Ward wants stronger backbone in defence with Test spine returned to lineup
MISFIRING Harlequins must shore-up a leaky defence or face ruin against “ruthless” Saracens, according to hooker Dave Ward.
The Stoop outfit have conceded 33 tries and a whopping 268 points in nine games, with only rock bottom London Irish (37/282) shipping more. Saracens, meanwhile, were the league’s leading try-scorers before this weekend with 34 five-pointers.
After heavy four-try defeats in their last two outings at Exeter and Bath, Ward said: “Our personnel may change week to week but you’ve got to make your tackles and I was guilty last weekend of missing one on Zach Mercer.
“Bath were 7-0 up after three minutes, which is not the start you want, so we need to get our energy levels up and trust our systems. We can’t just be known as an offensive side because Saracens are one of the most ruthless attacking sides around.
“Against Northampton earlier they had seven visits to the 22 and scored six tries, so if we’re not on our mettle they’ll be all over us.”
Both teams welcome back their big guns after England duty, but Harlequins are arguably more reliant on their Red Rose quartet of Joe Marler, Chris Robshaw, Danny Care and Mike Brown, all of whom are immediately