Earl the Avenger KO’S Quins
HAT-TRICK HELPS HERO BURY LAST YEAR’S HEARTACHE
Saracens 34 Harlequins 17
BEN EARL gained sweet revenge on Harlequins to dethrone the English champions and send Saracens back to the Premiership final.
A year after being on the wrong end of Quins’ miracle semi-final win, while on loan at Bristol, Earl got his own back with a brilliant try hat-trick.
In a fierce London derby, which saw four players sin-binned, Earl kept his head to book his club a Twickenham date on Saturday against Leicester Tigers.
The newly-crowned Premiership player of the year, said: “This means everything to me, especially after what I went through last year.
Sleepless
“These guys gave me sleepless nights for four months over the summer. It’s just nice to get one over them.”
On the eve of battle Earl (celebrating a try, right) admitted he had still to get over Quins’ astonishing comeback from 28-0 down at Ashton Gate.
So he took particular satisfaction in time being on the team that came from behind to triumph in the north London sunshine.
Saracens had to work hard to reach an eighth final in 13 years, as Quins raced out of the traps and scored twice in the opening quarter.
The first came from a lineout taken by captain Stephan Lewies which England No.8 Alex Dombrandt finished off with a little help from his friends.
Danny Care then added a
beauty, latching onto a Marcus Smith inside pass after the fly-half had unlocked the defence as only he can.
If 12-3 was cause for mild concern, Sarries didn’t let on, responding with a peach themselves.
Earl evaded three tackles in next to no space to dot down after
Maro Itoje and the Vunipola boys had hammered at the door.
Quins came again, Joe Marchant appearing to bag their third from a turnover, but on closer inspection referee Luke Pearce ruled a pass had gone forward.
Bleeding
It was a key moment, made even more so by the officials noticing Jack Walker’s head-to-head contact with Owen Farrell which left the England skipper bleeding and Quins down to 14 men. Within minutes what could have been a 19-8 Quins lead swung to 22-12 in favour of the home side, capitalising ruththis lessly on the extra man. First, Itoje powered to the line and Farrell popped the ball out of the tackle, just about backwards, for Nick Tompkins to score.
Then, after Dombrandt has spilled the second-half kick-off, Sarries worked the ball to Earl for the flanker to bag his second.
It should have been plain sailing from there, especially when Aled Davies added a fourth from Vincent Koch’s eye-catching assist.
But as Quins fought tooth and nail to get back in the contest Sarries had Elliot Daly, Billy Vunipola and Alex Lozowski binned in the space of 15 minutes for dangerous hits.
Cadan Murley pulled a try back before Earl, with his third, put the game to bed to leave the experienced Joe Marler (above) and his Harlequins team-mates downcast.
“We said all week that Quins are never going to go away,” admitted Earl. “And trust me, I’ve learned that the hard way.
“So we’re really happy to get it done.” SARACENS: Tries: Earl 3, Tompkins, Davies; Pens: Farrell; Cons: Farrell 3
HARLEQUINS: Tries: Dombrandt, Care Murley; Con: Smith