Quins win marred by spitting claim
This gritty victory by Harlequins that will ensure Paul Gustard’s side end the year in the top four of the Gallagher Premiership was marred by a spitting incident involving Dave Ward which could see the Quins hooker receive a lengthy ban from the game.
Television replays appeared to show Ward spit in the direction of Wasps flanker Thomas Young – just moments before he was shown a yellow card for deliberately standing on his ankle.
The act of spitting is regarded as a red-card offence, carrying a low-end entry sanction of four weeks, rising to 12 for a top-end offence, and Ward is expected to be cited for the incident within the next 24 hours.
This was a fractious affair, with replays also showing Ward appearing to neck-roll Young in a tackle, while Wasps wing Josh Bassett was lucky not to receive a card for a collision that upended Harlequins full-back Mike Brown.
Dai Young, the Wasps director of rugby, and father of flanker Thomas, said he had not been aware of the alleged spitting incident, but was clearly angry that his son’s ankle had been stepped on by Ward. “I can’t comment on the spitting because I wasn’t there,” said Young. “One or two people have mentioned it to me, so I’m not sure if it’s an incident or not.
“Obviously we’ve seen the stamp on the ankle and there’s no need for that rubbish in the game. It was rubbish because the game is hard enough without all that nonsense. It was plain to see him walk over and stamp on his ankle. What is the point in that? I’m sorry, but I just think that’s rubbish. It could have been a red card, but I don’t want to make too much of it, that’s for the officials to have a look at.
“The game is hard enough to go out and try to hurt people. I don’t think that’s needed in the game and I thought we’d gone past that.
“But it would be weak of me to point to that and say it should have been a red card and say that was the difference between the teams. That [tussle] is what you’re going to get when you play Quins – you know what you’ll get. They’ll be in your face with lots of barracking.”
Gustard said he had also been unaware of the spitting incident but was frustrated that more action was not taken over Brown’s fall.
“I didn’t see it [the Ward incident],” said Gustard. “The key word is might. We have not spoken to Dave about it yet. We will look at all the different vision throughout the week and see what happens.
“I was surprised that when Dave was speared on to his back it was not enacted on. When it went to a yellow card I thought it would be for Thomas Young, then a message came through that it was for Dave standing on someone’s hand, then it became an ankle. Mike Brown was taken out in the air, 82,000 people saw someone landing on the top of his shoulders. The person underneath [Bassett] has a duty of care when competing for the ball. It was irresponsible and could have been a nasty accident. Thankfully, Mike is OK, but for me that was a big moment.”
Wasps have now won just once in their past 13 games in all competitions and drop down to seventh place.
It had taken Harlequins less than a minute to score their first try and it came from their quick-thinking forwards, with Matt Symons taking a lineout ball before Alex Dombrandt swapped passes with Ward to score in the left-hand corner.
Lima Sopoaga missed a straightforward penalty from in front of the posts before Dombrandt was denied a second try in 10 minutes when Brown was adjudged to have knocked the ball forward as he attempted to collect a high ball in the build-up.
Wasps were in trouble, struggling for possession at a scrum in the face of Quins pressure, and yet the moment of madness by Ward threatened to spoil their dominance, when he was sent to the sin bin for standing on Young’s ankle.
Critically though, Wasps could not take advantage of their numerical advantage, with Marcus Smith able to extend Quins’ lead with a penalty during Ward’s absence. All the time Quins’ attacking ambitions grew, with a show-and-go by Smith, and an out-the-side-door pass by Francis Saili sending Brown into space, and if his kick ahead had not dribbled into touch, Joe Marchant would have had a clear run in for another try.
Young’s side did show moments of their own attacking prowess, with Michele Campagnaro making several breaks, but a lack of precision and composure restricted them to a long-range penalty by Elliot Daly.
It was cancelled out, however, when Daly threw a crazy pass to Sopoaga in the Wasps’ 22 and he was caught in possession by the Quins forwards, allowing Smith to add his second penalty for a 10-point lead at the interval.
Young was forced to turn to his bench to reinvigorate his side’s efforts and it had an almost instant impact, with replacement prop Will Stuart driving over from close range after a strong carry by Juan de Jongh.
It was a reward for a sustained period of pressure by Wasps, and tested Quins’ resolve, with just three points separating the sides going into the final quarter.
It prompted an impressive response by the home side, who took full advantage of two penalty concessions by Wasps, with Danny Care’s footballing nous creating a try for Marchant from a line-out after he ran across the gainline before placing a diagonal chip through for the centre to score.
Sopoaga responded with his penalty to bring Wasps within a converted score of snatching a draw, but Quins’ defence held firm.
‘The stamp was rubbish because the game is hard enough without all that nonsense’