Quins 2s Win at home but concede AWO

Saturday 18th saw Harlequin Amateurs second XV start their 21/22 season with a match against Warlingham RFC 3’s for the first time at The Wick.

With both teams being hit hard by lack of numbers Quins started the day with 9 players and Warlingham 14. After a quick chat with the ref and the Warlingham captain it was decided we’d borrow a player and play a 10 a side friendly, an AWO was awarded and a reduced time game kicked off.

Having six players making their debut for Quins, we started slowly out of the blocks and Warlingham capitalised on this with an early try, Quins regrouped under the posts and agreed that the game was there for the taking and a hard kick chase forced a turnover and Quins were able to get a foothold back in the game with a debut try from Sergio Branco. An arm wrestle then started in the middle of the pitch with some big hits going in from both sides and turnovers meaning the ball stayed in play for almost the rest of the first quarter, only for a Warlingham line out set play from 5m out to give them the lead right at the whistle.

The second quarter is where the tide changed, Quins themselves scoring a great line out set piece, Wags taking the ball from the top and a rolling maul putting Shamz over and debutant Kyle and Garry both dotting down either side of a visitors try to make it 22-17 at half time.
After taking water on, switching ends and with the sun behind Quins, the third quarter started and the youth on the Quins side took its toll on Warlingham. Quins pinned Warlingham into their own 22 and after hard running lines from Stephan and Graeme the defence got sucked in and Kyle had an open run in for his second of the day, converted by Joe 29-17.

Warlingham kicked off and with Quins not wanting to play in our own half, Joe returned the kick-off deep into Warlinghams 22 and a hard chase on their fullback meant a panicked kick back gave Quins a line out 15m out. What happened next left both players and the side-lines applauding, Warlingham forced a turnover and put a deep kick about 5m from the Quins try line, Kyle was first to it and, with space ahead of him, set off at pace towards the half way line, stepping a couple of opposition chasers on route, all the way to the try line with a trail of Warlingham players in his wake for his hat-trick try.

At this point the Warlingham captain, Scott, asked the ref how long was left and if the 4th quarter was really necessary. Quins were keen to play and a carbon copy kick return, this time from Shamz, meant that again Quins were camped in the oppo 22 and chasing more points. Tiredness caused a couple of penalties for both sides and the game seemed to be winding down, Quins however had other ideas and after a couple of strong carries, Sergio, Stephan and Graeme keeping up the intensity like they had all game, meant that Quins had a 3 man overlap and quick ball from Shamz and a miss pass meant Kyle could jog in for his 4th and put the game fully out of reach with Joe converting his 4th kick of the day.

Warlingham asked if we could cut the game short at this point and the ref agreed, injury prevention being his main point of concern, with the heat taking its toll Quins agreed and the final whistle blew. Although the game went down as a friendly it was a great start to league rugby for the 2’s, who look towards next week and Battersea Ironsides away.

A huge thanks to Warlingham for making sure this fixture was played, and to John who played the entirety for us, we look forward to the return fixture!

Man of the Match: Kyle Fraser
Dick of the Day: Stephan Mendy