[Over to you, Frank] … “And so, the end is near … “
Friday 24th February: Aviva Premiership Round 17: Harlequins v Leicester Tigers at the Stoop, kick-off 7.45pm: Result – Harlequins 18 Leicester Tigers 27: Leicester Tigers 4 league points, Harlequins 0.
Hitherto, as regular readers may have been aware, Quins were unbeaten at the home in the Premiership this season before this game. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of Friday night clashes on principle simply because they end well beyond my bedtime and therefore they’re a bit of an ordeal to attend – plus, of course, on the same topic the television wallahs may not appreciate or indeed care about this but, for some souls who are hard-working and/or family-centric, going out to the rugby on a Friday night is just not an option so inevitably the Stoop was approximately 20% less full than otherwise it might have been.
The hearts of supporters in the stands were pleasantly surprised to find themselves beating marginally above normal with pleasure and satisfaction when Quins disappeared into the changing rooms 10-3 up at half-time, largely thanks to a fortuitous try by winger Alofa Alofa who followed up after Matt Hopper dabbed a kick-through that had looked over-cooked but then somehow bounced off the padded left-hand corner-post and then perfectly into his hands for a touch-down.
Reality came to bite us on the bum during the second half, as Tigers came out with far greater determination and zeal than our boys and piled on 24 points in a 23 minute spell, including a 3 converted try blitz, to put the result beyond doubt.
We weren’t helped any when our full back Aaron Morris, who otherwise made a stirring all-night contribution, caught Adam Thompstone in the air in a spectacular coming-together as they both went for a high ball and, after a referral to the TMO, copped a yellow card (it probably could/should have been red under the current referee protocols) and condemned us to a 7-point penalty try/conversion under the posts.
At the death Quins captain Dave Ward’s last-minute try out wide gave us a conversion-attempt’s shot at a consolation losing bonus point, but Rudiarh Jackson failed to land it … and thus bang went any realistic chance of Quins finishing in a top four Premiership play-off place this season (as head coach John Kingston openly admitted afterwards to reporters afterwards), not that we have ever showed more than the briefest hint this term of deserving one.
To complete a somewhat depressing evening Nick Evans, our all-time great fly half who was making another comeback from injury in his first Premiership start for 3 months, copped a painful-looking shoulder injury inside the first twenty minutes and had to be substituted. He’ll turn 37 in August and rumours have it that a coaching post beckons. He seems to have reached the sad stage where it takes an age to recover from every strain and niggle and – rugby being as physical as it is – a back, and a relatively-slight one as Nick is, tends not to last too long into his thirties. It’s probably time for him to hang up his jockstrap (and that’s something I have dreaded having to say about Quins fans’ favourite Kiwi even though, of course, one day that moment has to come to us all).
