Watford's unbeaten run ended

Harlequins after their first league win against Saracens Amateurs had to travel around the M25 to meet undefeated Watford in their third game. On the face of it this was going to be a very tough match with Watford securing two bonus point wins in their opening encounters.

What was always going to be a tough match that was exacerbated by the Harlequins fly half waking up 30 minutes after the meet time, and missing the entire warm up and run throughs. Watford looked a big side, none more so than their George Northesque out-side centre, a prospect that Alec Smail wasn’t too delighted with.

The sun came out just before kick-off for another warm game, Harlequins kicked off and all of a sudden found themselves with the ball charging down the wing as. Dan the winger was brought down just short of the line, and Mike Lovelock from a 10m run up somehow managed to get the ball down with the referee deeming that he wasn’t held. A dream start as George Jaques continued his impressive kicking statistics after 1 minute Quins led 0-7.

Watford a bit shaken and angry at themselves for conceding so early then started to dominate the territory and possession, Quins cleared their lines a few times but discipline kept giving Watford the entry back into the 22. Opting to go for the corner Watford drove for the line but were held up, spinning it out Mike Lovelock was adjudged to be offside going for an intercept, video analysis shows that he may have been onside.

Watford weren’t complaining though and their 10 stepped up and slotted the 3 points, 3-7.

Restart woes again for Watford as Jason Edmunds leapt like a cross between a springbok and a salmon took the ball right from the hands of a Watford player and managed to get it to the wing, who again was brought down shy of the line, the ball went wide and the comeback kid Sam Rickman handing off his opposite number scampered over for his first league try of the season. In a rare miss my George, partly due to the wind knocking over the ball; Quins extended their lead 3-12.

More of the same from quins regarding discipline as Watford camped deep into Quins territory, Watford getting another penalty 10m out cleverly opted to spin it wide against a disorganised defensive line to score their first try the conversion was successful, 10-12.

Another restart and another turnover for Quins, and their turn to keep possession, through some good work by the pack Alec Sail found himself with room outside and skirted round to add to his impressive season tally. George added the conversion and Quins were feeling a bit more secure with the score 10-19.

This wasn’t to last though as the sides nearing half time Watford with some superb offloading skills knocked on with the line begging after a last ditch tackle. Quins with the put in 5m out won the ball with the hook but came under immense pressure from the Watford pack. The ball shot out too quickly for the half back, and with a clever bit of play holding back Paul Hibbert Watford dived on the ball to score under the posts. No more scores before the whistle, at half time the score was 17-19.

The second half started badly for Harlequins as a very well executed lineout move saw Watford’s number eight taking the ball at pace to score from short range, and with took the lead. This galvanised Harlequins as the forwards and backs clicked up a gear and scored 3 unanswered converted tries, Mike Lovelock offering a trademark run to score the pick of the afternoon. The score with around 20 minutes to go 24-40.

Watford now with another lineout 5m out were looking to close the gap. The referee penalised Quins for brining the maul down, Harlequin slow to react and many facing the wrong way as Watford tapped a scored in the corner. 29-40.

After scoring three tries, it seemed Quins had gone to sleep thinking the game was won, Watford had other ideas as some good phase and play and barnstorming runs from their big pack, saw their winger in space, a good step saw him clear as he touched down to score. 34-40.

With only seconds remaining Quins were starting to worry as Watford definitely had the momentum. Some more good runs and offloading saw Watford make 40m with the last phase of the game, thankfully for Harlequins the winger spilt the ball in the tackle, to end the game 34-40 and with it secure a back to back bonus point win. Defence is an issue as Quins have conceded over 30 points in each game.

MoM – Luke Povey
DoD – Jason Edmunds