Understudy Will Edwards engineers another Harlequins fightback
Wasps 16 Harlequins 26
Adam Hathaway
Monday November 08 2021, 12.01am, The Times
Will Edwards might not be the fly half on Harlequins’ books generating the most headlines but he inspired the champions to win from 16 points behind as they kept tabs on the Premiership leaders.
This was not quite the miracle of Bristol we witnessed in last season’s semi-finals but it may help to convince sceptics that Harlequins’ title win was no fluke.
With Marcus Smith strutting his stuff with England and Tommy Allan injured, it was left to Edwards to hold up the keys to No 10 and he picked the Wasps defence apart in the second half. The 25-year-old, a former GB Sevens player, nearly did not make the game. He twisted his ankle in the warm-up but lasted the 80 minutes and had a hand in everything Harlequins did well in attack after the break.
Edwards and the two South Africans, Andre Esterhuizen at centre and the full back Tyrone Green, secured the sort of away win that titles are built on. By rights Harlequins should have been out of it at half-time but they have been here before and there was never any panic.
“There is a wealth of experience they can draw from when they are down,” said Tabai Matson, the Harlequins senior coach. “Clearly we hate it but they have a belief if they keep working hard they will take opportunities to win games.”
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Wasps were scoreless in the second period and their injury problems escalated when Ali Crossdale was taken off on a stretcher in the ninth minute. The full back was injured tackling Esterhuizen and adds his name to a casualty list that includes Dan Robson, Joe Launchbury, Jack Willis, Jimmy Gopperth, Alfie Barbeary and Malakai Fekitoa. In all they had 17 players on the casualty list before Crossdale’s mishap.
No sooner had Crossdale been taken off than Wasps scored the first try after ten minutes when Jacob Umaga picked up a loose ball, fended off one defender on the touchline and the move ended with hooker Gabriel Oghre going over.
Umaga’s boot kept nudging the hosts along as he kicked three penalties before the break for his side to lead 16-0. There was no hint of what was to come.
“We know what Quins are about, we even spoke at half-time about how they are a team that comes back, they’ve done it plenty of times recently,” the Wasps head coach Lee Blackett.
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Harlequins had offered little in attack but immediately after half-time Danny Care’s snipe and pass out of the back door put Green in. Suddenly Harlequins, who had looked lethargic in the first half, were energised and Esterhuizen opened the door for their second.
He barrelled through before unloading to Luke Northmore and when Scott Steele, Care’s replacement, scooted over, Wasps looked done. And they were after Edwards’s bit of skill, a dummy before releasing the ball, put Northmore over for his second and secured the try bonus point for Harlequins.
Scorers: Wasps: Try Oghre (10min) Con Umaga (12). Pens Umaga (5, 26, 36)
Harlequins: Tries Green (41), Northmore 2 (61, 80), Steele (69). Cons Esterhuizen 3.
Wasps A Crossdale (M Watson 10); Z Kibirige, A McHenry, M Le Bourgeois, J Bassett; J Umaga, W Porter (F Hougaard 62); R Hislop (Z Nearchou 32; J Toomaga-Allen 73), G Oghre (M van Vuuren 60), J Toomaga-Allen (E Millar-Mills 67), V Fifita, E Stooke, B Shields (T Cardall 77), N Carr (T Young 63), T Willis.
Harlequins T Green; N David, L Northmore, A Esterhuizen, C Murley (O Beard 31); W Edwards, D Care (S Steele 51); SG Botta (S Kerrod 70), J Walker, W Collier (W Louw 58), M Symons (H Tizard 40), D Lamb, J Chisholm (S Lewies 55), J Kenningham, T Lawday.
Referee W Barnes.
Topic: Times match report (Read 573 times)
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