Following the epic 34-all stalemate between Harlequins and Leicester Tigers at Allianz Stadium, here are our five takeaways.
The Top Line
English rugby’s favourite Podcast host and cap centurion Dan Cole scored in the last moment of the Big Game to level the match at 34-34 in a magnificent advertisement for the Premiership.
It took the ice-cold veins of double world champion Handre Pollard to kick a hard touchline conversion after Coles’ try, demonstrating once again the resilience and the sheer will to win of the great Bok fly-half.
In the closest of games, four tries apiece game from Jack Walker, Cadan Murley (2) and Luke Northmore for Quins, with Ollie Hassell-Collins, Solomone Kata, Freddie Steward and the ageless Dan Cole as the match went right down to the wire, leaving the nerveless Pollard to covert to share the spoils.
It will be a game where both sides will walk away frustrated with the draw; the Tigers‘ powerful carrying, especially from the outstanding Olly Cracknell, and domination of the collision should have given them a better return from their endeavours. They won all aspects of the setpiece despite some howlers in defence but they lacked the cutting edge just to get ahead of Quins.
For the hosts, they will be pleased with their return from transition, but their error count in the last third of the field was something of great concern- as they managed seven unforced handling or setpiece errors within ten metres of the Tigers’ line, something that is fast becoming a theme of their season.
Key Battlegrounds
Despite the presence of Rodrigo Isgro, Argentina Sevens’ aerial specialist who did well at restart time, Leicester Tigers gained clear superiority in the airways along the tramways, something that really troubled the hosts.
With pinpoint kicking from the peerless Pollard, he gave Hassell-Collins, Mike Brown and their cohorts great hang time and a real target to fight for, and it was an area that Tigers exploited brilliantly, making 12 clean catches out of 17 clearances from their halfbacks.
But despite their points haul, the number of unforced errors Quins are committing in their opponent’s red zone or 22 must be killing the emotions of their coaches. Whether it be lineout issues- overthrown or not straight, knock-ons close to the line or simple disciplinary offences, they’re conspiring to depower their very own best work and in simple terms, they must be far more mentally focused with ball in hand, close to the line.
You’d expect a massive uplift in breakdown efforts after the results both sides endured in Round Eight, and there’s no doubt that Leicester Tigers marginally shaded the dominance at the collision, but equally, the work of Jack Kenningham, Will Evans off the bench and Northmore over the ball saw Quins win the turnover battle 7-2, a splendid return given they were up against the best in the business, Tommy Reffell. In fact, nothing will please Quins more than when Joe Launchbury and Dino Lamb combined to close down a line out maul on their own line right in the dying moments of the match.
Battle for Ten
Based upon the result and game impact, there’s little doubt that Marcus Smith looked the better of the two world-class tens on view- but the question remains, where was Smith playing from when he had his best attacking moments? The answer was he was countering from the back, working off kick transition, as opposed to running the show from midfield.
Contrast that with Pollard, who has an uncanny ability to get the best out of those around him and you’ll see that England and Harlequins still have work to do in sorting out how they utilise Smith to best effect. Pollard’s work right at the end, as he drove his side to the corner and tried his best to get something out of the match showed just how intelligent the great Springbok is.
It isn’t that he lacks the match-controlling ability, it’s just he embraces deconstruction and chaos to the detriment of those around him, who neither think or react anywhere near quickly to profit from Smith’s vision.
Playing at ten is about winning games, pure and simple, as Pollard demonstrated loud and clear in the last two minutes of the match where he squeezed a result out of nothing. Smith is a rugby genius and maverick- the only question is – is he really England’s best test ten?
England Watch
For the watching England Head Coach Steve Borthwick, there was much to smile about from the England players, both established and fringe, that met at Twickenham.
The biggest tick will be in the centres box, a position of real paucity for England in recent times. Both Quins, Oscar Beard and Northmore, delivered impressive outings, Northmore in particular who took advantage of Solomone Kata’s yellow card to take a direct route through the 12 channel to dot down whilst the Tigers 12 was sitting on the sidelines.
Opposite Beard and Northmore, Dan Kelly, often moved to 13 this season to accommodate Kata, had a reassuringly classy afternoon, hitting some blistering tackles and offering width and continuity in the wide channels with ball in hand.
Elsewhere, Murley might be one of a number of outstanding wings in England, but there’s none that works harder, and both he and his openside flanker, Kenningham, would certainly have moved their reputations on with their onlooking Head Coach. Murley grabbed Player of the Match for his two tries and 170m ran as he really laid down a marker.
But as hard as Freddie Steward has worked on his attacking game, he showed on two costly occasions that his one-on-one last line tackling is less that robust, although some of his running, notably for the Kata try, and later in second half for his own try, was a clear demonstration of his creative improvement. And, at half-back, whilst Jack van Poortvliet had some neat moments, his pass and kicking are so painfully sluggish compared with the best operators that it’s hard to know quite where he sits in the England pecking order.
However, all in all it was an impressive day at the office for the England players and a number of them might well have advanced their chances when the EPS squad is named on 14th January.
Event and Organisation
Once again PRL, RFU and Harlequins will be delighted at the impact and the support of the 2024 Big Game. It’s really become a special part of the rugby seasonal festivities and to see a sell-out crowd enjoy a doubleheader featuring both the men’s and women’s senior sides is surely the blueprint of the rugby event of the very near future.
There’s something so enjoyable about this fixture and the traditions that are already emerging- starting with the Harlequins walk over with their wonderful supporters- a chance for them to mingle with their heroes and grab obliging selfies and signature scrawls en route. In fact, watching big Irne Herbst dressed in red, surrounded by young fans and grinning behind that his fearsome beard, you might be excused if it was Oom Santa just tying up a few loose ends and re-deliveries at the end of a long Christmas shift, but he and his teammates are wonderfully approachable and it’s to their credit they chatted and joked all the way over the A316.
With the rugby producing a high-quality affair, one that might have gone either way in the end, the 2024 Big Game was once again a magnificent and inclusive family affair- precisely what the brand of rugby is trying to create, and all involved should be mightily proud of the quality and organisation of a top class event.
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Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/harlequins-v-leicester-five-takeaways-as-nerveless-handre-pollard-gets-the-best-out-of-tigers-in-magnificent-stalemate
