Joe shows Eddie what he’ll miss
MISSING ENGLAND PROP STARS IN ROUT
JOE MARLER may find himself missing the England environment when the Six Nations kicks off but he certainly enjoyed life in the Premiership yesterday.
Star man Marler helped Harlequins take down Wasps in emphatic fashion on their patch.
The prop was named in the England squad last week but withdrew having had second thoughts over spending so long in the bubble away from his family.
Marler was in his element yesterday, applying the blowtorch to the Wasps scrum and winding his off-key opponents up at every opportunity, including supplying kicking tips to Jacob Umaga after the Wasps stand-off put the ball dead.
Umaga is in England’s shadow squad but, along with his team-mates, he endured a difficult afternoon against the fired-up visitors and it was his pass which was picked off by Louis Lynagh to give Quins their bonus point 14 minutes from time.
James Lang added a fifth and a penalty try followed just before the final whistle in what became a rout.
It was Quins’ first game since the departure of head of rugby Paul Gustard and it was as if they had been released from a cage.
“It was a duty for us to put some pride and passion back into the Quins jersey,” said Harlequins assistant coach Nick Evans.
“We played on that during the week and we got an unbelievable response.”
Half-backs Danny Care and Marcus Smith were revitalised, with Care crossing for a first-half try and the impressive Smith varying the attack smartly as well as kicking 17 points.
They were 17-0 up inside 15 minutes with flanker Will Evans plunging over for the opening try before the supporting Care finished off a break down the right wing by Lynagh.
Lima Sopoaga got Wasps on the scoreboard just before the interval with a penalty.
When Alex Dombrandt crashed over for Quins’ third try in the 44th minute from a driving maul it was effectively all over.
The two Wasps tries from Zach Kibirige and Tom Willis which followed were window dressing.
“We lost every single battle there was,” saidWasps head coach Lee Blackett.
“There’s no hiding place. We were dominated in every area.” WASPS: Tries: Kibirige, T Willis. Cons: Gopperth (2). Pen: Sopoaga.
HARLEQUINS: Tries: Evans, Care, Dombrandt, Lynagh,
Lang, Penalty. Cons: Smith (4). Pens: Smith (3).