EARL LORDS IT OVER QUINS WITH HAT-TRICK REVENGE
Saracens 34 Harlequins 17 BY ALEX SPINK
BEN EARL gained sweet revenge on Harlequins to dethrone the English champions and send Saracens back to the Premiership final.
A year after being on the wrong end of Quins’ miracle semi-final win, whilst on loan at Bristol, Earl (left) got his own
back with a brilliant hat-trick. In a fierce London
derby, which saw four players sin-binned, Earl kept his head and the newly crowned Premiership player of the year said: “This means everything to me, especially after what I went through last year.
“These guys gave me sleepless nights for four months. It’s just nice to get one over them.”
Quins raced out of the traps as England No.8 Alex Dombrandt finished off a drive from a lineout and then Danny Care added a beauty, latching onto a Marcus Smith inside pass.
But Earl evaded three tackles in next to no space to dot down after Maro Itoje and the Vunipola boys had hammered at the door.
Quins’ Jack Walker was sin-binned for head-to-head contact with Owen Farrell and the home side capitalised.
Itoje powered to the line and then Farrell popped the ball out of the tackle for Nick Tompkins to score.
Then, after Dombrandt has spilled the second-half kick-off, Sarries worked the ball to Earl for the flanker to bag his second.
Aled Davies added a fourth from Vincent Koch’s eye-catching assist but Quins fought hard and Sarries had Elliot Daly, Billy Vunipola and Alex Lozowski binned in the space of 15 minutes for dangerous hits.
Cadan Murley pulled a try back before Earl, with his third, put the game to bed.
“We said all week that Quins are never going to go away,” admitted Earl. “And trust me, I’ve learned that the hard way.”
SARACENS: Tries: Earl (3), Tompkins, Davies. Pens: Farrell. Cons: Farrell (3). HARLEQUINS: Tries: Dombrandt, Care, Murley. Con: Smith.