CRASH LANDING
England old boys dent Saints’ play-off hopes
HARLEQUINS’ old guard looked forever young as they schooled the Northampton nippers to leave Saints’ play-off hopes in tatters.
With Quins picking their first team and Northampton largely trusting their exciting kids, this pitched England’s old versus new in front of Eddie Jones.
And it was long- discarded 30- somethings Mike Brown and Danny Care who dominated the up-and- comers George Furbank and Alex Mitchell.
By the time Quins had their bonus point — after tries from Nathan Earle, Scott Baldwin, Chris Robshaw and Chris Ashton — Saints’ youngsters looked like rabbits in the headlights.
‘The spine of the team played very well,’ said Harlequins boss
Paul Gustard. ‘This next block of three games is critical if we want to make the top four.’
Gustard also told Ashton to continue doing his ‘Ash Splash’ after the England wing celebrated his second try for the club with his signature swan dive.
‘He can score and dive and do whatever he wants to do because he can score points,’ he said.
Northampton were fourth when the league resumed but look out of the play-off race now with two wins in their last nine. They look a team for the future, but not now.
‘There’s not a lot of experience in that side,’ said Saints boss Chris Boyd. ‘It’s a painful road and a painful lesson, but hopefully they’ll grow. Top four is still alive but it’s a hell of a big mountain now. One more loss will be terminal I think.’
From a lineout five minutes in Mitchell fizzed a pass to New Zealander Matt Proctor who walked through two in the home defence before feeding Rory Hutchinson to run it in.
This was now the 77th Premiership match in a row that Quins had conceded a try — a record. After Marcus Smith knocked over a penalty, Brown’s sublime onetwo with Alex Dombrandt and fine pass out left to Earle saw Quins take the lead.
James Grayson flicked a pass to Nathan Olowofela on the blind side for Saints’ next try, but Quins came straight back.
From a rolling maul Scott Baldwin bashed over and a Smith penalty gave Quins a four-point lead at the half.
After the break Smith jinked through and a couple of phases later Ashton zipped a pass to Robshaw to score on the left wing.
Then Brown dummied a clearance kick in his 22, raced through and offloaded to Dombrandt, who fed Ashton to provide his 88th Premiership score and round off a comfortable win.