by Harlequins head coach Danny Wilson admitted his “relief” Danny Care was shown a red card after referee Karl Dickson controversially chose not to show the investigator a second yellow card.
James Ramm was pressured at the back as he reached the breakdown before blocking Alex Mitchell, stopping him from picking up the ball with a clear opportunity waiting, in the second half of his side’s 41-32 win over Northampton Saints at Twickenham.
The former England scout had already spent 10 minutes in the box during the first half for a tackle on Courtney Lawes, and Wilson admitted he was scared when it looked like Dickson – former Harlequins player – wants his. pocket after Care Ramm pushed and went off his feet at the rack.
Dickson and the TV match official then reviewed the incident several times before Dickson concluded that one penalty was significant and Quins immediately replaced Care, who left the field in what appeared to be laughed with relief.
“I thought the ball was out, I’m trying to get the ball,” Care said afterwards. “There was a bit of a fracas afterwards, maybe that helped me.”
TNT Sports pundit Lawrence Dallaglio was convinced that the act of foul play should have merited a second yellow card and a dismissal at the start of the final quarter when Quins were leading 26-20 could have had a major impact on the result.
“It was a stonewall yellow card,” Dallaglio said, with former Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll adding: “He (Dickson) went in his pocket and saw it was Danny Care.”
Wilson admitted that the Harlequins coaching staff were prepared for a red card when the incident occurred and that he was relieved by Dickson’s decision.
“Yes. If I’m honest,” Wilson said. “I’m not saying he deserved one. I’m just saying you know, you’re in the referee’s hands. It was an incident that could have gone in against Danny and us.
“We were immediately planning (that) if it was a yellow situation – the worst case scenario, what are we going to do to get Porter on and someone off. But thank God that was not the case and we continued.”
Phil Dowson, Northampton’s director of rugby, refused to be drawn on the incident.
“Karl has taken a good look at it, the TMO has taken a good look at it, time and time again,” Dowson said. “They took a lot of time to look at it and if they thought there wasn’t a second yellow, there wouldn’t be.”
Description: harlequins keep the hope of the game alive in Twickenham’s ragged try-fest
An entertaining contest that featured 10 tries and three yellow cards, with the win keeping Harlequins alive in their hopes of a Premier League finals place and putting the brakes on a seemingly free Northampton Saints side to make their way. title. But ultimately does anyone want to know what next weekend’s Champions Cup semi-final opponents, Toulouse and Leinster, did at all?
The conclusion is likely to be more damning for the Saints, whose previous opposition defense was too easily picked apart by a Harlequins side who got their four-try bonus point as early as the 46th minute.
Northampton’s lackluster attack also fell apart, failing to capitalize on three yellow cards for provincial players Danny Care, Louis Lynagh and Tyrone.
True, the contest could have reached a different conclusion if Care had received a second yellow in the second half for a rip on St James Ramm’s wing-back before the ball was killed, when referee Karl Dickson appeared at first he only reached his pocket. deem the incident not worthy of a penalty after review. Quins immediately replaced Care to make sure and his substitute Will Porter had an impact, scoring two late tries.
Overall the tournament felt too loose, and too error-prone to act as a testing ground to prepare for the respective trips to Toulouse and Dublin. But at least Quins produced a try-scoring template they believe will be vital to their hopes of causing an upset in France, with Alex Dombrandt delivering a powerhouse display that will not have gone unnoticed by England head coach Steve Borthwick.
“What you saw tonight was an intent to score a try,” Harlequins head coach Danny Wilson said. It’s no use trying to get three, six and nine points against a side like Toulouse and a side like Northampton.”
Northampton still had chances to win the game, but in the end a high number of handling errors and a lack of ruthlessness in their end were their undoing. Phil Dowson’s side are still on course to finish top of the league table, but he knows Leinster will not be having any sleepless nights this week.
“We have to be a lot better,” Dowson said. “We weren’t defensive enough and it didn’t feel or look like us, and we have to address why that was from a coaching point of view and make sure we are much better next week.
Harlequins made their intentions clear as early as the second minute and an attack flowed up the left before Marcus Smith executed a perfect cross for Luke Northmore to score the first of two tries.
Saints responded with substance, Ollie Sleightholme finishing off a counter-attack after George Furbank collected a chip at Care, and Fin Smith and Alex Mitchell moved the ball wide for Tom Litchfield to kick over the line.
When Fin Smith slotted a free kick to extend the lead to five points, there was little sign of the ordeal to come. Northmore’s second try put Harlequins back in front and although Fin Smith gave Northampton the lead with a second penalty after Lynagh was shown a yellow card for a deliberate pass, Harlequins finished the half six points ahead after a close range effort from Stephan. Lewis.
Saints saw Sam Graham’s try when Alex Mitchell was adjudged to have kicked the ball narrowly and summed up their frustration. When Cadan Murley scored from a pop pass from Marcus Smith, Quins should have taken control of the contest, but that was not to be the evening.
Ramm brought the Saints back within six points, before Litchfield’s second try briefly put the Saints back in front before Porter sealed the contest.
Data matching
Scoring sequence: 5-0, Northmore try; 5-5, Sleighthome try, 5-7, Smith con; 5-10 Smith pen; 10-10, Northmore try, 12-10, M Smith con; 12-13, Smith con; 17-13, Lewies try, 19-13, M Smith con; 24-13, Murley try, 26-13, M Smith con; 26-18, Ramm try, 26-20, Smith con; 26-25, Litchfield try, 26-27, Smith con; 31-27, Porter try; 36-27, Porter try; 38-27, Evans con; 38-33, Lawes try; 41-32, Evans pen;
Harlequins: T Green, L Lynagh, L Northmore, A Esterhuizen, C Murley (O Beard 66), M Smith (J Evans 72), D Care; F Baxter (J Marler 54), J Walker (S Riley 68), W Collier (S Kerrod 54), I Herbst, S Lewies (G Hammond 68), C Cunningham-South (W Trenholm 72), W Evans, A Dombrandt .
St Northampton: G Furbank, J Ramm, T Freeman, T Litchfield, O Sleightholme (F Dingwall 50); F Smith, A Mitchell, E Iyogun (T Haffar 62), S Matavesi (R Smith 62), T Davison (E Millar-Mills 62), T Mayanavanua (C Munga 62), T Lockett, C Lawes, L Ludlam (A Scott-Young 62), S Graham (J Augustus 50)
Referee: K Dickson (RFU)
Attendance: 58,592
