Score a fair reflection of the game – Johann
BATH head of rugby Johann van Graan admitted Harlequins were the better team across the whole 80 minutes after a remarkable contest in south west London.
The Blue, Black & Whites came up just short, losing 40-36 at the Twickenham Stoop, but rallying from 40-3 down after 50 minutes following a brace of tries from Andre Esterhuizen, and scores from Marcus Smith, Louis Lynagh, Alex Dombrandt and Will Evans put the hosts in a commanding position. Bath got to within four points of Quins as Will Muir, Alfie Barbeary, Louis Schreuder, Ruaridh McConnochie and Elliott Stooke all crossed, but they could not find one more to pull off what would have been an amazing win.
Schreuder’s try was scored while Harlequins lock Irne Herbst was in the sin-bin having been shown a yellow card after 63 minutes and 52 seconds. Louis Lynagh was then handed a yellow card in the 70th minute, handing the away side a 15 to 13 advantage, but Herbst appeared to return from his tenminute suspension three minutes early – with television pictures showing him coming back after 70 minutes and 51 seconds.
Van Graan reflected said: “I flagged it with the referee after the game. There’s not a lot that he can do, on the pitch he wasn’t even aware of it. We went through our team manager and we made the fourth official aware. On a yellow card, you’re supposed to be off for ten minutes, not seven.”
On the overall picture, Van Graan added: “We came here to win, so we’re disappointed we didn’t win, but I’ll take the two points and it shows that we’re tough to beat.
“A game of rugby is never done
until that final whistle goes. On the whole, congrats to Quins, they were better than us across the 80 minutes. It was small margins, we needed one more opportunity to get that win, but I think the score is a fair reflection of the game.”
The RFU has apologised for the sin-bin error but the result stands.
Harlequins: T Green; Lynagh, Beard, Esterhuizen, Murley; Smith, Care; Baxter, Walker, Lewis, Launchbury, Hammond, Lewies, Evans, Dombrandt. Replacements: Anyanwu for Esterhuizen (71), Anderson for Murley (68), Marler for Baxter (59), Riley for Walker (51), Herbst for Launchbury (56), Collier for Lewies (49), Trenholm for Evans (49). Not Used: M Green.
Sin Bin: Herbst (63).
Scorers – Tries: Esterhuizen 2, Smith, Lynagh, Dombrandt, Evans. Cons: Smith 5.
Bath: Gallagher; McConnochie, Lawrence, Ojomoh, Muir; Russell, Spencer; Obano, Dunn, Du Toit, Du Plessis, Ewels, Hill, Reid, Coetzee. Replacements: Bailey for Ojomoh (65), Schreuder for Spencer (59), Schoeman for Obano (53), Annett for Dunn (53), Stuart for Du Toit (53), Stooke for Ewels (53), Barbeary for Coetzee (46). Not Used: Bayliss.
Scorers – Tries: Muir, Barbeary, Schreuder, McConnochie, Stooke. Cons: Russell 4. Pens: Russell. Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe (RFU).