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2 days ago
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There may be a grassroots rebellion soon descending on Twickenham, torches and pitchforks in tow, but here was some festive fun before the bonfire begins. It ended honours even – remarkably the third time this Big Game fixture has been tied when Leicester have been the visitors – thanks to Dan Cole’s last-gasp try and Handré Pollard’s conversion via a post.
It seems astonishing that it happened again, having also occurred in 2008 and 2019, and all the more surprising that it was Cole who got the try to force the draw. It was no less than Leicester deserved, notching the eighth try of the match in what was a welcome nailbiting clash, given all the whitewashes elsewhere this weekend.
It was a contest that fizzed along throughout, engrossed from first minute to last, even if it did not quite live up to the pre-match pyrotechnics that Harlequins do so well in this festive fixture. Once more they attracted a sellout crowd, bringing the fireworks to Twickenham for all the right reasons, some light relief from the internecine fighting within the Rugby Football Union, and setting the stage for Marcus Smith to dazzle. He did so in patches but was matched by Pollard and, truth be told, neither side can argue with a draw.
Leicester will wonder quite how they went into the half-time interval behind. They began the better of the sides, Pollard pulling the strings with some shrewd kicking from hand and keeping Harlequins pinned in their own half. Quins, meanwhile, were sloppy for large spells of the opening half, throwing wayward lineouts, knocking on and failing to find much rhythm with Danny Care, maintaining his 100% appearance record in all 16 of these fixtures, particularly out of sorts.
They retain an unerring ability to strike with ruthless precision however, and after Pollard had kicked Leicester into a 3-0 lead, Quins responded with Smith dancing through Mike Brown and Julián Montoya before offloading to Jack Walker for the opening try. It was the sort of moment of magic that he produced on a regular basis for England here but Leicester responded in fine fashion, calmly going through the phases before Pollard put Ollie Hassell-Collins in under the posts.
Harlequins’ inaccuracy continued while Leicester kept their foot on the pedal. Freddie Steward, auditioning for the England No 15 jersey with George Furbank nursing a broken arm, began a counterattack inside his own half with a fine dummy and soon Solomone Kata was over in the left-hand corner. The watching Steve Borthwick will have been impressed, less so with how Steward was beaten for pace by Cadan Murley, who finished off a stunning second try for Harlequins after Jack Kenningham made the initial break near his own line.
Another Pollard penalty edged the Tigers further ahead but Kata was shown a yellow card for a high tackle on Oscar Beard – it could easily have been red – and soon after Luke Northmore crashed over from close range. Smith’s conversion gave Harlequins the lead for the first time in the match.
A rare shot at goal by Smith – albeit from straight in front of the posts –extended that lead and demonstrated just how much of an arm-wrestle the hosts found themselves in but perhaps they were ruing not going for the corner when Leicester seized the lead again. Steward finished it off in the left-hand corner after the forwards had done the hard graft and if Leicester were fortunate that Beard came agonisingly close to picking off the intercept, the full-back deserved the try for his endeavour throughout.
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Another Smith penalty in front of the posts – this time for Pollard’s early tackle on Beard – levelled the scores and suddenly things were opening up. Mike Brown, now 39, found himself dashing down the right wing before Smith and Care exchanged passes on the touchline as both sides threatened. Harlequins introduced Chandler Cunningham-South from the bench and his impact was immediate, bashing a hole in the Leicester defence before Murley was over for his second.
Just as Harlequins looked well set to see the match out, however, up popped Cole to burrow over from close range. Pollard’s conversion was far from straightforward but the Springboks No 10 relishes moments like these, even if he needed the help of the right post to secure the draw.
