Marcus Smith delivered a player-of-the-match performance as Harlequins signed off 2023 with a 32-26 victory over Gloucester in the Gallagher Premiership. Smith has designs on forcing his way into the England starting XV for the Six Nations and beyond, and coach Steve Borthwick would have had to be impressed with his display at Twickenham on Saturday.
Harlequins won BIG 15 by six points downing Gloucester in front of 76,813 fans at Twickenham.
Marcus Smith dominated the game with ball in hand and his kicking, but a late penalty try gave Gloucester a chance of victory and the ball in their possession as time passed the 80-minute mark, before the Quins No. 10 stole the ball to end the game.
Nick David scored two tries for Quins in the first half with Alex Dombrandt also touching down before the break. With Smith missing all three kicks though, Adam Hastings converting his own try kept the Cherry and Whites within striking distance.
Dino Lamb-Cona and veteran Danny Care, the only man to play in all the Big Games, both scored converted tries to leave Quins in command.
However, substitute Jonny May going over and the late penalty try – along with George McGuigan’s early close-range score – ensured a frenetic ending.
Harlequins remain in sixth place with Gloucester 11th after a club-record eighth straight Premiership defeat.
TNT Sports’ Ugo Monye said before the game Zach Mercer of Gloucester and Alex Dombrandt were potentially battling it out for an England No.8 8 shirt and ultimately it was a match where the points definitively went to the latter. He was involved in much of Quins’ best work and was a reason they were well in control of the game until the closing stages. The moment which epitomised Dombrandt’s victory in the personal battle came with the second try when he brushed his opposite number aside to score Quins’ third try. There could have been an even more memorable moment in the second half when the Quins No. 8 put his opposite number on the deck a couple of metres from the posts but Mercer to his credit clung onto Dombrandt’s shirt allowing his team-mate to come over and force a turnover.
Marcus Smith (Harlequins) – His conversion kicking was patchy, managing two of five, but the rest of his game ‘Magic Marcus’ lived up to his tag. He made 90 metres from nine carries, six tackles and four gainline successes as well as three 50/22s. His creative set up for David’s second try was maybe the moment of the match in a game not short of fine passages of play. As well as this, it was the control he exhibited of the game which will stay in the memory longer.
Harlequins: Green 6, David 7, Beard 7, Esterhuizen 7, Anderson 6, Smith 9*, Care 8; Marler 6, Walker 7, Collier 6, Launchbury 7, Lewies 6, Lamb-Cona 7, Evans 7, Dombrandt 8.
Substitutes: Riley 6, Baxter 6, Lewis 6, Herbst 6, Chisholm 7, Porter 6.
Gloucester: Carreras 6, Rees-Zammit 6, Harris 6, Atkinson 7, Hastings 7, Varney 6; Ford-Robinson 7, McGuigan 7, Gotovtsev 7, Clarke 6, Alemanno 6, Ackermann 7, Ludlow 6, Mercer 6.
Substitutes: Blake 6, Vivas 6, Knight 6, Jordan 6, Clement 6, Englefield 6, Llewellyn 6, May 6.
8′ DAVID DIVES OVER IN THE CORNER! Care with a line-break drawing three defenders to him and then feeding Esterhuizen who passed on to David and the winger touched down.
12′ ACKERMANN’S DEFT CHIP SETS UP SCORE IN THE CORNER FOR GLOUCESTER! It looked like there might have been a forward pass (or two) in the build up especially in the last ball from Ackerman to Hastings leading to the latter scoring in the corner. But the officials were happy.
20′ DAVID GOES OVER AGAIN! Smith with the show and go and then he releases David at the perfect time to give him the simple task of touching down in the left corner this time.
24′ SUPERB TRY FOR QUINS! Care with the deft dink over the defenders and Dombrandt runs onto it, shrugs off a tackle from his opposite number Mercer and sprints over the line.
43′ TRY FOR HARLEQUINS – BUT AT A COST! A fantastic try from Lamb-Cona as Dombrandt with great hands sets free his fellow back rower to dive over in the left corner. The collision before the score has forced the try scorer off though. Esterhuizen’s pass to Dombrandt looked forward but the TMO said they couldn’t overturn it.
52′ TRY FOR GLOUCESTER! McGuigan’s driving run put the Cherry and Whites a metre away and then after Ford-Robinson attempted to go over, McGuigan once more got the ball and this time pushed over the line.
55′ CARE SCORES FOR QUINS! The man who has played in all 15 Big Games gets a try under the posts. It was set up by another 50-22 from Smith, then Esterhuizen bashed would-be tacklers back and Care uses his forwards as a decoy before diving over.
72′ TRY FOR GLOUCESTER! Substitute May sprints head down to the corner to give Gloucester a glimmer of hope.
77′ PENALTY TRY! Green deliberately knocked on as the ball was set to go to Thorley on the wing and that gets Gloucester a bonus point.
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