Oct 06 Harlequins v Sale

Winning Ugly

It’s been a while since I last played competitive rugby, but I do remember the cardinal rule that our coach tried to ram into our heads – you can never win a rugby match by playing on the back foot. I’ve always believed this but, I think you’ll find sir, you were wrong. You should’ve been at The Stoop at the weekend.

The hallmark of a top team in any sport is the ability to win matches and get results when playing badly, wining ‘ugly’ as some prefer to call it. It’s not particularly good to watch but, let’s face it, a win’s a win after all. The consensus of opinion amongst the travelling fans on Saturday was that our performance could best be described as ‘disappointing’ and ‘lacklustre’. The feeling amongst the Harlequins fans was that it was their best performance of the season so far. Two very different and opposing views, yet both were correct. A good friend of mine, and a Quins fan to boot, told me that any side shorn of the likes of quality players like Sheridan, Bruno, Schofield, Lund, Hodgson and Robinson would struggle, particularly against what was pretty much a full strength Harlequins side. He felt that with a squad full of international quality players we would undoubtedly be challenging for honours come the end of the season. Of course, I had to agree with him on that point. I could’ve drawn his attention to the fact that if his ‘strong’ team struggled to beat our ‘second string’ then there were likely to be dark days ahead come the end of the season. However, I was my usual polite and diplomatic self, besides which, he’d agreed to put me up for the night!

There are more than enough people out there who will dwell on the negative aspects of the game. Personally, I’d rather look at the positives. Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe delivered another blistering performance on the flank after replacing the unfortunate David Tait, who left the field with an ankle injury. It was yet another man of the match performance and he is sure to figure highly at the end of season awards for best newcomer. I was also very impressed with the way the younger players took their opportunities: Sean Cox, David Tait, Neil Briggs, Ben Foden and Mike Hills all acquitted themselves admirably. It’s to be hoped that the injuries sustained by Daniel Larrachea and David Tait won’t keep them out of the game too long as they are both valuable members of the squad.

I also had the pleasure of bumping into John Carter at the match; a great guy, friendly, approachable and a real gentleman. He was fresh back from his shoulder reconstruction surgery in America. He told me it was a complicated operation and that he is likely to be out for at least another four to five months. He is, however, very optimistic about his rugby future with Sale Sharks. He’d looked very sharp and fit in the pre-season games and must find his current situation extremely frustrating. Hopefully we’ll see him in the colours before the end of the season.