Quins blitz brave Worcester
Thu, 02 Oct 2008 23:37
A 10-minute burst, which included three tries, helped Harlequins to a deserved set of five points with a 30-23 win in their Guinness Premiership clash at the Sixways Stadium on Thursday.
The match saw a bright start from Worcester and, although an early decision to kick from the corner and not at the posts turned out to come to nothing, they made it clear what their intentions were.
The pressure soon told and, with just five minutes gone, flyhalf Matthew Jones slotted a drop-goal from 20 meters to give his forwards some reward for their early efforts.
Harlequins though were immediately on the attack. Poor control of the restart put the home side under pressure and after an extended period with the ball wing Ugo Monye slid on to a delicate grubber and got the game's first try.
Just two minutes later and it was two. Quins were in full flight, and centre Gonzalo Tiesi crashed over to really help put Dean Richard’s men in the ascendency.
Again, just two minutes down the line, it was the turn of fullback Mike Brown. Coming into the line, just off the shoulder of scrumhalf Danny Care, Brown cut the line nicely and was able to go all the way from outside the 22 metre line and ground the ball under the uprights.
Jones pulled a penalty back for the Warriors in the 17th minute, but it was another 10 minutes before they themselves got over the line. It was Jones again who put the points on the board for the home side.
A set move from an attacking scrum inside the opposition twenty-two saw the flyhalf hit the line at pace and just on the outside shoulder of Quins inside centre Jordan Turner-Hall Jones. With momentum and the angle on his side Jones easily finished off and brought Worcester back to within touching distance.
With time running out in the first half Quins managed to extend their lead with a Malone penalty and a Monye converted try coming just before the break.
Worcester started the second half in a similar vein to that with which they had started the first. A simple enough move from a line-out became dangerous when Chris Latham's run into the line and, after drawing two defenders, was able to put wing Miles Benjamin in enough space for the speedster to take the scores to 20-27.
Malone added a penalty in the 48th minute, before the game settled down into a far more tactical battle with both sides giving little away.
It took 25 minutes for the next points to be scored and they fell to the home side. A penalty kick to bring Greg Rawlinson’s men back to within seven could have set up a grand stand finish but it wasn't to be.
Malone should have made the game safe with a penalty of his own with just two minutes to go but, luckily for him, it would ultimately not cost his side.
Quins continue their good start to the season and move to fourth place on the log with 16 points from their five games, while Worcester are down in 11th place just above winless Bristol.
The scorers:
For Worcester:
Tries: Jones, Benjamin
Cons: Jones 2
Pens: Jones 2
DG: Jones
For Harlequins:
Tries: Monye 2, Tiesi, Brown
Cons: Malone 2
Pens: Malone 2
Teams:
Worcester: 15 Chris Latham, 14 Charlie Fellows, 13 Dale Rasmussen, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Miles Benjamin, 10 Matthew Jones, 9 Ryan Powell, 8 Netani Talei, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Kai Horstmann, 5 Craig Gillies, 4 Greg Rawlinson (c), 3 Tevita Taumoepeau, 2 Aleki Lutui, 1 Matt Mullan.
Replacements: 16 Chris Horsman, 17 Chris Fortey, 18 Graham Kitchener, 19 Matt Cox, 20 Matt Powell, 21 Loki Crichton, 22 Alex Grove.
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 David Strettle, 13
Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Chris Malone, 9 Danny Care, 8 Tom Guest, 7 Will Skinner (c), 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 Jim Evans, 4 Ollie Kohn, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Gary Botha, 1 Ceri Jones.
Replacements: 16 Tani Fuga, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 George Robson, 19 Phil Davies, 20 Andy Gomarsall, 21 Charlie Amesbury, 22 Waisea Luveniyali.
Referee: Wayne Barnes
