Myke admits Maids were left ‘shellshocked’ by Quins
There's no doubting Oxford Harlequins deserved their 46-29 victory over Maids on Saturday, but this was one of those rare occasions in sport where both sides came away from the game with some credit.
Harlequins for the way they overran Maids in the first half, smashing them up in both defence and attack to leave the league leaders looking a little bewildered and dazed as they attempted to find a way back into the contest.
However, once the shellshock had worn off, and after getting into the sanctity of the dressing room at half-time, Maids played some of their best rugby of the season - and they managed it with only 14 players after Antonio Kiri Kiri was sent off in the first moments of the second half.
In total Maids played 50 minutes of this game with only 14 players after Kiri Kiri was penalised for a late challenge in the first half, and then saw red for a dangerous high tackle in the second.
Director of rugby, Myke Parrott felt both decisions were harsh on Kiri Kiri, but he was also delighted by the character and courage shown by his players in the second half as they fought back. Despite the loss he was also far from disheartened by Maids' display and believes they might well have won the game had they managed to keep their full complement of players on the pitch.
“I think they’re a physical side, way more physical and direct than any other side we’ve played this year,” said Parrott.
“We’ve got such a young and exciting squad, but they haven’t experienced that yet this year, that intensity and it took the wind out of our sails.
“They’re a good side and I’m not going to take any credit away from them. They’re a good side and they played well. We’ve not become a bad side overnight; we won the second half, and we played some lovely rugby. We showed what we’re about in that second half. Last season we’d have probably folded, but with 14 men we played some lovely rugby, playing the kind of rugby we should have played in the first half, but we didn’t and maybe there was a bit of that shellshock. But that’s how we learn and improve.
“It’s a really disappointing result and first half performance, but we’re in this for the long haul, this is a journey.”
Despite playing for 50 plus minutes with only 14 players, Parrott refused to use this as an excuse for Maids' defeat and pointed to the fact that Harlequins were well on top in the first half.
“I’m not going to make excuses for that, it would be remiss of me to do so,” he added. “I was just proud of the boys. I don’t care where you’re from or where you’ve played before. If you’re wearing a Maidenhead shirt, you never give up and we saw that today. This could be a good turning point for us.
“Our feeling with Kiri Kiri is that it wasn’t a red card, that it wasn’t a high shot, and he felt the same as well,” said Parrott. “He didn’t make any contact with his head, he hit him in the body and wrapped his arms and the referee deemed that he’d hit his head. If he had hit his head, why was he allowed to carry on playing.
“We feel it wasn’t even a penalty, but we might have that wrong and we’ll watch it back on the video.
“The referee didn’t give the first one initially, but then he saw their players’ reaction and their protest and gave it afterwards. But we’re not making excuses, the referee doesn’t have any TMOs at this level and he’s not going to see anything again. Generally, I thought he was quite good.”