HARLEQUINS underlined their desire for a swift
return to English rugby's top tier with a blistering display against the Cornish
Pirates at The Stoop yesterday.
The former Premiership side -
headed by international stars Andre Vos, Will Greenwood and Andrew Mehrtens -
ran in five converted tries in a devastating second-half display to not only maintain
their unbeaten run, but extend their lead at the top of National League One to
seven points.
All Blacks legend Mehrtens spearheaded their assault
with a 23-point haul, which included four conversions and five penalties, while
all the visitors could muster in reply were two penalties from opposite number
Tom Barlow.
It was impressive stuff from the mighty Quins, who made
the most of Heino Senekal's sin-binning just before the hour-mark to establish
the buffer they needed to kick-on.
For the Pirates it will be back
to the drawing board this week as they prepare for this Saturday's Powergen Trophy
trip to near neighbours Plymouth Albion, who 24 hours earlier had done the Cornish
club a massive favour by defeating previously unbeaten Bedford at the Brickfields.
Ahead of the game the Pirates sprung a surprise when they fielded
centre Wade Kelly for only his second start of the season. The Australian has
spent much of this current campaign struggling with a shoulder injury, but he
was brought in for Jon Pritchard in the solitary change to the line-up that defeated
Otley last time out.
However, it didn't take Mehrtens long to get
himself into the game. The Kiwi failed with a second-minute penalty, but atoned
two minutes later when he fired the home side in front when the Pirates were penalised
for going offside.
The Quins lead was to prove short-lived as their
visitors from the far West struck back immediately with a penalty of their own
from Tom Barlow. It certainly lifted the large contingent of Pirates supporters,
who congregated in all four stands of the impressive new-look Stoop, which was
boasting not only its largest-ever crowd (10,843), but also the biggest-ever crowd
in National League One history.
Two more penalties from Mehrtens
extended the home side's grip on proceedings, but despite bossing the majority
of possession, they were unable to find their way through a resolute Pirates rearguard.
Barlow's second successful punt of the afternoon - given after lock
Simon Miall had been penalised for handling on the floor - ensured the Pirates
stayed in touching distance. However, straight from the resultant kick-off Duncan
Roke was adjudged to have held on in the tackle - one of a number of harsh decisions
awarded by referee Tim Wrigglesworth against the Pirates - and up stepped the
deadly Mehrtens to restore the six-point buffer.
Quins' cause was
not helped however when they lost Mel Deane to a neck injury - the home centre
feeling the full force of a Pirates tackle, which resulted in him departing via
a stretcher.
Another Mehrtens penalty three minutes after the break
stretched the home side's lead to 15-6, only for Barlow to see a shot of his own
cannon back off the right upright.
The decisive moment in the game
followed just after when Namibian international Senekal was yellow-carded with
minutes of his arrival for killing the ball. With the man advantage, Quins didn't
look back powering over for their opening try from flanker Luke Sherriff.
Mehrtens converted before adding the extras to tries from Nick Easter and
Tom Williams as the home side exerted their superior class to make it 36-6.
The Pirates were certainly not getting the rub of the green from the match
officials and it was from a blatant knock-on by the home side that winger Ugo
Monye claimed the all-important fourth try with a sublime chip-and-chase kick
over the top.
The impressive Mehrtens bagged the conversion before
exiting to a standing ovation - and it was his replacement Adrian Jarvis who made
the break for Greenwood to dive over in stoppage time, the former's conversion
wrapping the game up.
Afterwards Pirates coach Jim McKay said: "Obviously
we are very disappointed, but full credit to Harlequins and the way they played.
On the day we were beaten by the better side, but I think the end scoreline was
a little harsh on us.
"They deserved their victory, but we didn't
get enough ball. At the end of the day, if you don't have the ball you aren't
going to score tries. Our scrum went very well, but our line-out didn't function
and they took advantage of that."
McKay admitted the sin-binning
of Senekal did prove crucial, adding: "They scored two tries while he was off
and from then we were always playing catch-up. That said, at half-time we felt
we could win the game. We were still very much in the game, but like I said, we
just didn't get enough ball to cause them any problems."
McKay knows
he has to lift his side for this weekend's tough trip to Albion, but he is confident
his side can bounce back. He added: "We need to show good character after this.
We have worked very hard for what we've achieved this season. We've won eight
out of ten games, but we'll take everything a week at a time."
Harlequins
50
Tries - Sherriff, Easter, Williams, Monye, Greenwood; Conversions
- Mehrtens 4, Jarvis; Penalties - Mehrtens 5
Cornish Pirates 6
Penalties - Barlow 2
Harlequins: G Duffy; S Keogh, W Greenwood,
M Deane (T Williams 36), U Monye; A Mehrtens (A Jarvis 76), S So'oailo (I Vass
63); C Jones, T Fuga (J Richards 75), R Nebbett (L Ward 63); J Evans (K Burke
74), S Miall; A Vos (capt), L Sherriff (T Guest 72), N Easter.
Pirates:
W Davies; R Welding, D Roke, W Kelly, K James; T Barlow, G Cattle; A Paver, N
Makin (P Ince 57), N Adams (D Seal 69); W James, J Beardshaw (H Senekal 55); J
Bearman (capt),
I Motusaga, T Cowley. Replacements (not used): S
Hockings, R McAtee, L Jarvis, J Pritchard.
Yellow Card: Senekal
Referee: T Wigglesworth (RFU)
Attendance: 10,843.
