Pyrrhic Victory At Imber Court

By AlanQuin
March 2 2005

On a snowy cold evening at Imber Court, Quins defeated Wasps in the Zurich A League match by 29 points to 32 points. But Quins’ failure to prevent the losers coming away with two bonus points is likely to mean that they will not progress to the Final of this competition which they won last season.

Harlequins fielded a strong team with particular interest centring on the half-back partnership of Arwell Thomas and Dave Von Hoesslin, the two most recent signings. The return of Adrian Jarvis following his very serious illness and Ace Tiatia from suspension was also welcome.

Quins’ intentions were clear from the start as they received the kick-off and stole the first line-out that followed, setting up a good attack from a fine break by Adrian Jarvis, that was halted just short of the try-line. In their turn, Wasps too showed that they had similar intentions and they moved the ball wide to Joe Mbu on the left wing but a foot in touch as he sought to evade the tackle ended that thrust.

The forwards produced a fine rolling maul which moved play many metres upfield to gain a penalty for offside but an unforced error snuffed out the Quins subsequent attack. Then a superb long miss pass from Thomas found Mike Brown on the left wing and his inside pass saw Henry Barratt streak through for the first try. Thomas duly add the points and after ten minutes Quins led 0 – 7 and were then always in the lead to the end.

When Tiatia dropped the ball as he received the restart Wasps were able to exert great pressure on the Quins defence until finally Von Hoesslin managed to win the race to touch down the clever through ball which nearly gave the home side a first score. Pressure relieved Quins were able to work back into Wasps’ twenty-two and from a turnover in a maul the ball came left to Henry Barratt who went over in the corner for his second try. Thomas missed the conversion from the touchline. 0 – 12
after 16 minutes.

Wasps were not long in replying with an attack set up from a good kick to the corner from a penalty followed by quick passing from the subsequent lineout which saw their winger Thom Evans cross for his first try. The conversion attempt failed. But this success encouraged Wasps to increase the pressure for another score and was almost successful as errors began to creep into the Quins’ handling. Strong defence halted another attack just short of the Quins line and a penalty allowed them to relieve the situation.

Wasps should have scored when a fine run by Evans took them deep into Quins’ territory and the ball came quickly left to Mbu who with the line at his mercy spilled the ball two metres out. But from the scrum and ruck that followed Wasps gained possession and McKenzie was able to touch down for Wasps’ second try. This, too, was not converted and Quins’ led 10 -12. with only a few minutes of the half remaining. A collision of heads between Tiatia and Von Hoesslin removed both from the fray and Cameron Dott and Duncan James replaced them.

But there was yet more to come. A good attacking line-out saw the ball come to Arwel Thomas and his delicate high chip into the in-goal area found Kai Horstman leaping to gather and touch down for the third try which Thomas converted. A missed penalty attempt by Thomas ended the half with the score 10 – 19.

Another unsuccessful penalty attempt by Thomas in the first minute of the second half was followed a few minutes later by his adding another three points to increase Quins’ lead. Again Wasps increased their attacks until a clever through kick put Evans through for his second try of the match. Once again the conversion was missed as the gap narrowed to 15 – 22.

The bonus point came from an excellent break by Barratt who broke from near the Wasps ten-metre line and although stopped just short of scoring was able to pop the ball up to Luke Sherriff who crossed for the try which Thomas converted. 15 – 29

But Wasps were not finished and they score another try through Skivington to bring the score back to a single score at 22 – 29. That Quins thought it was too close for comfort was apparent as Thomas attempted a drop goal which missed narrowly before succeeding with another penalty kick to extend the lead. In the last minute of the match, however, Quins conceded another try and allowed Wasps a second bonus point. The final score was 29 – 32.

There were some excellent performances from Quins. Henry Barratt showed good penetration and awareness and took his tries well. Charlie Amesbury made some excellent elusive runs and is clearly one for the future. Arwel Thomas showed his class but is short of match play. Luke Sherriff and Kai Horstmann both played with intensity and commitment and the former captained the side shrewdly.

Quins have only one match in this league left to play, against Bath at The Recreation Ground on Easter Monday. If past results are any guide, Quins will expect a five point harvest and will expect to finish with 44 points. Wasps are on 36 points with two matches to play. They will expect to gain a five point win against Saracens but their next match against London Irish could prove a problem. The Exiles are a difficult proposition as Quins have found in their matches in the A league. A win for Irish, even if Wasps gained another two bonus points, could see Quins progress to the final. Two wins for Wasps without bonus points would probably leave the two teams with equal points and Quins would then progress having scored more tries. The Irish play Wasps next Monday evening at Sunbury.

Teams:

London Wasps:
15. Rob Laird, 14. Thom Evans, 13. Matt Priscott, 12. Dominic Waldouck, 11. Joe Mbu, 10. Harvey Biljon, 9. James Honeyben, 1. Alistair McKenzie, 2. Ben Gotting, 3. Henry Nwume, 4, Matt Corker, 5. George Skiffington (Capt), 6. James Haskell, 7. Garth Chamberlain, 8. Mark Lock.
Replacements: Tom French, Rob Cain, John Filler, Ed Hoadley, Nick Defty, Michael Whitehead, James Wellwood.

Scores: Tries: Evans(2) McKenzie, Skivington, Haskell. Conversions: Waldouck (2)
Harlequins:
15. Adrian Jarvis, 14. Charlie Amesbury, 13. Henry Barratt, 12. Andy Reay, 11. Mike Brown, 10. Arwel Thomas, 9. Dave Van Hoesslin, 1. Tom Muggeridge, 2. Ace Tiatia,
3. Mark Lambert, 4. George Robson, 5. Roy Winter, 6. Tom Guest, 7. Luke Sherriff (Capt) 8. Kai Horstmann
Replacements: Cameron Dott, Duncan James, Simon Miall, Kiba Richards

Scorers: Tries: Barratt (2) Sherriff, Horstmann Conversions Thomas (3) Penalties: Thomas (2)

Attendance: 400 (estimate)