a close league this is!
A week on Saturday then, Harlequins will play London Irish for a place in the Grand Final at Twickenham. By virtue of their second place, Quins will enjoy home advantage for this game. What is our record against the Exiles this season? Well, back in September, we lost 27 - 28 at the Stoop. In October, the two sides played again in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, again at the Stoop, and this time Quins lost 17 - 32. In February, Harlequins travelled to Reading for the away match and this time beat Irish 9 - 14. So what we have are two evenly matched teams. Let's hope the home advantage pays off for Harlequins so that we can book a place at Twickenham and, blimey, a chance to win the league title!
