Blues Euro clash to forget

Nov 19 2007 by Simon Thomas, Western Mail

Harlequins 13-13 Blues

AS Dai Young quite accurately points out, it’s now seven out of 10 for the Blues in Europe this season.

But that certainly wouldn’t be the rating for this wretched match, which has to go down as one of the poorest in Heineken Cup history.

This might not be one of the official groups of death, but for 80-plus minutes on Saturday it certainly felt like it.

Young himself admitted it was a game that probably had TV viewers switching channels and you’d be hard pressed to give it more than two out of 10, such was the shoddy, error-strewn fare on offer.

It only gets those marks because it had a nail-biting finish and even that was appropriately sub-standard.

With Quins No 10 Chris Malone waiting in the pocket to win the game with a drop goal in the last play, his half-back partner Andy Gomarsall inexplicably chose to ignore him and make a break instead, only to run into his own man.

It was a fittingly ham-fisted finale to a game that got the result it merited, because this was a match that didn’t deserve to have a winner.

Yet it’s a result that could prove invaluable for the Blues, with the two points for the draw – on top of the five gained against Bristol – keeping them very much in the hunt for a place in the knockout stages.

They now look the Welsh team with the best chance of reaching the quarter-finals after an otherwise barren weekend for our regions.

Three wins from their remaining four group games would give them a minimum of 19 points and a couple of bonuses along the way would almost certainly book them a spot in the last eight.

So, while it was a match to forget, it might prove a result to remember for the Blues, especially with Stade Francais’ shock defeat at Bristol yesterday.

As they reflect further on the draw this week, it will look better and better, particularly considering the nature of the contest.

For one thing, they could very easily have lost had Malone been handed the chance to have a drop at goal six minutes into injury time. And, in terms of possession and territory, this was a game Young’s men really shouldn’t have got anything out of.

They didn’t get out of their own half for the first 21 minutes and they only made sporadic visits into enemy territory after that.

This was largely due to their desperate problems at the line-out, where they just couldn’t secure their own ball, with Harlequins stealing possession no fewer than six times. Add to that a couple of not straight throws and you have a recipe for disaster which the Blues were fortunate to survive.

It was an unhappy afternoon for Wales squad hooker Rhys Thomas, who endured a torrid time as he attempted to hit his under-pressure targets, struggling in particular when he tried to throw long to the tail.

Twice in the second quarter the visitors had excellent attacking positions after kicking penalties to touch, but both times Thomas was picked off.

His replacement Gareth Williams didn’t fare much better, with his first effort almost landing in the hands of scrum-half Jason Spice it was so off-line.

The Arms Park outfit also had their problems at defensive line-outs, with the try they conceded coming from that area as a gaping hole opened up for Nick Easter to pour through.

In fairness to the Blues, their line-out has generally been a strength of late and Young admitted the Quins had been the best team they had met this season in terms of contesting in that department.

But the English club failed to capitalise on their stream of possession and their Heineken hopes are already hanging by a thread.

The same certainly can’t be said of the table-topping Blues, who now have it all to play for with back-to-back games against Stade coming up in December.

They will have to step up several gears to get the better of the French aristocrats, who will have their Argentinian World Cup stars Juan Martin Hernandez, Ignacio Corleto and Rodrigo Roncero back on board by then.

As the ever dry-witted Young quipped, “That’s something to look forward to, isn’t it?”

But the Blues should be reinforced too, with Nicky Robinson, Nick Macleod and Richie Rees returning to strengthen the depleted half-back resources.

Things were so stretched on Saturday that flanker Martyn Williams was providing scrum-half cover with Rees crocked. To his great relief, he wasn’t called upon to switch positions, with Jason Spice not only seeing out the contest but also claiming the Blues’ try.

So Williams was able to concentrate on his openside duties and did his usual outstanding job, scrabbling on the deck for every scrap of possession to make up for the lack of line-out ball.

He also got through a huge amount of work in defence and showed off his footballing skills on the rare occasions when the visitors were able to open up.

It was a performance that once again justified Young’s decision to start with the 32-year-old ahead of Wales squad member Robin Sowden-Taylor – at least from a Blues perspective.

From a wider viewpoint, surely one of Warren Gatland’s first tasks on taking up his new job will be to get on the phone to Williams and try and lure him out of international retirement.

But he’ll have a job on his hands. I understand caretaker coach Nigel Davies attempted to persuade Williams to play against South Africa next Saturday, but to no avail. Wales’ loss is certainly the Blues’ gain in every sense.

There were few other players to shine at The Stoop, but mention must be made of Tongan prop Tau Filise, who carried strongly and constantly harried the opposition.

For the Quins, full-back Mike Brown, who went on England’s summer tour of South Africa, caught the eye, with his ability to collect his own up and unders particularly impressive.

The bloodied Easter carried on from where he left off at the World Cup with a muscular outing, capping his display with the first-half injury-time try that gave the Quins a 10-3 interval lead.

At that point, you wondered if the Blues would have the stomach for the fight given their dreadful away record in Europe, which had seen them win just two of their previous 20 Heineken matches on the road.

But, to their credit, they came out with the right attitude after the break and first cut the deficit with a Ben Blair penalty and then went in front on 62 minutes.

Ugo Monye failed to find touch after marking under his posts, Tom James ran the ball back, beating a man, and then fed Spice, who also shook off a would-be tackler to cross.

Quins levelled the scores almost immediately through the boot of Malone and for the remaining 20 minutes it was a case of did anyone have what it takes to win the game? The answer was no.

Dai Flanagan and Malone were both wide with drop goal attempts and then it was the turn of both sides to blow injury-time opportunities.

For the Blues it was another line-out calamity that cost them after they had kicked a penalty to touch as replacement lock Rob Sidoli actually caught the ball only to lose it as he came to ground.

There was just time for one more blunder as Gomarsall’s last-gasp error ensured the shares would be spoiled on a day when, by rights, both teams should have lost.