Now I know that normally this is a very Welsh blog, but for today at least, there is going to be a slight change. I was fortunate enough to receive tickets to go and watch London Saracens play Harlequins at Wembley Stadium yesterday. Seeing as this was such a big occasion for plenty of reasons (it being my first visit to Wembley, and the fact it was a top of the table clash in the Aviva Premiership, plus my girlfriend's brother got to parade around the Stadium itself!), I felt inclined to write a post regarding my day. So enjoy!
We had a painfully early half 6 start from Colchester (my home town, essentially) Rugby Club, from where we took a coach down to The Hive football centre. This was opened in 2009 by then England manager, Fabio Capello, and is the training ground of Barnet FC. The facilities were state of the art, and the size of the bacon butties being handed out were enormous! You may be wondering at this point why we were at the Hive, but there is a reason! There was a Saracens' Champions Cup tournament taking place for the top six under 9 teams that were part of the various tournaments over the course of the the season. Colchester's under 9's were one of the six, and so got the chance to win the Cup. After sinking a large coffee, we went to watch them play their 2 pool games. The first game was an easy 10-0 victory over Harrow for Colchester, and the boy's enthusiasm for the game at such a young age was amazing. I was jumping around like a lunatic on the sidelines, much like everyone else, willing them on to victory. Their second game, against Marlow, was a much tighter affair, with it finishing 0-0. In truth, Colchester were lucky to hold on, but some great defence kept the scores level, and at the end they even had the chance to nick the victory, only to be thwarted with a great last ditch tackle by one of the opposition players. However, it meant that going into the last game of the pool, Colchester were top. They needed Harrow to either draw or win against Marlow, or hope that Marlow didn't score two tries, to ensure they progressed to the final. At half-time though, Marlow were leading 2-0, and on the sidelines, we were admitting that we would probably be in the third place play-off. After the break though, Harrow found a gear that was missing, and charged at Marlow relentlessly, eventually earning a score. On the sidelines, we were jubilant (in good grace though!), and thought that we would be in the final. But will literally the last play of the game, Marlow ran the ball from their own line and scored a game, and pool, winning try, condemning us to third place play-off. The lads weren't disheartened, but ultimately lost 3-1 in a tough match to finish the tournament fourth, not a bad showing at all.
So after a quick bite to eat, we left for Wembley! Arriving at about quarter past 1, we congregated by the beginning of the arc to let the children go off to their parade groups, whilst we went to the gates to take our seats. I was hugely impressed with the Stadium, and the view that we had was very good. For my first trip, it was a little bit daunting, as it is the home of England's national team, and also where my beloved Liverpool won the Carling Cup final barely a month ago. However, a pint soon set me right, and we settled down for the pre-match entertainment. The parade featured all 40 teams of the tournament, from various age groups, all carrying banners, and wearing their teams shirts with pride. It was a great moment for the kids, and they were beaming with pride as they paraded the stadium. Following was the 1600 strong Rock Choir, who sang three numbers. Boy-band McFly were up next, who gave a rousing performance and thoroughly entertained the crowd, who were growing in number by this point. Once they had performed, it was time for the biggie, Saracens vs Harlequins!
Now I must confess, I am not an avid follower of the English Premiership. However, I did know that Harlequins were top by three points, and that Saracens needed to win in order to be in with a chance of coming top. The majority of the crowd were supporting Sarries, as it was technically their home game, but the mix was much closer that I thought it would be, with about a 70-30 split. With no preference, I just wanted to see a good game, and have the best team win in the end. And that is what I got.
Quins started very well, and after a minute and a half, had the game's first try though centre Jordan Turner-Hall, with fly-half Nick Evans converting. The majority of the crowd were immediately silenced, though the Quins in the stands were in raptures. However, Sarries did pull in front with three Owen Farrell penalties, after some indiscipline in the rucks by Harlequins. But yet again, Harlequins were able to move the ball between the backs, and some great play by scrum-half Danny Care and outside centre George Lowe led to a superb breakaway try for their second score. Again, Evans converted to put Harlequins 14-9 ahead. Both sides then exchanged penalty misses before Farrell sent one over on the whistle to make the half time score 14-12 to Quins.
After some more McFly, the second half began with a penalty scored by replacement fly-half Rory Clegg for the Quins to make it 17-12. After a barren period, where the game transcended into a kicking battle, Quins got another breakthrough, stretching the Sarries defence to breaking point before going over to score through Care, and with Evans' conversion being successful again, it left Sarries 12-24 behind. Then came the final 20 minutes of madness. First, Harlequins had prop Joe Marler sin-binned, as the Saracens piled on the pressure in the Quins 22. Three times, Saracens were in, only for the final ball to either be mis-handled or off target. When they did go over the line, great scramble defence from Quins meant that centre Chris Wyles' leg was in touch when he grounded the ball. Then Quins had Care sin-binned as he deliberately tackled a man from an offside position. Down to 13 for a minute, Sarries finally took advantage and scored. Replacement scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth crashed over the line from the penalty resulting from Care's sin-binning, and Farrell scored to leaves the Sarries only five points behind, with 9 minutes to play. Try as they might though, Saracens couldn't get the final breakthrough, and even though number 8 Nick Easter became the third Harlequins player to be binned, Quins clung on to win through 24-19.
In truth, Harlequins were the much better side. They moved the ball through the phases a lot more precisely, and were more determined in the contact area than the Saracens. Until the last twenty minutes, Saracens had a game to forget, and even then, sloppy handling errors meant that couldn't convert their pressure into points. Conversely, Quins will be disappointed with their last twenty minutes, and their ill-discipline meant that they almost snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. In the end though, the right team won.
It was a fantastic day all round for myself, and with the new club record attendance of 83,761 being set at Wembley, a great day for Rugby on the whole.
My next post should be regarding the International Rugby 7's tournament in May, so stay tuned for that Wales fans, as I'll be blogging about their games, and how the rest of the tournament shaped up!
Final Score: Saracens 24 - Tries: Wigglesworth. Convs: Farrell. Pens: Farrell (4)
Harlequins 19 - Tries: Turner-Hall, Lowe, Care. Convs: Evans (2), Clegg. Pens: Clegg
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