No changing Matson’s mind as Quins stop the rot in style
NORTHAMPTON spent most of yesterday afternoon at Twickenham Stoop dropping the ball. By the time they’d finally remembered how to string consecutive phases together and eradicated their attacking mistakes, it was too little, too late. Harlequins head coach Tabai Matson reinforced his side’s commitment to an entertaining style ahead of this game, but it didn’t matter how they played as the Saints gave them more than a helping hand.
The visitors made 11 handling errors in the first half alone and butchered at least four prime try-scoring opportunities. It took until the final quarter for them to click into gear. When they did, Phil Dowson’s side came roaring back to score through Tommy Freeman, George Furbank and Tom James. Northampton pushed hard for a winning score at the death. But unlike last Sunday at Exeter, Harlequins held on.
‘It’s a brutal industry and winning or losing does have an impact on you as a head coach,’ said Matson. ‘Whether I’m here or not, this club is convinced exciting rugby can be successful. At times you wonder why you are in this industry.’ Northampton director of rugby Dowson said: ‘We let them off the hook. We have to be better at turning pressure into points. ‘We gave ourselves a mountain to climb. Offloading is a big part of our game but when to throw them is key.’
For all Saints’ what-if moments, it was Harlequins who deserved to win this nine-try thriller. ‘We are the capital’s entertainers,’ screamed the stadium announcer before kick-off and his team soon got to work as Jack Musk and Lennox Anyanwu scored two tries in as many minutes. Consecutive Premiership defeats by Saracens and Exeter had given Matson’s men pause for thought over their expansive game plan, but their head coach and star man Marcus Smith are not for turning. Harlequins went to the break 21-10 up after Luke Northmore grabbed their third. Northampton’s mistakes were constant. Fraser Dingwall was dispossessed for Anyanwu’s try, Alex Mitchell dawdled and was tackled, Emmanuel Iyogun spilled possession and Rory Hutchinson was bundled into touch. Captain Lewis Ludlam did score, but Northampton’s misery was summed up by the usually perfect Dan Biggar dropping the simplest of passes before the break.
After Musk’s driven-over second, Freeman kept things interesting with his eighth successive Premiership try, equalling Mark Cueto’s record. But Saints’ Alex Coles spilled the ball almost on the try-line and Ludlam had a score ruled out for double movement. Cadan Murley’s acrobatic finish for Quins’ fifth meant Saints’ late riposte was irrelevant.