If gallant failures are as popular in the US as they are over here, then this agonising defeat for Harlequins will be a smash hit as the first Premiership match to be screened free-to-air across the pond. Billy Vunipola’s try with 10 minutes remaining settled it but Saracens were given an almighty scare at a ground where they had lost on their last three visits.
Harlequins’ two tries – scored by Danny Care and Joe Marchant – may both have been opportune but it was a dogged performance from the hosts, recovering from the early loss of their former NFL player Paul Lasike to a nasty-looking head injury. Paul Gustard spent eight years coaching at Saracens before joining up with England and he would certainly have fancied this fixture. He will have to take consolation in that not many sides will leave Saracens clinging on in the final five minutes nor score more tries than them. Call them wolves, bears or whatever animal he likes to model his sides on – judging by the 201 tackles made by Harlequins, this was a performance with Gustard’s paw prints all over it.
“It’s a mixture of incredible pride and incredible frustration,” said the Harlequins head coach, Mark Mapletoft. “It was incredible under immense pressure. from them They’ve clipped pretty much everyone this year comfortably, so I couldn’t be more proud of the effort.”
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Lasike appeared to be knocked unconscious immediately after getting his head on the wrong side when attempting to tackle Will Skelton. After a lengthy delay he left the field on a stretcher – not the desired outcome for anyone, especially the NBC audience hoping to see the USA international make his mark. If anything it was a stark demonstration for those tuning in that American football is not the only sport in which head injuries are a serious problem.
They will also have learned that Harlequins and Saracens do not like each other much. The two sides spend their weeks training in Guildford and St Albans respectively but it is the closest thing the Premiership has to a London derby and there was no little niggle throughout. Apart from the afters there was little of note in the first half – Lasike’s injury aside – until Care struck on 35 minutes, delightfully picking off Ben Spencer’s pass to scamper clear. It put Harlequins seven points to the good after Marcus Smith and Owen Farrell had exchanged a pair of penalties.
In truth Saracens did not get going before the break, they went in 13-9 behind thanks to a third Farrell penalty but, with the wind in their faces, they could not break down a Harlequins defence evidently fired up by Gustard. The closest they came was in a series of close-range shoves, eventually coming to an end when Billy Vunipola, to his credit, confessed to the referee, Luke Pearce, that he had knocked the ball on.
Another Farrell penalty brought Saracens back to within a point after the break but then came Marchant’s bizarre try. Harlequins won a penalty at the lineout and Smith’s kick at goal hung up in the wind. Marchant reacted quickest, leapt highest and plucked the ball, then plunged over the line. To compound matters for Saracens, Farrell’s next shot at goal struck the upright and bounced out of harm’s way.
He got another chance and squeezed it through to reduce the deficit to five and whereas the gears had clunked earlier for Saracens, now they were beginning to run smooth. After Mike Brown failed to find touch with a clearance, an imperious passage of play led to Billy Vunipola, who finished the match with 28 carries, powering over in the right corner. Farrell’s conversion from the touchline nosed Saracens two points ahead and another penalty for the fly-half, who finished with 20 points, ultimately steered the visitors to a 13th consecutive Premiership victory with Europe now to come. “We’re really pleased because it was a game where we were dominant but didn’t have any control,” said Saracens’ director of rugby, Mark McCall. “I was thrilled with how we played in the last 20 minutes.”