A Game of Two Halves

With the 6 Nations starting, it was always likely that we would have some guys unavailable last Saturday so it was great that we had 20 names on the teamsheet. Unfortunately illness, work, househunting and waking up in South East London meant that only 16 of us made the trip to Chobham. However this is more players than we have had for some league games and included in our squad was a cameo from a former Quins Ams player – Damien Haarhoff. Cheers for helping us out mate.

Arriving in plenty of time we had a chance to check out the oppo (all of whom seemed to be under 22) – and the pitch (which seemed to slope at about 22 degrees). Surely our blend of size and pace, youth and experience would prove to be enough.

Opting to play uphill in the first half, we donned or crampons and received the kick off. Soon we realised just what sort of game we were in for with Chobham deciding to kick over the top or spin it wide pretty much every time.

We were also given an idea of where we could beat them. Whilst Chobham were quick to the ruck, they offered very little resistance and ample chance to counter ruck their ball. In addition, their scrum was based on size over technique and Theo was robbing their line out ball for fun. Why then did we keep trying to run everything????

Knowing that we needed to keep the score close-ish, it was great when we rumbled Angus Munns over the line for Quins first try. Half time score around 27-5.

Key for Quins was to score 2 tries without conceding and by playing tight, 10 man rugby, we were able to control the game. Sam Rickman in with 2 tries (Alex Mercer converting one) and suddenly it was game on.

We worked our way back to the Chobham line and following our kick through they had a defensive 5-metre scrum. Given how the scrum had been going we should have been confident of at worst pressuring their kick and having a lineout 10-15 metres out.

Unfortunately we sank to Chobham’s level and the red mist fell. Following some handbags and a fantastic right cross from the aforementioned Mr Haarhoff (welcome back mate!) both teams found themselves down to 14 and with no spare front row for either squad, we had uncontested scrums. Chobham had a chance to clear their lines and in doing so relieve the pressure we were building. A couple of other substitutions for injury and a yellow card for Tom Newbrook (the Chobham 12 deserved most of what he got to be fair) meant we never really got going again – finishing the game with 13 players, one of whom could barely walk.

At the end of the day, this was a very winnable game but at least we won the fight. Imagine what would’ve happened if Harkin was playing for Chobham.