A cold and miserable night greeted the most highly
anticipated match of the weekend. The tears of frustration poured nearly as
heavily as the raindrops in South West London, as such a hotly tipped game was set
to be ruined by the good old British weather. However we shouldn’t have been so
pessimistic, as the Saints and Quins players had other ideas and provided us
with a match that was better than the conditions.
The second surprise of the night was that Stephen Myler proved to be the more accurate of the two 10s... often billed as an 'iffy kicker', he put on a strong display landing some extremely difficult kicks. Nick Evans' radar was slightly off and in fact it was Ben Botica who steadied the Quins ship in the second half.
However the focus wasn't on the battle of the 10s... as we all know there were some other huge individual battles
going on... so let's take look at how they panned out;
The Battle Up Front: Alex Corbisiero vs. Joe Marler – With standing water, sheeting rain and the new scrum laws to contest with, it
wasn’t an easy night for these two. Both equipped themselves well, muscling up
and driving their teams from the front however in my book it was Corbisiero who
came off best. Corbs looked as sharp and on point as he was in Australia and not
even a significant bang on the head could keep him down as he showed just why
Stuart Lancaster & Warren Gatland have such faith in him. Let’s be
clear here, Joe Marler did not have a bad game, he played well and he is still a
top Premiership forward, however just not quite as good as Corbs… in my book
anyway. Result: Alex Corbisiero - Winner
 |
| Corbs won the battle up front in dismal conditions |
The
Captain’s Battle: Chris Robshaw vs. Tom Wood – What
a match up this was and this one I think did live up to its expectations. We saw 2 huge
men, with outrageous work rates, at the top of their games, fighting it out for the England Captain’s armband…
happy Friday night rugby lovers! Personally I couldn’t see much between them and I wouldn’t like to
be Stuart Lancaster with this decision to make as both men would lead England
well. Let’s hope the coming few weeks will provide Stuart with a little more clarity. Result: Draw – Nothing between them!
The
Battle at the Back: Ben Foden vs. Mike
Brown – Another England battle and
another headache for Stuart Lancaster! Both lived up to their pre-match
billing and both provided a solid platform for their team to work off in hugely
difficult conditions. The only major difference was the way in which they went
about this – Fodes, the cheeky chappy, always professional but doesn’t mind to
have a smile or two on the pitch. Whereas Brown or
Asbo as many Quins fans know him as, was as
steeling and angry as ever – I believe it is what you call ‘ultra-competitive’.
Result: Draw - Pick your personal favourite,
there’s not much between them.
The
Most Exciting Battle: George North vs. Everyone – A quiet night for our Lions
darling, no Folau moment and no huge breaks. He said
himself this morning ‘last night was not a winger’s game’ and he was right.
Still like every great player his sheer presence on the pitch put 'the fear' into
every member of the opposition and on a drier night and I would have been penning
a very different write up this morning. Result – A Quiet Night for North... the winner, sadly everyone, but watch
this space!
So the final score Harlequins 6 Northampton Saints
13 – all in all a fair reflection of the night. Harlequins will be slightly disappointed and Saints will be satisfied. A lot can change in the 112 days until these two meet again however I'm pretty sure that one thing is for certain - the match will be just as intense as last night, although hopefully slightly less wet!
