Harlequins hammer Timisoara Saracens in Chellenge Cup
MAT Luamanu’s late sending off removed the gloss from a solid afternoon’s work for Harlequins, whose 11try drubbing of Romanian minnows Timisoara featured a hat-trick from Jamie Roberts and try-doubles from Marland Yarde and star man Mike Brown.
Back row forward Luamanu, on his first appearance since serving a five-game ban for a dangerous tackle on Exeter’s Will Hooley in November, was dismissed following a clash of heads with winger Madalin Lemnaru – a decision that incensed Harlequins boss John Kingston. Kingston told The Rugby
Paper: “The collision was really low to the ground and while I understand the importance of protecting people, on what I’ve seen it was a head clash that was not deliberate and Mat’s had to go for an HIA test himself.
“Referees are getting directives but what worries me is it’s all becoming outcome orientated. Mat’s devastated and whether he’s vindicated or not, it’s pretty soul-destroying for him to come back and have something like this happen again.”
Timisoara endured the worst possible start when flanker Randall Morrison’s high shot on Yarde gave referee Thomas Charabas no option but to brandish his red card, before Harlequins went ahead when Luke Wallace collected Ruaridh Jackson’s offload.
Roberts sent in Visser for a simple second try and Brown, enjoying a highly influential opening quarter, joined the line to present Roberts with try No.3.
Harlequins bagged the try-bonus on 28 minutes when Jackson kicked to the corner, George Merrick collected the lineout and Roberts stormed over from Danny Care’s pass.
Kyle Sinckler’s thrilling 50-metre break brought the Stoop faithful to their feet, then Yarde made good ground before Jackson jinked through to lay on a try for Brown.
Brown set sail again as Harlequins maintained their tempo and Joe Marler sent Yarde hurtling through. Stephen Shennan bundled the England wing into touch and the shorthanded Romanians did well to halt further raids from Brown and Yarde before half-time.
Harlequins led 35-0 but suffered a blow soon after the restart when Jackson hobbled off.
Undaunted, the home pack put the shove on at scrum-time, forcing a penalty from which replacement fly-half Tim Swiel found the corner. Charlie Matthews took the lineout this time before the busy Yarde twice charged forward and battered his
way over. Eugen Capatana did well to disrupt a lineout as Harlequins’ forwards rampaged again, but Yarde’s crunching tackle on Marius Simionescu put the home side back on attack and, after Timisoara had conceded their 12th penalty, Jack Clifford crashed over.
Timisoara gained some reward when Gabriel Conache slotted a penalty. Their joy was short-lived, though, as Brown combined brilliantly with Karl Dickson before the scrumhalf sent Roberts under the sticks to complete his superbly taken treble.
Sinckler, whose bullocking runs were punching huge holes in the Romanian rearguard, sent Yarde roaring down the right for his second try, before Brown was on hand to grab his own try-double after fine interplay between Dickson, Visser and Wallace.
To their credit Timisoara responded with a period of intense lineout pressure before an afternoon that had gone so well for Harlequins turned sour when Luamanu saw red, but Swiel rounded rounded things off with try No.11 at the death.
Hat-trick hero Roberts said: “I got on the end of some line-breaks and it’s my first hat-trick for the club so I’m pleased with that. It was a good performance and we’ve got ten points over the last two weeks, which is exactly what we wanted.
“All eyes are on the Premiership and Big Game 9 at Twickenham now.
“If we can beat Gloucester and then win away at Worcester on New Year’s Day, we can close the gap on the top four and put ourselves right in the mix for the play-offs.”