XMAS STUFFING
Quins hammered as French serve up a seven-try feast
HARLEQUINS took the stay-at-home Tier 4 orders a little too seriously yesterday as they failed to turn up against Racing 92 and were thrashed at The Stoop.
At times it looked like last year’s European Cup runners-up from France were going to run up a score to surpass the number in their name, but as it was they settled for 49.
They scored seven tries, providing all the artistry in consigning Quins to their worst home defeat in the Champions Cup.
Finn Russell, and his backline including Teddy Thomas, Kurtley Beale and Henry Chavancy, hit the heights while Quins boss Paul Gustard could sense it would be a long day before kick-off.
‘We were off and quiet in the warm-up. There was no bounce, noise, talk or energy and we saw the consequences,’ he said. ‘It was a really poor performance.
‘There are a lot of upset people in the changing room. It’s not easy to lose heavily. They were very good and we were anything but.
‘Some people tried hard today — like Alex Dombrandt — but there was not one facet of the game where we performed. The players have to give us some answers. This competition is now shelved.’
It is usually at this time of year that Harlequins make their annual exit from Europe. After making such a play of qualifying for the top competition, they are often focusing solely on the league come the new year. And this season is no different.
Racing scored straight away when Thomas sauntered in through a glaringly porous defence from the first phase off a lineout and for 20 minutes the French took a point a minute. The next try came when Kevin Le Guen finished at the back of a rolling maul — Maxime Machenaud hitting both conversions and two penalties.
The home team were ragged and their game riddled with mistakes, then Nathan Earle was injured.
Racing’s only second-half mission was to score two more tries for the bonus point. Within 38 seconds of the restart they had try No 3 — Simon Zebo performing a one-two with Donovan Taofifenua to counter-attack after a limp Danny Care box-kick.
Machenaud missed the conversion after the Irishman’s 32nd European Cup score but it did not matter as Racing were soon back for No 4. Scott Steele — the scrum-half on for Care for barely 90 seconds — was sinbinned and Georges- Henri Colombe bashed over.
Machenaud missed that kick, too, but by this point it was 30-0 with still almost half an hour of pain left for Quins.
One of Russell’s many dinks over the Quins defence found Taofifenua — lobbing the hapless Chris Ashton — for Racing’s fifth.
Steele returned and soon scored down the left with Marcus Smith converting, but Racing were not about to stop. Teddy Baubigny got the sixth and Francois TrinhDuc converted before scoring and converting a try himself. In the last play, Quins thought they had scored a second try through Dombrandt but it was chalked off as Ashton and prop Fin Baxter illegally blocked Thomas well after he kicked clear.
It summed up their day — scrappy, off the pace and embarrassed on their own turf.