The narrowest of margins
Exeter Chiefs v Harlequins
A dramatic start: DaLeaka Menin went down injured in the first minute; a yellow for Silvia Turani who caused the mishap. Meeryn Doidge was held up over line, but Rogers opened the Chiefs’ account inside five minutes. By a great irony, Rogers would later cop her own yellow for a high tackle.
Maddie Grant, one of Quins’ latest acquisitions, scored from a long-distance intercept. (5-7) These turnovers are always so dramatic; it’s pure chance where defenders happen to be. In this case the only player with the pace to challenge, Katie Buchanan, had just too many yards to cover to haul the rapid Scot in.
Already we were seeing top teams making basic errors that cost dear. For once, a ten-minute sin-bin left the innocent team a score down, thanks to an unwise pass.
Injuries, both brief and more concerning, piled up. Claudia Macdonald needed treatment, then Gabby Cantorna had to leave the field, to be replaced by last week’s skipper, Alex Tessier.
Doidge was the next to score, finishing a move started by an imperfect Quins’ line-out. (12-7)
On the half-hour Welsh winger, Lisa Neumann, was on the end of a long pass from Ellie Kildunne to level the scores. Just on the break, Tessier was put through another tiny gap. She fed back to Claudia Macdonald who crossed to give the hosts a little breathing-space.
Half-time: 19-12
It was all so tight that, almost inevitably, Chiefs opted to pot at goal when given the chance. (22-12) Ten points down, Quins needed Ellie Kildunne to produce some magic – so she did, thanks akinga short ruck ball from Lucy Packer. With one hitch she was clean through. (22-19)
As the benches were empted, one welcome newcomer was Isa Prins, the Dutch international. Still desperately tight, so McGoverne added another three points. Just like the old days.
As the game moved into the last quarter, the tension ratcheted up another notch. A loose pass by Poppy Leitch allowed Claudia Peña to hack through and score. Would Lori Cramer’s missed conversion prove decisive? (25-24)
Claudia MacDonald crossed for her second. (30-24), but it was on the right edge, so another missed conversion. (30-24)
Four to go. Unfortunately it was another error by the captain. She tucked in for a recycle, but the ball went loose, and Kildunne bamboozled the opposition with a perfect dummy to register her second.
What one ex-Wasps player could do, so could another. Now an Ella Cromack conversion went over, and it was Quins in the lead again – just! (30-31)
Tension of a different sort as the TMO (you remember him, the official allowed to superintend only a special handful of TNT matches?) is called in to adjudicate a suspected head-on-head collision, McGillivray on Kildunne. Verdict: yellow for the Chiefs in the 79th minute.
The visitors squeeze home by a point, as dramatic as you please.. Quins join Glos-Pury in the semis.
Result: Chiefs 30 Quins 31
Teams:
Chiefs
1 Rogers 2 Tuttosi 3 Menin 4 Leitch (captain) 5 Van den Lindien 6 Wall 7 McMahon 8 Johnson 9 F. Robinson 10 McGoverne 11 Buchanan 12 Cantorna 13 McGilllivray 14 Macdonald 15 Doidge
16 Nielson 17 Swann 18 Long 19 E. Robinson 20 Feaunati 21 Orchard 22 Te4ssier 23 Tasker
Quins
1 Turani 2 C. Powell 3 Hanlon 4 Fleming 5 Leaney 6 Grant 7 Meuller 8 Millar-Mills 9 L. Packer 10 Cromack 11 Neumann 12 Tuima (captain) 13 Parry 14 Peña 15 Kildunne
16 Phillips 17 Spurrier 18 Delgado 19 Bonar 20 Shirley 21 Swords 22 Wilcock 23 Prins
Afterthoughts
At the razor-sharp edge of the season, the one consolation for the two sides at Sandy Park was Bristol’s inability to maintain their challenge. Even so, a home draw in the semis is rightly seen as the surest way to enjoy a final at first hand.
The quality of this year’s competition is revealed in the congested table (see below).
In recent weeks Chiefs suffered three inglorious defeats: to Gloucester-Hartpury, Bristol Bears and, most infamously, Sale Sharks in Round 15. Now Quins made it a third top-flight club to beat them in their own play-pen.
Quins’ great run of ten wins had screeched to a halt against their greatest rivals, Saracens. Their previous losses dated right back to the first two rounds, both against fellow high flyers. Here they scraped through and could rejoice.
Table P W Pts
Glos-Pury 14 11 58
Quins 14 11 55
Saracens 14 10 53
Exeter Chiefs 13 9 46
Bristol Bears 14 8 44
Lightning 15 6 34
Trailfinders 13 4 27
Tigers 14 2 12
Sharks 13 1 4
Rosewatch
The Six Nations draws ever closer (46 days to go). These are Red Roses who did not appear in the
latest PWR round. Me nervous? Pshaw! There are all sorts of reasons for absence, injury, rotation, other commitments.
NB: Names are drawn from the latest training session group, not the contracted players:
Jess Breach, Georgia Brock, Mackenzie Carson, Amy Cokayne, Abby Dow, Zoe Harrison, Maud Muir and Marlie Packer
